Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 action film El Mariachi, which was a commercial success after grossing $2.6 million against a budget of $7,000. The film spawned two sequels known collectively as the Mexico Trilogy: Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003).
El Mariachi is a 1992 Spanish language American independent neo-Western action film and the first part of the saga that came to be known as Robert Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy. It marked the feature-length debut of Rodriguez as writer and director. The Spanish language film was shot with a mainly amateur cast in the northern Mexican border town of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico across from Del Rio, Texas, the home town of leading actor Carlos Gallardo as the title character. The US$7,225 production was originally intended for the Mexican home-video market, but executives at Columbia Pictures liked the film and bought the American distribution rights. Columbia eventually spent $200,000 to transfer the print to film, to remix the sound, and on other post-production work, then spent millions more on marketing and distribution.
Desperado is a 1995 American neo-Western action film written, co-produced, edited and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the second part of Rodriguez's Mexico Trilogy. It stars Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi who seeks revenge on the drug lord who killed his lover. The film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Desperado grossed $58 million worldwide. It has been cited as Salma Hayek's breakout role.
Troublemaker Studios is an American production company founded and owned by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellán.
Karyn Kiyoko Kusama is an American filmmaker. She made her feature directorial debut with the sports drama film Girlfight (2000), for which she won Best Director and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
Carlos Gallardo is a Mexican actor, producer, occasional screenwriter and director. Gallardo frequently collaborates with his friend, director Robert Rodriguez.
George Jay Huang is an American film director, writer, producer, and educator. He is best known for writing and directing the 1994 film Swimming with Sharks. In addition to working on his own films, he also contributes work to other independent filmmakers, including Robert Rodríguez.
Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. The genre is named in reference to guerrilla warfare due to these techniques typically being used to shoot quickly in real locations without obtaining filming permits or providing any other sort of warning.
Roadracers is a 1994 made-for-television film directed by Robert Rodriguez, his second feature film following the success of his 1992 debut, El Mariachi. The film originally aired on Showtime Network as part of their Rebel Highway series that took the titles of 1950s-era B-movies and applied them to original films starring up-and-coming actors of the 1990s and directed by established directors such as William Friedkin, Joe Dante, and Ralph Bakshi. Rodriguez was the only young director to participate in the series. The series was produced by the son and daughter of Samuel Z. Arkoff, the co-founder and producer of American International Pictures (AIP), the distributor of the films this series takes its titles from.
Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the careers of screenwriters, who historically have been underrepresented within the film industry.
The Mexico Trilogy is a series of American/Mexican contemporary western action films written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The series' plot tells the continuing story of El Mariachi, a man who painfully lives alone after seeing all of his loved ones die. El Mariachi was portrayed by actors Carlos Gallardo and Antonio Banderas. The films were originally released in theatres from 1993 to 2003, and later on home video as a collection in 2010.
A no-budget film is a film made with very little or no money. Actors and technicians are often employed in these films without remuneration. A no-budget film is typically made at the beginning of a filmmaker's career, with the intention of either exploring creative ideas, testing their filmmaking abilities, or for use as a professional "calling card" when seeking creative employment. No-budget films are commonly submitted to film festivals, the intention being to raise widespread interest in the film.
Nicholas Jarecki is an American film director, producer, and writer best known for his 2012 feature film Arbitrage.
Dan Mirvish is an American filmmaker and author, best known as the co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival and co-creator of the Martin Eisenstadt hoax during the 2008 Presidential election.
Robert Anthony Rodriguez is an American film and television director, producer, writer, composer, cinematographer and editor. He has contributed to many projects as a combination of the six. Less commonly, Rodriguez has also worked as a second unit director, digital animator and a visual effects supervisor.
El Rey Network is a media brand founded by Robert Rodriguez on December 15, 2013, that is currently owned in a joint venture with FactoryMade Ventures.
Peter Charles Marquardt was an American actor and video game producer.
The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap is a non-fiction book and filmmaking handbook written by Stu Maschwitz for Peachpit Press. It was his first book, and has been called "a must-read for any and all filmmakers." MircroFilmmaker Magazine named it an "industry icon."
Red 11 is a 2019 American science fiction horror film produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez co-wrote the film with his son Racer Max, after previously collaborating on The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D in 2005. The film is inspired by Robert Rodriguez's experiences described in his 1995 book Rebel Without a Crew. The film stars Roby Attal, Lauren Hatfield, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Eman Esfandi, Steve Brudniak, Brently Heilbron, Pierce Foster Bailey, Katherine Willis, Ulysses Montoya, and Carlos Gallardo.
Aaron Kaufman is an American film producer and director. He is the former producing partner of Robert Rodriguez, having worked with him at the Troublemaker Studios. Kaufman produced films that Rodriguez also directed including Machete (2010) and Machete Kills (2013), as well Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), the sequel to 2005 film Sin City. Kaufman served as executive producer for the dramas The Greatest and Powder Blue, as well the romantic comedy Spread, the crime thriller 13 (2010), and the comedies Chef (2014) and Flock of Dudes (2016).
