Written in 2016:
Five-time Academy Award-nominated director, writer, and producer Richard Linklater is one of the most well-regarded filmmakers working today and over the last 30 years has become a great champion and supporter of independent cinema through his Austin Film Society.
Linklater rose to fame with his 1991 independent comedy-drama SLACKER, which he wrote, directed, produced, and acted in. The film is an experimental narrative revolving around 24 hours in the lives of 100 characters. His follow up film DAZED AND CONFUSED, which he wrote, directed, and produced, chronicles a group of teenagers during their last day of school in 1976 and features a large ensemble cast of actors who would later become stars, including Matthew McConaughey, Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Nicky Katt, and Rory Cochrane. The acclaimed comedy remains a cult classic today.
Linklater’s latest film, EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! is a “spiritual sequel” to DAZED AND CONFUSED set in the world of 1980s college life. The film, which Linklater wrote, directed, and produced, follows a group of friends as they navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. Paramount will release the film in April 2016.
Last year, Linklater’s BOYHOOD received six Academy Award nominations. After garnering rave reviews, countless film critic groups and film festivals awarded it their top prizes. He won two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director, and two BAFTA Awards for Best Film and Best Direction.
The film, starring Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, and Lorelei Linklater, was shot over twelve years and depicts the childhood and adolescence of a boy growing up in Texas.
Linklater has also written, produced and directed the “Before Trilogy,” including BEFORE SUNRISE (1995), BEFORE SUNSET (2004), and BEFORE MIDNIGHT (2013). Linklater received Oscar Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for both BEFORE SUNSET and BEFORE MIDNIGHT, and won the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Director for BEFORE SUNRISE.
Linklater’s additional film credits include IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (1988); SUBURBIA (1997); THE NEWTON BOYS (1998), a western/gangster film set in the 1920s; the animated feature WAKING LIFE (2001); the real-time drama TAPE (2001); the hit comedy SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003); BAD NEWS BEARS (2005); A SCANNER DARKLY (2006); FAST FOOD NATION (2006); INNING BY INNING: A PORTRAIT OF A COACH (2008); ME AND ORSON WELLES (2009); and BERNIE (2012).
Linklater also serves as the Artistic Director for the Austin Film Society, which he founded in 1985 to showcase films from around the world that were not typically shown in Austin. One of the nation’s top film organizations, the Austin Film Society shows over 200 films a year, has educational programs, and has given out over $1,500,000 in grants to Texas filmmakers since 1996.
