ROBERT RODRIGUEZ is the writer, director and producer of SPY KIDS, his seventh feature film and the second in a five-picture deal with Miramax/Dimension Films.
Back in 1991, Rodriguez was a student at the University of Texas at Austin who had decided to make his first feature-length film. He wrote the script while sequestered at a drug research facility as a paid subject in a clinical experiment. That paycheck covered the cost of shooting his film. He planned to make the money back by selling the film to the Mexican home video market.
The film was "El Mariachi" (1993), which Rodriguez wrote, directed, photographed, edited and sound-recorded — for $7,000. While shopping it to the video market, Rodriguez signed with a powerful agent at 1CM. Columbia Pictures then bought the rights and signed Rodriguez to a two-year writing and directing deal. "El Mariachi" went on to win the coveted Audience Award for best dramatic film at the Sundance Film Festival, and was honored at the Berlin, Munich, Edinburgh, Deauville and Yubari (Japan) festivals. "El Mariachi" became the lowest budget movie ever released by a major studio and the first American film released in Spanish. Rodriguez wrote about these experiences in Rebel Without a Crew, a book published by Dutton Press.
Although it was an astonishing debut for a 23-year-old, Rodriguez was already a seasoned filmmaker. The third of ten children born to Cecilio and Rebecca Rodriguez in San Antonio, Texas, he had prepared for film production classes at UT by making a series of his own home movies. Family members were recruited as cast and crew. His three youngest siblings starred in "Bedhead" (1991), a 16 mm short film which was honored at many national and international festivals. Rodriguez also blossomed as a cartoonist at UT with "Los Hooligans," a comic strip in the Daily Texan featuring characters based on his brothers and sisters.
Naturally, Rodriguez was busy after "El Mariachi." He wrote, directed and edited the film "Roadracers" (1994), starring David Arquette and Salma Hayek, for Showtime's Rebel Highway Series. His next feature was "Desperado" (1995), a sequel to "El Mariachi," which Rodriguez wrote, directed, produced and edited for Columbia. The film introduced American audiences to Antonio Banderas as a leading man, opposite Salma Hayek. Rodriguez also wrote, directed and edited "The Misbehavers" in 1995, one of the four segments of Miramax Films' "Four Rooms." He then teamed up with Quentin Tarantino on the outrageous "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) for Dimension Films. Rodriguez directed a cast including Tarantino, who wrote the script. He also edited the film and served as executive producer. Rodriguez's next project was Dimension Films' "The Faculty" (1998) starring Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood and Jordana Brewster.
Rodriguez and his wife, producer Elizabeth Avellan, make their home in Austin, Texas where they live with their three sons.
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