Richard Linklater

RICHARD LINKLATER

Date of Birth: July 30, 1960

A college drop-out, Richard Linklater taught himself all he needed to know about filmmaking. Inspired by independent artists like John Sayles, he formed the Austin Film Society and later began shooting his own movies in Austin, Texas.

He created a sensation at the 1991 Sundance Festival with his first feature, a satirical look at 1990s post-boomers called Slacker -- the title itself became the defining term for cynical, aimless Generation Xers. Written, produced and directed by Linklater with a next-to-zero budget and a cast of unknowns, Slacker won Linklater a mainstream audience and a Hollywood production contract.

He followed Slacker with Dazed And Confused, a nostalgic-yet-authentic look at the last day of high school, 1976. This time his cast of nobodies featured future stars Matthew McConaughey, Milla Jovovich and Ben Affleck.

Before Sunrise was another assured piece of writing and direction. Character and narrative took precedence over the pretty European scenery and his even prettier stars, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. B>SubUrbia returned him to smalltown America with his adaptation of Eric Bogosian's 1994 play. His biggest hit to date came with the big budget comedy School of Rock (2003), which was a big hit at the box office. Made on a $20 million budget, it earned over $81 million in domestic ticket sales alone.

For Before Sunset (2004), a sequel to Before Sunrise co-written with Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Kim Krizian, Linklater received his first Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay as well as a Writers Guild of America nomination. He has since directed another sequel, titled Before Midnight (2013). He returned to comedy films featuring kids with the remake Bad News Bears (2005), starring Billy Bob Thornton. His 2006 film, Fast Food Nation, was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Linklater also filmed the comedy Bernie (2012) with Matthew McConaughey and Jack Black, about an assistant funeral director in a small town.

In 2015, he won a Golden Globe award for his motion picture Boyhood, which he filmed over a course of 12 years. He also won a Best Director Golden Globe for the film and received Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

He then went on to direct Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) and Last Flag Flying (2017).

Linklater, a vegetarian, makes his home in Austin, Texas, where he runs his production company Detour Productions.

Filmography

Last Flag Flying (2017)
Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
Boyhood (2014)
Before Midnight (2013)
Bernie (2012)
Me and Orson Welles (2009)
Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach (2008)
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Fast Food Nation (2006)
Bad News Bears (2005)
Before Sunset (2004)
School of Rock (2003)
Waking Life (2001)
Tape (2001)
The Newton Boys (1998)
SubUrbia (1997)
Before Sunrise (1994)
Dazed And Confused (1993)
Slacker (1991)
It's Impossible To Learn To Plow By Reading Books (1988)