Chainsaws, slackers, and spy kids
Subtitle: thirty years of filmmaking in Austin, Texas
By: Alison Macor.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Austin
Language: eng
Number of pages: 359
ISBN-13: 9780292706057; 9780292722439
Subjects: Motion picture industry -- Texas -- Austin -- History
Description: During the 1990s, Austin achieved "overnight" success and celebrity as a vital place for independent filmmaking. Directors Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez proved that locally made films with regional themes such as Slacker and El Mariachi could capture a national audience. Their success helped transform Austin's homegrown film community into a professional film industry staffed with talented, experienced filmmakers and equipped with state-of-the art-production facilities. Today, Austin struggles to balance the growth and expansion of its film community with an ongoing commitment to nurture the next generation of independent filmmakers. This book chronicles the evolution of this struggle by re-creating Austin's colorful movie history. Based on interviews with Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, Mike Judge, Quentin Tarantino, Matthew McConaughey, George Lucas, and others, the author explores how Austin has become a proving ground for contemporary independent cinema. She begins in the early 1970s with Tobe Hooper's horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and follows the development of the Austin film scene through 2001 with the production and release of Rodriguez's $100-million blockbuster, Spy Kids. She explores the behind-the-scenes story of specific movies, such as Linklater's Dazed and Confused and Judge's Office Space, against the backdrop of Austin's ever-expanding film community.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Hippies and the cowboys all looked alike; title: Living nightmare: Tobe Hooper and the Texas chainsaw massacre; title: Eagle Pennell and the rise of regional filmmaking; title: Made in Austin: the Austin chronicle and red headed stranger; title: Slacker: the least auteur film ever made; title: Mariachi kid: Robert Rodriguez and el mariachi; title: Reluctant quarterback: Richard Linklater and dazed and confused; title: Winning the battle, losing the war: the Newton boys; title: Company man: Tim Mccanlies and dancer, Texas pop; title: Office space: the making of a cult classic; title: Rebel with or without a crew: Robert Rodriguez and spy kids; title: Outside the system, inside the system.