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15 Interesting Facts About Filmmaker Richard Linklater 

Richard Linklater is an acclaimed American filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. He is well-known for his innovative and thought-provoking filmmaking style and preference for telling relatable stories.

Richard has carved a unique niche in the cinematic landscape. His directorial style is often characterized by long takes, handheld camerawork, and a focus on natural dialogue, creating a sense of authenticity and immediacy.

Richard’s films deal with themes of time, love, human connection, the passage of time, and suburban culture. He has received numerous, prestigious awards throughout his filming career. Here are 15 interesting facts about Richard Linklater.

1. Richard Played Baseball In High School

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Richard Linklater was born on 30th July 1960, in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret Krieger and Charles W. Linklater, III. When he was younger, he played football but the truth was he was better at baseball.

He developed an early fascination with film, and during his teenage years, he began making short films and experimenting with different filmmaking techniques. Richard attended Bellaire High School, where he played baseball and participated in theater productions

His stepfather was a prison guard. According to Linklater, he never wanted to become a prison guard, but half the guys on his college football team did, while the other half became prisoners. 

2. Richard Dropped Out Of University 

Richard’s mum taught at Sam Houston State University. He earned a baseball scholarship to the University to study English, but he soon realized his true passion lay in filmmaking.

After transferring to Austin Community College to focus on film production, he dropped out of college to pursue his filmmaking career. Unfortunately, he had to work on an offshore oil rig before realizing his dreams. He now teaches filmmaking. Richard is an Honorary Associate of the London Film School.  

3. He Worked On An Oil Rig 

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Richard worked on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico for some time after dropping out of Sam Houston State University. This experience provided him with financial stability and valuable life lessons that influenced his filmmaking later on.

During his time off ashore, Richard read novels and would repeatedly visit the cinemas in Houston. This sparked an interest in filmmaking and he used up his savings to purchase a Super-8 camera, a projector, and editing equipment. He then relocated to Austin, Texas, and took film study classes at Austin Community College.  

4. His First Real Movie Was Released In 1988 

After purchasing his first equipment, Richard made numerous shots of footage and edited all night long. He got engrossed in it and even blacked out his windows so as to edit his material for 48 hours straight.

He would later move to Austin to shoot his first real movie titled, It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books. The movie was released in 1988 and follows a young man trying to find himself.  

5. Richard’s Breakout Film Was Low-Budget 

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Richard’s breakout feature Slacker was produced on a shoestring budget of just $23,000, with a cast of mostly amateur actors. His talent, creativity, and the support of his friends and family went a long way in making the film a success. The film was also supported by the Southwest Alternate Media Project through a National Endowment for the Arts regional grant.

Richard managed to keep expenses low by taking advantage of free and cheap access to equipment including a dolly, crane, and a Steadicam. The film was shot in Austin, Texas, his hometown.

The technical know-how and experience of Daniel (cinematographer) and Walker (camera assistant) also went a long way in making the production a success. Slacker became a hit, earning $1.2 million at the box office and becoming a cult classic. It inspired other independent filmmakers to chase their dreams no matter what! 

6. Some Of His Films Did Not Hit the Box Office 

Despite Richard having multiple award-winning films, some of his works did not do as well as expected. His feature subUrbia and his first Hollywood feature the Newton Boys had mixed reviews and tanked at the box office. The film Dazed and Confused was also not a hit at the box office upon its release due to poor promotion by Universal.  

However, Dazed and Confused later became a huge success in rental, cable, DVD purchases, and events based on the movie showing. He claimed to make no money from the movie despite its continued success over the years.  

7. Richard Wanted To Be A Professional Baseball Player And Writer 

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During grades 9–11, Richard attended Huntsville High School in Huntsville, Texas where he played football for Joe Clements as a backup quarterback. In senior year, he moved in with his father to play at a more prestigious high-school baseball team.

Richard was good at the game and this earned him a scholarship to Sam Houston State to play baseball. However, his baseball career came to an abrupt end after playing for two seasons when he faced health challenges.

Over two decades later, this filmmaker still plays ball recreationally. He made friends with the University of Texas Longhorns baseball coach and every year, he makes time to practice with the team. 

8. His Daughter Played A Role For Over A Decade In One Of His Films 

While shooting the films Boyhood and Walking Life, Richard featured his daughter Lorelei Grace Linklater who was nine when they started filming. The role took 12 years to shoot, thanks to Richard’s plan for the actors to grow up and record them at different ages.

He wanted to avoid the hustle of casting another bunch of different actors to act at different ages in the film. At some point, his daughter lost interest in the 12-year shoot, but her father convinced her to keep playing her role in the film. 

9. Richard Uses Rotoscope In His Animations Films 

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Rotoscoping is an animation technique whereby animators trace over a projection of original live-action footage frame by frame to produce a distinctive animated look.

Richard used the technique to produce films like Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, and his latest Netflix film Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood. This distinctive visual style adds a unique dimension to the storytelling. In Waking Life, he uses rotoscope animation to explore the blurry line between dreams, conscious reality, and subconscious imagination.  

10. He Is An Award-winning Filmmaker

Richard Linklater has been nominated for over five Academy Awards, which include Best Director for Boyhood and Best Adapted Screenplay for Before Midnight.  In 2015, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Boyhood. The film was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actress by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Waking Life was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards. He has also won the Berlin Silver Bear Award for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival twice, for Before Sunrise in 1995 and Waking Life in 2002. 

11. Richard Has Collaborated With Ethan Hawke On Multiple Projects 

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Richard Linklater has collaborated with actor Ethan Hawke on numerous films, including Slacker, the Before trilogy, Boyhood, and Fast Food Nation. Their creative partnership and talent have been integral to the success of these films. This partnership is ongoing because they are working on a new project about Transcendentalism in the 19th century. 

12. He Directed ‘Everybody Wants Some’

Everybody Wants Some is a comedy film about college baseball players in Texas in the 1980s. Richard wrote and directed the film after dropping a previous project he was attached to direct for Warner Bros.

The comedy film had backing from Annapurna Pictures and Paramount distributing the film in North America. It was released in March 2016 and was well received by critics, however, it then failed to recoup its budget of $10 million, grossing only 4.6 million. 

13. Richard Is A Proud Father Of Three 

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Linklater dated his partner Christina Harrison for a long time since the 1990s. The couple had their first daughter, Lorelei Linklater in 1994 and twin daughters in 2004. His first-born daughter co-starred in Boyhood as the sister of the main character.  

His elder daughter is a passionate visual artist and he always supports her dreams and encourages her to do whatever fulfills her dreams. Richard’s greatest fear concerning his daughters’ lives is not being able to follow their dreams, whatever they may be. 

14. His ‘Fast Food Nation’ Film Explores the Fast Food Industry 

Fast Food Nation is an adaptation of the best-selling non-fiction book by Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry. The movie production was filmed in different locations in the US and Mexico, and his crew faced challenges like filming almost all the Mexican desert scenes in one day.

They faced logistic challenges and had to juggle numerous storylines and locations. Some of the footage was filmed inside a slaughterhouse. The film showcases the dark side of the local and global food manufacturing industry, shedding light on unethical practices, animal cruelty, environmental destruction, and other consequences of the fast food industry.  

15. He is a Co-Founder of the Austin Film Society 

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Richard’s passion for film prompted him to start the Austin Film Society in 1985. It is a non-profit organization that promotes independent filmmaking, particularly films from around the world. The Society brings in approximately 100 films annually and has allocated over $400,000 to aspiring filmmakers.  

Those are the 15 interesting facts about filmmaker Richard Linklater. He has consistently continued to push the boundaries in the entertainment industry with his thought-provoking films. His incredible filmmaking talent will always capture the attention of audiences from all over the world for years to come.