WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.180 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're jumping 00:00:02.180 --> 00:00:04.160 into the source material surrounding a truly 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.320 unique figure in filmmaking. Yeah, we're looking 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.619 at Robert Rodriguez. You could argue he's really 00:00:08.619 --> 00:00:10.740 the definition of modern independent filmmaking, 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:14.019 couldn't you? Absolutely. The ultimate DIY success 00:00:14.019 --> 00:00:16.500 story. And we're going to unpack how he built 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:19.039 this incredible career. Our sources really point 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:22.719 to two main things. speed and just complete creative 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:25.199 ownership. He doesn't just direct. He basically 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:28.300 builds the films himself piece by piece. So our 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:30.800 goal today, our mission for this Deep Dives is 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.659 to get past the, you know, the cool action scenes 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:36.320 and the style and really understand the philosophy 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:38.979 underneath it all. Exactly. How did this low 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:42.140 budget filmmaker become someone who builds massive 00:00:42.140 --> 00:00:44.240 franchises? That's what we want to figure out. 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:46.259 OK, let's get into it. We want to give you that 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:48.960 solid, structured look at how he pulled it off. 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:52.119 Using smarts over cash. And it all starts with 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:56.280 one number. One film. El Mariachi, 1992. Oh, 00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:59.000 yeah. The $7 ,000 legend. It's almost mythical 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:01.500 in Hollywood circles. $7 ,000. It sounds impossible. 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:04.760 It's less than a lot of people spend on coffee, 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:08.200 like you said in the outline. Just $7 ,000. But 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:10.319 that tiny investment blew up. The film made, 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.140 what, $2 .6 million back then? Yeah, and adjusted 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.739 for today, that's more like $5 .5 million. The 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:19.290 return is just... astronomical. It immediately 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:22.209 showed everyone, here's a guy who gets how to 00:01:22.209 --> 00:01:24.590 work with limits, maybe better than someone with 00:01:24.590 --> 00:01:26.689 a $100 million budget. It really is. It's the 00:01:26.689 --> 00:01:29.109 proof of concept for everything he did later. 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:31.629 A ratio like that tells you he's not just talented, 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:34.150 he's a master of resources. And that's the core 00:01:34.150 --> 00:01:37.030 idea we'll keep coming back to, right? His mariachi 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:39.430 -style filmmaking. Exactly. Solving problems 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:41.730 with creativity, not money. That's the mantra. 00:01:41.989 --> 00:01:44.209 And the sources really bear out that this wasn't 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:46.069 just about being cheap, it was about efficiency. 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.519 giving control, and then scaling that idea up. 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.420 All the way from a tiny indie film to, you know, 00:01:52.420 --> 00:01:55.420 directing Star Wars stuff, it's quite the journey. 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:58.099 So to understand that efficiency, we gotta look 00:01:58.099 --> 00:02:00.359 back. Where did it come from? Right. He was born 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:04.620 in San Antonio, Texas, 1968. Big family, Mexican 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:07.900 -American parents, a nurse and a salesman. You 00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:10.080 can kind of see resourcefulness being baked in 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:12.340 early on. And then there's the VCR story when 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:14.500 he was 11. That seems pretty pivotal according 00:02:14.500 --> 00:02:18.099 to the material. Totally pivotal. His dad buys 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:21.080 one of the very first VCRs that actually came 00:02:21.080 --> 00:02:24.240 with a camera. Think about that. It put the tools 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.780 right in his hands. Yeah, at a time when most 00:02:26.780 --> 00:02:29.340 aspiring filmmakers were dreaming of film school 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:33.090 or saving up for like... clunky 16 millimeter 00:02:33.090 --> 00:02:36.129 gear he had a camera at home ready to go so he 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:37.990 just started messing around learning by doing 00:02:37.990 --> 00:02:41.389 constantly developing his eye his style just 00:02:41.389 --> 00:02:44.250 through endless practice which leads to that 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:46.169 great story about the high school football game 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:48.710 oh it's classic rodriguez he gets the job filming 00:02:48.710 --> 00:02:50.870 the games for his high school saint anthony seems 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:53.430 perfect but then he gets fired fired because 00:02:53.430 --> 00:02:54.969 he wasn't shooting it the way they wanted no 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:57.310 boring wide shots of the whole play he was already 00:02:57.310 --> 00:02:59.610 doing his own thing cinematic style right focusing 00:02:59.610 --> 00:03:03.030 on the ball the slow motion tracking shots yeah 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:06.449 he was telling a story focusing on impact not 00:03:06.449 --> 00:03:08.669 just recording the game like a security camera 00:03:08.669 --> 00:03:12.509 it shows that his style the fast cuts the zooms 00:03:12.509 --> 00:03:16.050 it wasn't learned it was just how he saw things 00:03:16.050 --> 00:03:18.590 and this energy connected him with Carlos Gallardo 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:20.930 in high school They started making videos together. 00:03:21.189 --> 00:03:23.210 Right, but getting into the formal film world 00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:25.930 wasn't easy. He went to UT Austin, but didn't 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:28.490 have the grades for their film program. So another 00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:30.310 barrier. How do you get around that one? Classic 00:03:30.310 --> 00:03:33.050 Rodriguez move. He used a totally different skill, 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:36.530 cartooning. Oh, Los Hooligans. The comic strip 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:38.650 he did for the student paper. Yeah, for three 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:40.830 years straight, drew it every day, based characters 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:42.669 on his brothers and sisters, like his sister 00:03:42.669 --> 00:03:45.770 Mara Carmen. So he stayed visible, stayed creative, 00:03:45.870 --> 00:03:47.789 even without being in the film program officially. 00:03:48.090 --> 00:03:50.560 Exactly. Kept his foot in the door, showing his 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.340 discipline. And then came the short film that 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:56.520 changed things. Bedhead in 1991. Bedhead. That 00:03:56.520 --> 00:03:58.419 was his calling card. Totally. 16 millimeter. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.819 It had all his trademarks already emerging. The 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:03.379 quick cuts, the zooms, the humor. It won awards, 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:05.979 got attention. And that finally got him into 00:04:05.979 --> 00:04:08.199 the UT film program. It proves the point again. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.639 Traditional path blocked. Engineer your own way 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:14.879 in. Which brings us back to financing El Mariachi. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:19.040 Okay. The $7 ,000. How on earth did he scrape 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:21.959 that together? It wasn't family money. No. Some 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:24.720 came from his friend, Adrian Cano. But the rest? 00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:28.060 This is the amazing part. He volunteered for 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:30.819 medical testing studies. Wait. Like, pharmaceutical 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:33.139 trials. He was a human guinea pig. Pretty much. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:35.420 Putting his health on the line to raise cash 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:37.939 for a movie nobody thought he could make? That's 00:04:37.939 --> 00:04:40.120 commitment. That goes way beyond just bootstrapping. 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:42.430 That's intense. It's the definition of using 00:04:42.430 --> 00:04:45.149 every available resource. And here's a great 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:47.589 little twist. While doing those medical studies, 00:04:47.769 --> 00:04:50.970 he met Peter Marquart. No way. Yep. Who he then 00:04:50.970 --> 00:04:53.490 cast as one of the main villains in El Mariachi. 00:04:53.589 --> 00:04:55.730 So the hustle didn't just get him money. It got 00:04:55.730 --> 00:04:58.779 him talent, too. Serendipity. That's incredible. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:00.920 And the film itself, it wasn't even meant for 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:02.980 U .S. theaters initially, right? No, not at all. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:04.920 It was made for the Spanish language straight 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.959 to video market in Mexico. Shot fast, cheap, 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:11.040 in Spanish. But then Sundance happened. It won 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.819 the Audience Award in 93. And Columbia Pictures 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:16.540 saw the potential. They didn't remake it, but 00:05:16.540 --> 00:05:18.620 they invested a few hundred thousand in cleaning 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:21.100 it up sound mix picture grade for the U .S. release. 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:23.819 But they absolutely leaned into that $7 ,000 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:25.980 budget in the marketing. That was the hook. It 00:05:25.980 --> 00:05:28.740 instantly cemented his image. And that whole 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:33.399 insane experience, the medical tests, the guerrilla 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:36.379 filmmaking became the basis for his book, Rebel 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:38.939 Without a Crew. Which came out in 95 and is still 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:42.160 essential reading for indie filmmakers. Absolutely, 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.259 a bible for doing it yourself. Okay, so that 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:46.660 origin sets the stage. Let's talk about the method 00:05:46.660 --> 00:05:49.839 itself, the one -man film crew idea. Is that 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.089 literal? It's pretty... close to literal seriously 00:05:52.089 --> 00:05:54.350 look at his credits director producer writer 00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:56.829 cinematographer editor composer visual effects 00:05:56.829 --> 00:05:59.329 supervisor production designer sound editor camera 00:05:59.329 --> 00:06:02.610 operator steadicam operator yeah he does it all 00:06:02.610 --> 00:06:04.889 often operating the main camera himself yeah 00:06:04.889 --> 00:06:07.449 which leads to those famous credits like on once 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:09.870 upon a time in mexico shot chopped and scored 00:06:09.870 --> 00:06:13.129 by robert rodriguez right it's a statement cinematography 00:06:13.129 --> 00:06:17.699 editing music all him or sin city Shot and cut 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:20.879 by Robert Rodriguez. He owns the look, the rhythm, 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.519 the sound. So mariachi style. Let's really define 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:26.620 that beyond just being cheap. What does it mean 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:30.180 in practice? Okay, the core idea from Rebel Without 00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:33.220 a Crew and everything else is creativity, not 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:36.019 money, solves problems. It's about efficiency. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:38.620 So if you need a big crane shot but can't afford 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:41.500 a crane. The mariachi style asks. how do you 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:43.139 create the feeling of that shot differently? 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.300 Maybe it's a super fast dolly move, a whip pan, 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:49.600 a smash cut, an intense zoom. You use the tools 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:51.779 you do have to get the emotional beat. It sounds 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:53.860 like he's using his editing skills, his camera 00:06:53.860 --> 00:06:56.319 skills, to almost disguise the budget limits, 00:06:56.339 --> 00:06:58.100 like he learned filming those football games. 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:00.339 Exactly. His editing is key. Because he knows 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:02.120 he's cutting it himself and he's often holding 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:04.600 the camera, he only shoots what he absolutely 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:07.259 needs. Less wasted footage, less setup time. 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:10.160 Dramatically less. He visualizes the edit while 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:12.660 shooting, so he gets maximum coverage with minimum 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:15.079 takes. It speeds everything up. Now, there's 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:17.019 this concept that seems really practical, the 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:19.959 Robert Rodriguez list method. Stu Moshwood's 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:22.000 coined that, right? Yeah, in the DB Rebels guide. 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:24.220 And this is something anyone can potentially 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:27.279 use, not just filmmakers. Okay, how does it work? 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:30.319 It flips screenwriting on its head. Instead of 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.259 writing a script and then figuring out what you 00:07:32.259 --> 00:07:35.019 need, you start by making a list of everything 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:37.019 you already have access to. Like physical assets. 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:39.800 a cool car maybe your friend's weird apartment 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:42.620 specific location like a desert road or props 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:46.639 swords old computers a unique costume whatever 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.079 you can get your hands on easily and cheaply 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:52.209 or for free You inventory all that first. Right. 00:07:52.290 --> 00:07:54.149 And then you write the screenplay specifically 00:07:54.149 --> 00:07:56.569 to use those things. Got access to a warehouse 00:07:56.569 --> 00:07:59.209 and a forklift. Write a scene set in a warehouse 00:07:59.209 --> 00:08:01.769 involving a forklift. Don't write a scene needing 00:08:01.769 --> 00:08:04.050 a spaceship if you don't have one. It's about 00:08:04.050 --> 00:08:05.790 building from your strengths, from your existing 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:08.389 resources, turning limitations into the actual 00:08:08.389 --> 00:08:11.370 story engine. It completely removes that excuse 00:08:11.370 --> 00:08:14.889 of, I can't start until I get funding for X, 00:08:14.990 --> 00:08:18.319 Y, or Z. You start with what you have now. That's 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.920 a powerful mindset shift. And this efficiency 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:23.959 even extends to his work schedule, doesn't it? 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:26.420 The whole working at night thing. Yeah, the sources 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:29.339 mention he prefers working late, believes creatives 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:32.659 are often night people. But it wasn't just artistic 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:35.399 whim. It was practical. How so? Because he had 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:38.649 five kids. Working at night meant he could spend 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:40.789 daytime hours with them when they were growing 00:08:40.789 --> 00:08:43.169 up, when they were home from school. Ah, so he 00:08:43.169 --> 00:08:46.129 structured his creative work, the writing, editing, 00:08:46.289 --> 00:08:49.509 composing around his family life. Exactly. It's 00:08:49.509 --> 00:08:51.850 another example of strategic resource management, 00:08:52.090 --> 00:08:55.070 managing his time to maximize both creative output 00:08:55.070 --> 00:08:57.809 and family connection. Okay, but this absolute 00:08:57.809 --> 00:09:00.940 need for control, the mariachi style. It eventually 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:03.820 led to a major conflict, right, with the DGA, 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.919 the Director's Guild. Yeah, that was a big one. 00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:08.120 It all came to a head with Sin Saiya in 2005. 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:10.580 Because the look of that movie was so directly 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:12.740 taken from Frank Miller's comic book panels. 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.679 Literally. It was a translation. And Rodriguez 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:17.820 felt Miller's contribution was so fundamental 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:20.059 to the film's direction, the visual language, 00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:23.019 that Miller deserved a co -director credit. Makes 00:09:23.019 --> 00:09:25.740 sense. But the DGA has rules about that. Very 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:28.059 strict rules. They only allow shared credit for 00:09:28.059 --> 00:09:30.059 what they call legitimate teams, like the Coen 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:33.120 brothers or the Wachowskis, long -established 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:35.940 partners, not for a comic artist, no matter how 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:39.159 visually integral. They said no to Miller getting 00:09:39.159 --> 00:09:41.980 the credit. And Rodriguez's response? He didn't 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:44.399 argue. He didn't negotiate. He just resigned 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.000 from the DGA, quit the union. Wow. Before they 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.460 even started shooting. Yep. He said he wouldn't 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:52.240 be forced into compromises he didn't believe 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.700 in. And importantly, he didn't want to set a 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:56.840 bad precedent that could hurt other directors 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:59.100 down the line who might want to properly credit 00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:02.519 key collaborators. That's a huge move. Most directors 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.279 wouldn't risk losing DJ membership. That affects 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:07.539 working on big studio films. It had immediate 00:10:07.539 --> 00:10:10.220 consequences. Because he resigned, he had to 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:12.559 drop out of directing John Carter of Mars for 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:14.720 Paramount, a project he was already signed on 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.919 for. So he walked away from a massive studio 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.220 picture, a huge payday. For the principle of 00:10:20.220 --> 00:10:22.679 crediting his collaborator correctly, it shows 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.360 you how deeply he believes in that creative control 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.700 and fairness. Pure conviction. That's the price 00:10:28.700 --> 00:10:30.539 of that independence. But you could argue that 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:32.980 standing firm like that actually strengthened 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:35.299 his brand in the long run. I think it did. It 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:38.519 showed Hollywood exactly who he was. Uncompromising 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:40.720 on his vision, incredibly efficient, but you 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:43.179 had to accept his method. It probably made him 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:45.220 more attractive to studios like Lucasfilm later, 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:47.480 who needed someone exactly like that. Okay, so 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.519 he establishes this independent method. How does 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:52.799 he build on it? Let's talk franchises. Right 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.299 after El Mariachi, he proved he could scale up. 00:10:55.580 --> 00:10:58.299 Destorado in 95 had a bigger budget, bigger stars. 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:01.700 Antonio Banderas came on board. And it was Salma 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:03.960 Hayek's big English language break, wasn't it? 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.259 Huge for her career. And that film felt like 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:09.559 Rodriguez. bigger. He finished that Mexico trilogy 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.480 later with Once Upon a Time in Mexico in 2003. 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:15.600 But maybe the smartest move, financially at least, 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.940 was shifting into family films. Oh, absolutely. 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:20.279 The Spy Kids universe. That was the game changer 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:22.899 for his infrastructure. Spy Kids in 2001 was 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:26.299 a massive hit. Totally different vibe, fun, techie. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.659 And it launched a huge franchise. Four movies 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:31.799 now, plus the recent Netflix one, Spy Kids, Armageddon. 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:34.600 And those hits gave him the capital to build 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.230 his own studio, right? Quick Draw Studios in 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:39.970 Austin. Exactly. He used Hollywood money to build 00:11:39.970 --> 00:11:41.789 the infrastructure he needed to stay independent, 00:11:42.210 --> 00:11:44.929 to keep making films his way outside the main 00:11:44.929 --> 00:11:48.009 studio system. It funded the one -man crew model 00:11:48.009 --> 00:11:50.690 on a larger scale. And the family connection 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:53.289 kept going with the adventures of Sharkboy and 00:11:53.289 --> 00:11:56.289 Lavagirl. That origin story is pretty unique. 00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:58.730 It's amazing. The whole idea came from his son, 00:11:58.929 --> 00:12:01.289 Racer, who was only seven. Seven years old. Yep. 00:12:01.549 --> 00:12:03.950 Rodriguez took his son's drawings, his concepts, 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:06.450 and turned them into a feature film. And Racer 00:12:06.450 --> 00:12:09.389 got screenplay credit. That's incredible. Talk 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:11.769 about collaboration starting at home. Echoes 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:13.750 of Los Hooligans using his siblings. It's all 00:12:13.750 --> 00:12:16.610 woven together. And he revisited that world recently 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:19.389 with We Can Be Heroes on Netflix in 2020. Okay, 00:12:19.429 --> 00:12:22.029 switching gears back to the grittier side. Yeah. 00:12:22.149 --> 00:12:24.769 His collaboration with Quentin Tarantino. That's 00:12:24.769 --> 00:12:27.529 been hugely influential. Started way back with 00:12:27.529 --> 00:12:29.870 From Dusk Till Dawn. But yeah, Grindhouse in 00:12:29.870 --> 00:12:33.049 2007 was a major moment. The double feature they 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:36.009 co -directed. Rodriguez did the Planet Terror 00:12:36.009 --> 00:12:38.950 segment. Wild zombie stuff. Over the top. But 00:12:38.950 --> 00:12:40.970 the thing that really lasted from Grindhouse 00:12:40.970 --> 00:12:43.110 was actually one of the fake trailers. Shitty. 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:46.990 Shitty. Starring his second cousin, Danny Trejo. 00:12:47.289 --> 00:12:50.049 The idea for that character went way back. Rodriguez 00:12:50.049 --> 00:12:52.870 had it in 93. He apparently told Trejo on the 00:12:52.870 --> 00:12:55.960 set of Desperado. You should be the Mexican Charles 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:58.299 Bronson starring in a movie called Machete every 00:12:58.299 --> 00:13:01.500 year. And it finally happened. First as a trailer, 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:04.159 then as full movies, and here's that Rodriguez 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:06.840 cross -pollination again. Where did Machete first 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.940 appear as a character? In Spy Kids. He was Uncle 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:12.700 Machete, PG -rated intro for an R -rated action 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:15.340 hero. He just weaves everything together. It 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:17.500 really shows the strength of his network. Trejo's 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:19.799 his most frequent collaborator, right? Ten projects. 00:13:20.139 --> 00:13:23.220 Ten projects. It's like a family. Banderas, Hayek, 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.559 Cheech Marin, they've all done seven films with 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:28.419 him. Alexa Pennevega. Carmen from Spy Kids. She's 00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:30.340 done six. He even walked her down the aisle. 00:13:30.460 --> 00:13:32.720 It shows that trust, that loyalty. It's not just 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:35.100 business. It's a community he's built, which 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:37.600 ties into how he shares his knowledge, too. The 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.320 10 -minute film school segments on his DVDs, 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.779 those are legendary for film students. Pure gold. 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.259 He doesn't hide the secrets. He literally shows 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.480 you, step by step, how he pulled off shots cheaply, 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.279 how he made things work. And then the cooking 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.350 segments. The 10 -minute cooking school that 00:13:53.350 --> 00:13:55.730 came out of nowhere but became so popular. It 00:13:55.730 --> 00:13:58.789 started with Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Johnny 00:13:58.789 --> 00:14:01.049 Depp's character is obsessed with puerco pibil, 00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:04.590 this slow roasted pork. So Rodriguez just showed 00:14:04.590 --> 00:14:07.190 everyone how to make it on the DVD. Yeah. Apparently 00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:09.289 he cooked amazing meals for the cast and crew 00:14:09.289 --> 00:14:11.570 during those late night Austin shoots. So he 00:14:11.570 --> 00:14:13.350 shared the recipe. And then he did it again for 00:14:13.350 --> 00:14:16.480 Sin City. Right. Breakfast tacos. Sin City breakfast 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:19.240 tacos using his grandmother's actual tortilla 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:22.039 recipe. It just perfectly shows how his whole 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:25.639 life, family, food, filmmaking, it's all interconnected 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.960 in the final product. It's personal. Okay, so 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:30.299 he's got his method, his studio, his network. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:32.919 How does he expand beyond just making movies? 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:35.519 Well, he realized pretty early that controlling 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:38.480 distribution was almost as important as controlling 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.919 production. Which led to El Rey Network in 2013, 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:43.639 his own cable channel. Yeah, a dedicated home 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:45.720 for the kind of genre stuff he loves. It gave 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:48.320 him a pipeline he owned. And he used it right 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:51.940 away to launch the From Dusk Till Dawn TV series. 00:14:52.179 --> 00:14:54.679 Based on his earlier film, yeah, it ran for a 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:57.139 few seasons. Showed he could build out his own 00:14:57.139 --> 00:15:00.299 IP on his own platform. He was also really ahead 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:02.970 of the curve on digital filmmaking. The sources 00:15:02.970 --> 00:15:05.210 say he was a big advocate early on. Makes total 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:07.769 sense, right? Digital is inherently mariachi 00:15:07.769 --> 00:15:11.570 style. Cheaper cameras, nonlinear editing, faster 00:15:11.570 --> 00:15:14.509 workflow, more accessible. It democratizes the 00:15:14.509 --> 00:15:17.190 whole process. Exactly. And George Lucas himself 00:15:17.190 --> 00:15:20.269 apparently introduced him to digital, let him 00:15:20.269 --> 00:15:22.110 play with the tech at Lucas's place. Which is 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:24.769 fascinating considering where he ended up decades 00:15:24.769 --> 00:15:27.730 later working within the Star Wars universe. 00:15:28.029 --> 00:15:30.610 Big time. Directing that key episode of The Mandalorian 00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:33.659 Season 2, The Tragedy. His style, fast action, 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:36.399 practical feel, but handling big digital effects 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:38.419 seemed like a perfect fit for what they needed. 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:40.840 Totally. And that led to him being a major force 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.019 on the book of Boba Fett as executive producer 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:45.639 and director. Still being the one man crew even 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:47.860 there. Well, maybe not one man, but still doing 00:15:47.860 --> 00:15:50.870 a lot. He even did voice acting for two characters 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:53.730 on Boba Fett, Doc Strassi and Mock Shays. Always 00:15:53.730 --> 00:15:55.649 finding ways to contribute across the board. 00:15:55.789 --> 00:15:58.009 And he's still making deals like that first look 00:15:58.009 --> 00:16:01.009 deal with HBO and HBO Max. Securing premium outlets 00:16:01.009 --> 00:16:04.149 for his future projects. Always thinking strategically. 00:16:04.529 --> 00:16:07.389 OK, let's touch on the what ifs. Yeah. The projects 00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:09.960 that almost happen. They often tell you a lot 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:12.659 about someone's interests. Oh, yeah. His unrealized 00:16:12.659 --> 00:16:15.799 projects list is fascinating. Like Madman, the 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:18.080 comic book he's owned the rights to since 98. 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.500 Mike Allred's comic. It never got made, but there's 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:22.440 a key connection there. Yes. According to the 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:24.860 sources, it was Mike Allred who introduced Rodriguez 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.980 to Frank Miller. So no Madman movie, but that 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:30.480 connection led directly to Sin City. Wow. Exactly. 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.669 Then there was Barbarella. He was attached to 00:16:33.669 --> 00:16:36.570 remake that in 2007, wanted to cast Rose McGowan. 00:16:36.690 --> 00:16:38.950 And that actually delayed Sin City 2 for a while. 00:16:39.070 --> 00:16:41.470 It did. Barbarella stalled, so he pivoted quickly. 00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:44.250 By 2008, he was planning a Red Sondra remake, 00:16:44.429 --> 00:16:46.789 also with Rose McGowan. You see his loyalty to 00:16:46.789 --> 00:16:49.370 certain actors and IPs. He also had plans for 00:16:49.370 --> 00:16:52.519 animation and fantasy. Heavy metal. Yep. bought 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:54.899 the rights in 2011, wanted to do a new animated 00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:57.700 film, and after Frank Frazetta died, he wanted 00:16:57.700 --> 00:17:00.179 to do a live -action remake of Fire and Ice, 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:02.480 the Frazetta Bakshi film. Yeah, even an Escape 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:05.380 from New York remake. Attached in 2017 with John 00:17:05.380 --> 00:17:07.859 Carpenter himself producing, it's like a dream 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:10.799 list of genre projects, shows his deep love for 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:13.119 that kind of material. So even while playing 00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.339 in these huge Hollywood sandboxes, he's still 00:17:16.339 --> 00:17:18.660 doing really unconventional, almost conceptual 00:17:18.660 --> 00:17:21.680 stuff too. Absolutely. Which brings us to... 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.539 maybe the weirdest project on his resume? Hundred 00:17:24.539 --> 00:17:27.460 Years. The film they made in 2015 with John Malkovich. 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:30.339 That won't be released until the year 2115. A 00:17:30.339 --> 00:17:32.599 hundred years later, it's locked in a safe. A 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:35.319 literal time capsule film. It's such a contrast 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:37.960 to his usual fast -paced output. An incredible 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.470 act of, I don't know, artistic patience. Faith 00:17:41.470 --> 00:17:43.569 in the future. He'll never see it really. Mind 00:17:43.569 --> 00:17:45.630 -boggling. And then right up to the present day, 00:17:45.710 --> 00:17:48.029 he's still innovating on the community and funding 00:17:48.029 --> 00:17:50.890 side. Yeah, very recently announced at SXSW in 00:17:50.890 --> 00:17:53.849 Austin, his new company, Brass Knuckle Films. 00:17:53.890 --> 00:17:56.430 And this sounds like mariachi style scaled up 00:17:56.430 --> 00:17:58.470 for today's world. Totally. It's built around 00:17:58.470 --> 00:18:01.490 fan investment. Fans can actually put money in, 00:18:01.529 --> 00:18:03.990 become stakeholders in these low to mid -budget 00:18:03.990 --> 00:18:06.250 genre films. But it's more than just crowdfunding, 00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:09.029 right? Fans can pitch ideas. That's the key part. 00:18:09.369 --> 00:18:11.730 Fans are invited to pitch their film concepts 00:18:11.730 --> 00:18:14.849 directly to Rodriguez. He's planning an initial 00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:17.829 slate of four films, directing one himself. The 00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:20.769 audience becomes the backers and part of the 00:18:20.769 --> 00:18:23.410 creative pool. It's democratizing that very first 00:18:23.410 --> 00:18:26.349 step. finding the ideas, the energy, the resources 00:18:26.349 --> 00:18:28.390 within the community, not just from studios, 00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:32.769 it's the $7 ,000 El Mariachi spirit, but as a 00:18:32.769 --> 00:18:35.569 formal company structure. Okay, so wrapping this 00:18:35.569 --> 00:18:38.329 up, looking across this incredible career, the 00:18:38.329 --> 00:18:40.569 through line is definitely that ingenuity, that 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:43.029 efficiency. Yeah, the one -man crew wasn't just 00:18:43.029 --> 00:18:45.410 a quirk, it was a business strategy, a way to 00:18:45.410 --> 00:18:48.150 maintain control and beat the system. He showed 00:18:48.150 --> 00:18:51.269 that starting small, like $7 ,000 small, could 00:18:51.269 --> 00:18:53.829 lead to massive success if you're smart about 00:18:53.829 --> 00:18:56.089 resources. And that creative control is worth 00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:58.609 fighting for, worth sacrificing big paydays for, 00:18:58.670 --> 00:19:01.289 like quitting the DGA. Whether it's action films, 00:19:01.470 --> 00:19:04.049 kids movies, cooking shows, it all comes back 00:19:04.049 --> 00:19:06.390 to maximizing what you have. And he's proven 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:08.349 that method works at the highest levels. Lucasfilm, 00:19:08.490 --> 00:19:11.410 HBO, while still launching grassroots fan -driven 00:19:11.410 --> 00:19:14.089 ventures. It's all integrated. His life, his 00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:16.990 family, his food, his filmmaking. So the story 00:19:16.990 --> 00:19:19.250 of Robert Rodriguez, this whole deep dive, it 00:19:19.250 --> 00:19:21.730 really answers that classic question creatives 00:19:21.730 --> 00:19:25.049 always ask. How do I start with nothing? It does. 00:19:25.230 --> 00:19:27.250 And it leaves us with a final thought. Something 00:19:27.250 --> 00:19:29.950 for you, the listener, to take away. If Rodriguez 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:33.630 could turn a $7 ,000 budget into a global career. 00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:37.039 by using what was right in front of him, the 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:40.000 Robert Rodriguez list method, turning constraints 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:42.220 into the actual story. Then what's the biggest 00:19:42.220 --> 00:19:44.480 barrier stopping you right now, creatively or 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:47.059 professionally? What barrier could you maybe 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.240 just eliminate? by looking at the resources, 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:51.559 the skills, the connections you already possess. 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:53.599 Maybe you don't need the big budget or the perfect 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.240 conditions. Maybe the key element, that unique 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.779 prop, that location, you know, that family story 00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:01.779 is already right there. Look around. Ingenuity, 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:04.359 like Rodriguez shows, is often way more valuable 00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:06.940 than cash. That's our deep dive on the mariachi 00:20:06.940 --> 00:20:09.720 maverick, Robert Rodriguez. Thanks for joining 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:09.900 us.