Richard Linklater - Director/Co-Screenwriter - Fast Food Nation

Before writer/director Richard Linklater made SLACKER, an experimental narrative revolving around 24 hours in the lives of 100 characters, which garnered acclaim in 1991, he made many shorts and completed a Super 8 feature, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (1988).

Linklater's additional credits include the 70's cult hit DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993); BEFORE SUNRISE (1995); SUBURBIA (1997); THE NEWTON BOYS (1998), a western/gangster film set in the 1920s; the animated feature WAKING LIFE (2001); the low-budget, real-time drama TAPE (2001); the short documentary LIVE FROM SHIVA'S DANCE FLOOR (2003): the hit comedy SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003); the critically-acclaimed BEFORE SUNSET (2004); the television pilot "$5.15/Hr." and the irreverent comedy BAD NEWS BEARS (2005). He has two films being released this year - an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A SCANNER DARKLY and FAST FOOD NATION, based on the book by Eric Schlosser.

Linklater also serves as the Artistic Director for the Austin Film Society, which he founded in 1985 to showcase films from around the world that were not typically shown in Austin. The Austin Film Society shows over100 films a year and has given out $550,000 in grants to Texas filmmakers. In 1999, the Austin Film Society received the first National Honoree Award from the Directors Guild of America in recognition of its support of the arts.