Houston-born, Huntsville-raised Richard Linklater, a self-taught filmmaker, worked on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico before moving to Austin where he founded a film society and started making movies. In 1987 Linklater completed his first film, "It's Impossible to Learn to Plow By Reading Books", and shot his first feature, "Slacker", a comedic look at then-contemporary youth--post-college lazies, anarchists and neo-beatniks--as they wander around a Texas college campus over a 24-hour period in the summer of 1989. The low-budget film was lauded on the festival circuit in 1990,
Quit college to work on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico
Moved to Austin Texas, co-founded the Austin Film Society in 1985 (with cinematographer Lee Daniel) and began making films
1987
Completed first film, "It's Impossible to Learn to Plow By Reading Books"
1990
Made first feature, "Slacker" (shot in summer 1989)
1993
Wrote and directed first Hollywood feature, "Dazed and Confused"; cast included numerous up and comers including Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, Nicky Katt, Matthew McConaughey, Renee Zellweger, Jason London and Anthony Rapp
