I am director Robert Rodriguez, here again with El Rey. Let's play.

Someone asked

Hey Robert, welcome to reddit! I've been feeling like a real Mexican't lately. Do you have any words of advice or inspiration that will help me get back to Mexican status? Not even kidding about this.

they deleted their comment. But here is my reply:

Hate to say this but it is also helpful advice. The biggest obstacle you will ever face, your biggest roadblock, your greatest enemy in accomplishing your goals, your biggest naysayer, is yourself. Nobody can keep you from getting where you want to get or need to get like yourself. The negative voices we face come more fiercely and furiously from within ourselves. It seems like its outward forces a lot of times, but on close honest scrutiny it comes from within. I've been there, a LOT. But believe me, it can be overcome. Once you truly believe you can do anything (and you need to start building piles of evidence through both big and small endeavors) you will almost magically be able to do anything and everything.

Robert thankyou so much for doing this AMA. i just wanted to say thankyou for bringing so many great films to the screen. Please never stop what you're doing! Is there anything about the new Dusk Til Dawn series that i could tell my partner? He can't wait for it to start!

The show is awesome. It takes Quentin's original characters and re-imagines their storylines and trajectory, introduces new characters and will surprise the audience with it's twists and turns. I'm really proud of it, it's edgy and cool freaking scary. The whole season takes place from dusk til dawn. It's going to be one hell of a night.

Any thoughts on subjects for future Ten Minute Cooking School shorts? One of my favorite bonus features from Sin City…

Definitely want to do more cooking schools! we'll probably make it a regular staple on the Network, they've gotten a lot of great feedback. Thanks for watching! I'm still addicted to those tacos.

What is your favorite book and why?

Been reading the Popol Vuh to prepare for Dusk. but also the JAWS LOG. one of the books that inspired me to make movies to begin with.

What video game do you think could be made into a good movie?

Little Big Planet (my son would love that)

Are we ever gonna get another Chingon album? Saludos! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ungLCpYEA_M

CHINGON will be back with a VENGEANCE. We just recorded several big songs for Dusk Til Dawn, and will be releasing them soon, they're insanely catchy. Also, several of the Chingon band members are onscreen as the band in the Titty Twister bar in the new Dusk.

Hey Robert big fan!!!! How come no love for Trejo with Sin City 2??? Also any chance we'll see another Mariachi film???

Who says Danny isn't in Sin City 2?!

Haha.

Another Mariachi film is always possible.

Hey Robert! I'm a young filmmaker, I love your book Rebel without a Crew. I always refer back to it whenever I get discouraged in my filmmaking adventures. My question is do you have any plans to write another book? I also really enjoy your 10 minute film schools. Thanks!

I would love to do another book or series of books, I kept my journal after Rebel Without a Crew and there's a lot of amazing stuff that happened and that I witnessed in Hollywood from that time on. It would take a bit of time to edit it down, but i may take that on soon.

What is your favorite movie?

that's tough, depends on the night and who i'm watching with. Godfather, What's up Doc, Notorious, Vertigo and Some Like it Hot are all faves

Your filmography is quite interesting. We have ultra-violent films such as Machete and From Dusk Til Dawn alongside highly imaginative and very kid-friendly movies like Spy Kids and Shark Boy and Lava Girl. What makes you want to do both?

I came from a big family, and growing up with my siblings inspired the SpyKids series. I had started out making prototypes to Spykids like my short film BEDHEAD starring my siblings. They did really well at festivals and with audiences, and I always wanted to make something like that even though I was becoming known for El Mariachi and Desperado and From Dusk Til Dawn. Eventually i had kids of my own and wanted to make films they could be a part of and watch. It was a nice palette cleanser.

Robert, thank you so much for making such awesome movies dude. Sin City is truly a masterpiece. My question: Being such good friends with Tarantino, do you have any funny stories about him?

I remember when we first started out, we'd skip out on work sometimes and go to his apartment and he'd string up 16mm grind house films on his old projector and project them on his wall. Great memories of watching Rock All Night and White Lightening. Lotsa laughs in those films.

How was your day? And do you like your movies and watch them often?

Day has been great so far, doing publicity for Dusk. I do watch some of the old movies if people tell me they've been enjoying them recently. people on set were talking about The Faculty, which i hadn't seen in a long time, i watched some of it and enjoyed it. It felt so long ago

Hey Robert! My dad went to St. Anthony's and always talks about your early sci-fi horror flicks with Chris O. and Bryan T., but does a terrible job describing details to a film enthusiast. I'm interested in what those were like. What equipment did you use? Anything you rigged/learned back then that you still do today? Thanks for the AMA!

I shot those on my home video camera and would show the films to the teachers and students in the assembly hall. I was the only kid in the school with a video camera making movies, so I convinced the teachers to let me make films instead of writing term papers, and they'd give me grades as long as I included the class subject somehow in the project in a creative way. Even if it was an action film! One year I had a guy running around in a hoodie as a killer for a Halloween spoof and then seperately filmed one of the teachers pulling the hood off. He didn't realize i was going to edit it to look like the teacher was the killer until the screening. Good times.

Hi Robert, who inspires you the most?

I try to study different disciplines: music, painting, sculpture, and always under instruction and guidance of masters, people who are much much better than I could ever be. It teaches me the art of creativity and actually helps me as a filmmaker more than if I were to go watch another director work. The creative processes are always similar in those disciplines, and it is endlessly inspiring to watch someone who is excellent at their craft work their magic.

What is your favoeite childhood memory?

There was a theater my parents would take me and my nine siblings to in San Antonio Texas called the Olmos Theater. It was a revival theater and showed double and triple features. Usually old MGM musicals, marx brothers, and some times Hitchcock double features. My favorite movie experience as a kid was seeing a double feature of Spellbound and Rebecca (my mom took us cause her name was also Rebecca) and it blew me away. The Salvador Dali dream sequence in Spellbound haunted me and compelled me to make films of my own.

I've been trying to get into acting for the past few months, and I know Texas isn't the most popular place in the world to get acting work, especially in the south, (San Antonian). So, since you're experienced with the region: What is a good way I can get my foot in the door?

When actors live in Texas I tell them it's a great place to get exposure in film and television and sometimes work alongside stars like Robert DeNiro, because we can't bring all of our actors from LA so we have to cast a lot locally to fill the roles. And this gives local actors an opportunity to work alongside their heroes in a way they would never get in LA. Look for any open casting calls and seek out relationships with local casting, like Third Coast casting (they cast most of my movies).

Hey Robert! Could you tell me anything about Sin City: A Dame To Kill For?? I'm dying to see it!

We've said before that Sin City 2 will be comprised of three stories. (but there's actually four) Shhhh.

I read that Nicolas Cage knew he wanted to be an actor when he first saw "East of Eden". Was there any films or actors that really affected your desire to go into filmmaking?

I do remember seeing Escape From New York and seeing that John Carpenter often wrote, directed, edited and scored his films. It made me want to be a filmmaker and made me think it was possible because he financed all his films independently.

Hey Robert. Thanks for doing this ama. I'm a big fan of your work.
What was your inspiration to become a film maker?

I found myself gravitating towards telling stories visually from a young age. Before I even had my first camera. It started with sequential art in fourth grade, and then flip cartoon movies in fifth grade (using the sides of paperbacks), to taking storyboard type fotos with a polaroid, graduated to super 8 at age 12, and then finally a home video camera at 12/13. have been shooting digital since then!

If you could go back in time, what year would you go to?

1. So i could see KISS ME DEADLY on the big screen for the first time.

My pet theory is that the contents of the box in Kiss Me Deadly, the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, and the Malibu's trunk in Repo Man are the same thing.

I just shot a scene of the Gecko Brothers opening the briefcase. Stay tuned to discover its contents! Only on El Rey Network...

Is there a timeline for Spy Kids and Machete? Does the Machete series happen directly after Spy Kids?

they're alternate universes! Juni is a cholo in Machete and Carmen is KILLJOY in Machete Kills. MACHETE is "Uncle" Machete in SpyKids. And Antonio Banderas is "EL Cameleon" in MAchete KIlls and "Uncle" Machete's brother and the spy dad in Spy Kids. CHeech is fake Uncle Felix in Spy Kids and Machete's BROTHER in MAchete. There's probably another connection I'm forgetting...

What is the best advice given to you on your career?

When I was 16 my first boss at photo shop I worked at saw my photographs and said I was creative. He told me that I then needed to apply myself and learn to be technical. Because technicians always need creative people and creative people are always in need of technicians. But if I learned to be both, i would be unstoppable. That set me on a path to learn how to do every job on a movie set. From loading a camera to setting a light to recording sound, etc. It was that advice that made doing El Mariachi without a crew possible.

What does Quinton Tarrantino's breath smell like?

Lemonheads

Hi Robert, thanks for coming back and hanging out!

What's been the most difficult thing in adapting From Dusk Til Dawn to television? If I'm not mistaken I think it's your first time being super-involved in a TV show, so I was wondering what has been the biggest difference in the two mediums.

Thanks! Loved Machete Kills by the way, and I'm very much looking forward to Sin City 2 this year!

It was a blast expanding Dusk into a series, could really let the characters and story expand and delve deeper. It's my first show, and i brought along my crew and my studio to give the whole thing a feature film level of quality. People will be surprised by what we pull off for television. We were able to make it very cinematic overall.

Hey Robert!

What's your favorite horror movie gross out scene?

I have a soft spot for Scanners head exploding

I have introduced my nephews your children's films (I bought them all at once). Their favorites are Shorts and Shark Boy and Lava Girl. Do you have any suggestions for films to watch together as a family or safe for kids. What are your family's favorite movies?

My kids like NeverEnding Story, Labyrinth, Spirited Away and the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Current favorite thing to cook? I loved all those DVD extras of your kitchen cooking essentials.

i make these monster ravioli's out of a homemade wine pasta, (i substitute white wine for the egg white) and it just MELTS in your mouth. It barely stays together during the cooking process, so use a gentle hand, but dammmmnnnn.

Robert, you get a lot of great cameos in your movies. Who is on your wish list that you haven't been able to get yet?

I don't ever really have a list, i probably should start one. Usually it comes to me once I have the script and i try and match people to the characters. It usually surprises me who I think of, people that I usually never would have thought of before, but something in the character sparks the idea.