ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So we have some common history.
Robert Rodriguez: What did you do in there?
Drug names that I dont remember.
Credit: El Rey Network
Rodriguez: Id be in there for a month; $3,000 for a month.
Thats what I did forElMariachi.
It was easy because it was Lipitor, though it wasnt called that yet.
It was a lower-cholesterol drug, which was great because they gave us like bacon and a high-fat diet.
And somebody got sick on the first day and went home the first day fully paid.
We were all like, I wish we could get sick.
I stuck to the weekend ones because I had school.
Rodriguez: I avoided those.
The weekend ones youd end up like a pin cushion.
Theyd put on your tourniquet and blood would already be shooting out because your other holes hadnt healed.
Theyre like $500 to $700?
And speaking of drawing blood, we should talkDusk.
You always fill many roles on each project.
How many hats are you wearing on this?
Rodriguez:Its a big deal because, one, Im running the web link.
So its not just this show but its all the other things were doing.
It would be like Ted Turner having to actually direct and be there on the floor.
Usually a filmmaker does a show he helped develop hell do just the pilot.
Thats the one that sets the tone.
Ive [directed] half [of the episodes] so far, four of them.
I wrote the first one to show how it was going to be expanded.
I was really inspired by that last painting
Rodriguez points to a large painting hanging above his lobby.
I always wanted to add more to that original story because it took place in Mexico.
Originally it was a bar in Mexico that was full of vampires.
And I kind of hinted at it.
I wanted to at least allude to a bigger story.
I never really got to it.
And were already getting there.
Were in episode eight and were in new territory that gets into the mythology.
It kind of feels more like the second season already.
So by episode eight its new territory?
Rodriguez: I mean, theres new stuff from the very beginning.
Before there was no clue there was anything supernatural until you go to the bar.
I wanted the supernatural element to be more engrained from the very beginning.
But the ideas I gave them that could have been kinda out-there they made them work.
Its really cool to see how the whole sniper team works.
So I can still direct and edit.
What took you so long to do a TV show?
Rodriguez: I was always interested in TV.
I would pitch some ideas and they would have some Hispanic themes.
I didnt even get so far as the development stage.
The process seemed cockamamie, it was really different from the movie industry.
With TV, you develop something andmaybeit goes to script andmaybethey even commission a pilot andmaybeit even gets shot.
Then if it doesnt get picked for a series, its dead.
You have no say in any of that.
In the movie business you have a lot more say.
I was making my own posters and helping decide release dates.
The TV process seemed like a lot of work for a lot of maybes.
We can put all our best work into this because we know people will see it.
So I just avoided it until this online grid thing came along thats different.
This is our own web connection.
We can commission more seasons.
In fact we can start now!
Its much more like my independent film days.
Rodriguez: I wouldnt even say waited I never thought this would even happen.
But this is the way to go.
you’re free to entice everyone to come to work for you.
Bob Orci, he doesStar Trek,Sleepy Hollow,Hawaii Five-0.
I went to him and was like, What do you got?
Hes like, I got a Latin James Bond.
Im like, Thats cool.
We talked about it and said hes guaranteed 13 episodes in prime-time and we start now.
And its like, Wow, that never happens.
But there has to be a limit to the leash.
Rodriguez: We dont really have them yet.
You dont really cancel your first shows.
Later, once you establish numbers, then you have something to compare it to.
OnceDuskorMatadorcomes out, we can keep those going forever because theyre our first shows.
Were not comparing ourselves to other networks, were just comparing them to ourselves.
But if I really believe in something, well keep it.
We want filmmakers to feel like, when they go to El Rey theyre treated like the king.
Thus El Rey, youre treated like The King?
Yeah, thats why I kinda came up with that name.
You want them to feel like its one-stop shopping and theres always something cool going on.
Then you might have aBreaking Bad, something thats a slow build.
Were not going to panic.
Its all by instinct.
But here [you dont have to].
You gotta go through layers that question every move.
Is there an example of an idea like that fromDuskthat wouldnt make it past executives at another web link?
I cant remember what specifically it was.
Things will get watered down for no particular reason.
There is just a process in the system that has built itself up.
Just like the studio system built themselves up and then independent filmmakers figured out another way to do it.
This is very much like an independent renegade connection thats building from ground up.
Were not imitating how other networks are doing it or else wed be dead.
Thats what weve always done here in Austin.
Because were outside of the industry were automatically going to think outside of the box.
How come were the first to be shooting digitally?
How come were the first to be doing a [comic-book on green-screen-style]Sin City-throw in movie?
How come we did the first digital 3D movie withSpy Kids 3?
You stumble, but you also stumble onto ideas nobody would have thought of.
Content wise if you look at basic cable have everything from Disney Channel to FX airingAmerican Horror Story.
So what is permitted on El Rey terms of violence language and nudity?
Where are you setting the bar for yourself?
Were not in competition with anybody.
Were not trying to be gorier or scarier.
You dont have to force it.
If its honest, we can do anything we want.
I looked into that and its different with every connection.
Some have their own standards list.
Well have a go at keep it so we dont get in trouble later.
You mentioned a second season forDusk, can you tease where the story go?
Everybody is being set up like lambs to the slaughter.
But thats because theyre lambs.
So I hope we get into that in the second season.
You know, El Rey really does fit the web connection really well.
I was thinking of the song and the lyrics go, I dont have a throne or a queen.
Or anyone who understands me.
But Im still the king.
Wait, was your El Rey in the film a reference to Jim ThompsonsThe Getaway?
Weve been talking about that, about eventually the shows story going to El Rey.
Yeah, no, not at all.
Cops show up at the hotel and they have to break out.
He wrote a pretty involved scene with Richie shooting his way through hotel room doors.
It was cool but it didnt fit.
And he was right, it didnt fit.
That was the only place that happened.
Any concerns about having a vampire show when the vampire trend seems to be on the wane?
Theyre not really vampires.
We wanted something more ancient than that.
Great idea you kill people, the sun comes up, it must be working!
ForBlade Runner, the first thing Ridley Scott changed was the word android.
Because you see android and you feel like you already know what youre going to see.
He just changed it to Replicant.
Its same thing, but its completely different.
Its fun finding the differences.
you’ve got the option to kind of do whatever you want.
Youre not tied to any rules.
Its two movies in one.
It was our firstGrindhousedouble feature.
How are you balancing that in the series?
And once you open up the supernatural element can you get back to a crime story within the show?
Originally in the movie it wasnt supposed to be that way.
It was never supposed to be halfway.
It became this hybrid and it was unsellable.
Nobody could understand it.
ThenPulp Fictionhit and everybody wanted to make Quentins script, it didnt matter.
Originally they thought it was weird, you turn the page and theres vampires!
It makes no sense.
Suddenly it became avant-garde, its two movies in one!
For the TV show, I wanted it to be much more engrained.
Its a crime saga with supernatural elements in every episode.
Theres one last question I want to ask.
Its not aboutDuskand its not even about anything recent.
But in a way you did not explain it.
I labored over that for awhile.
I had turned down movies to stay home before, but that was the biggest one by far.
It certainly wasnt easy.
I could have been there for a year and a half.
There are so many other projects that could be done.
Id rather stay where Im at and make movies here.
Thats why I built a studio.
Im glad I did other movies instead because theyre on your own terms.
I just couldnt do it.
