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Rico Torres april 20 10 days at theworld’s T admissions may have been whispered in there. “Oh Father, its original home, a Mexican church. One wonders what confessional booth, which has been shipped here from in a chair. all, a wooden And, perhaps most eye-catching of from ; there, a forlorn-looking skeleton slumped ’s .of Here, the candy-coloured power-suits To the left, pistol in hand, an intimidating statue life-sized checking whether they’re munitions). still crammed full of packing guitar cases from Desperado (we never get round to (And probably has, since he lives around the corner.) and geeky gizmos that would make Harry Knowles weep. movieThen there are memorabilia the toys: an explosion of George Yepes, . and a sepia mugshot of existence), a lurid painting called Shotgun Messenger by Dawn poster by fantasy artist (only five in To the right, beneath an ornate table, the gun- a pair of including an ultra-rare From Dusk the art on the walls is notably hipper, average movie-making facility. For one, Studios does not resemble that of your he reception area at Troublemaker coolest tudio built himself inTexas, granting Empire exclusive access to the home City, ofSin Spy Kids, andthe upcoming Predators andMachete: ...

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“Except now they get released!” I was 12,” says , Troublemaker’s mogul. the salad buffet on a Burbank soundstage. cutting-edge cinema on a budget that would just about cover lobby decoration, of creatinglook bad, and not just in terms well-earned: the studio makes the big boys in Hollywood in-development projects. And Troublemaker’s name is (the one excitingwith the snakey bust) and a batch of penis), Sin City, the Spy Kids trilogy, behind releases like (the one with the melty studio suits. Based in northern Austin, , it’s the name are Hell-A’s conceived and crafted far from the prying eyes of genre — some family-friendly, flicks some anything but — creativitythe coolest studio in the world, where a hotbed of 3-D. Soz.” Or maybeSharkboy just, “The Adventures And Lavagirl Of draped a python across ’s bust. Ave Maria.” Tarantino’s penis melting,” perhaps. Or, “Lord, I repeatedly forgive me, for I hath Quentin created a prosthetic of “I’m still making the same backyard movies I made when Occasional U-rated misfire aside, Troublemaker remains empireonline.com

JOAQUIN AVELLAN (1) Subscribe atwww.empireonline.com/sub scores forhismovies. From busk till dawn: From busktilldawn: often composes the often composesthe Robert Rodriguez creative.” everyone justhastobemore When thebudget’s small, filmmaking, gianthomemovies. “What wedohereisbigguerrilla

E meltdown. His assistant trails him, holding a to-do list with Mexican-American (born in ) is close to the guitar and figure out some music until the sun comes up...’” So you’re like, ‘I may as well blaze through an edit, or pick up No temptations, no-one you can call, no place you can go. nocturnal anyway,” he smiles. “Besides, I like working at night. but Predators is shifting to nights soon so we’ll all be going from a meeting in LA. “I try to stay on a regular schedule, operating on less than two hours sleep, having just jetted back him, considering when we first meet he’sis especially nice of more upcoming films, including Spy Kids 4 and sci-fi epic by ’s saucy socialite, April). And several creating a fake Wii game that will be played is in post-production (the artists are currently the studio’s visual effects hub, scuzzy exploitation homage ’n’-weapons workshop. Upstairs, at Troublemaker Digital, observing the mayhem and giddily exploring the creatures- Rodriguez-penned our first day threequel; we spend most of Austin Studios), Predators are running amuck for the killing-ground set (and across the road at Richard Linklater’s a phone book. Outside, on a marvellouslythe girth of gory Aside from puffy eyes, there’s no indication that the Robert Rodriguez hyphenate filmmaker as our guide. Saturday, to be precise), with the multi- the lot (from dusk Wednesday till dawn to spend two access-all-areas days on mpire has been invited by Rodriguez TROUBLEMAKE ESSNTIAL And far bigger — this And farbigger—this average workspace. average workspace. Troublemaker HQis far cooler than your far coolerthanyour Office space: Office space: is reception.

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april 2010 — and nearly wins. — andnearlywins. baddies withknives proofed carfullof who takes onabullet- as assassinNavajas, ? Yes, when hefirstsawit. the bigexplosion Cameron cheered So coolthatJames guitar-strumming hero. Carlos Gallardoasthe Banderas replaces talk track.Antonio an English-language titchy) budgetand a bigger(butstill up isslicker, with ’s follow- Desperado (1995) Danny Trejo? No. a richimagination. camera movesand pulp withhyper-kinetic a juicychunkofaction $7,000 budget,it’s villain. Despitethe Marquardt asthe wardmate Peter he endedupcasting a medicalguineapig; first filmbybecoming Rodriguez fundedhis El Mariachi(1992) rebel base from Rodriguez’s The bestmovies EMPIRE

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*The studio was called Los Hooligans until 2000 0123456789 [[1L]] Must have been busy. Disappointingly, no. Danny Trejo? Shosanna’s siblings. Basterds as one of cameoed in Inglourious Tina, who recently and the director’s sister, Knowles, Jon Stewart , Harry eclectic cast includes underrated treat. The high-school movie is an generation, Rodriguez’s Snatchers for the MTV Invasion Of The Body (1998) manager, Razor Charlie. as theTittyTwister’s Danny Trejo? Yes, TV pin-uptomoviestar. George Clooneyfrom Desperado) turned the latter’s cameoin Tarantino (notcounting between Rodriguez and midriff, thisfirstteam-up ode toSalmaHayek’s part bloodyhorror, part Part gangstermovie, (1996) From DuskTillDawn Elizabeth Avellan. business brains, Troublemaker Studios’ EMPIRE april 2010 try to hit every project a little bit every day.” the meantime I’ve gotten ideas on how to improve it. We in mind got booked up so we’re waiting for him. And in wearing the hero’s jacket right now — but the guy I had all ready to go, down to the costumes — I’m actually and shift something over into its place. Nerveracker was not available and have to start over. This way, I can shrug put all my energy into a project then find out an ’s says. “Actually, I can literally juggle too! But I’d hate to “It seems chaotic, but I’ve always been able to juggle,” he Runner, set in in 2085”) are in gestation. Nerveracker (which Rodriguez describes as “my Blade A Robert Rodriguez film is just that: he not only writes Just as well, then, that he’s a multi-tasking demon. do best.” ElizabethAvellan of filmhereandthat’s whatwe but wespecialiseinacertainkind weird.’ I’dlovetomake rom-coms, “Our philosophyhereis,‘Keep it

Digital’s Rodney Brunet. “Robert used to call me at three waves, grab a break when you see one,” says Troublemaker easy for his loyal colleagues. “You have to learn to ride the publish one day. up sequence), or scribbling in his diary, which he may he’s writing music for others’ (he scored Hot Fuzz’s tool- getting up.” Even when he’s not working on his own films, an even worse option: write by thinking of make myself to avoid working. So I lie there, nice and cosy, and you’ll play with the dogs, clean your sock drawer, anything with my laptop on my chest,” he shrugs. “Once you’re up he’s still in pyjamas. “My favourite place to write is in bed, And that means his average working day starts while his house into an edit bay,to turn part of ‘Los Cryptos’. and still bears two that scars on his arm), compelled him a lab to fund his first film, El Mariachi, called Pharmaco in his early 20s (he underwent medical experiments at DIY ethos that led Rodriguez to sell his body to science Texas.while at the University Of It’s this steely focus and is a character from Los Hooligans, the comic strip he drew score. Even the studio’s cartoon logo, a smirking well as frequently operating the camera and composing the the screenplay and directs, but produces and edits too, as City’s greenscreen. noir treatmentonSin Bastard (left)getthe blue-looking Yellow Alba andNickStahl’s Willis (top),Jessica Miller time:Bruce This full-tilt-boogie work ethic doesn’t always make life empireonline.com chavo,

JOAQUIN AVELLAN (2) Subscribe atwww.empireonline.com/sub Nicotero onPlanetTerror. Above: Rodriguez (plus Churchill dog standing Churchill dogstanding This picture:QT takes mannequin earns her mannequin earnsher keep onDeathProof. greenscreen leg) on greenscreen leg)on ’s stunt one in the eye from one intheeyefrom make-up guru Greg make-up guruGreg by justoffcamera. the studio lot. the studiolot.

R shot done; that’s all that counts.” about working. adapting to his way He wants to get the of And he’d a little bit and call someone else. huff But it’s all like, ‘Robert, I’m 30 minutes from the studio. Can’t it wait?’ in the morning and ask me to go get him something. I’d be notorious for not being easy to wrangle, behaved when he a nightmare.” Even corpulent karate master , have a problem with an actor, even when I’ve heard they’re return we shoot fast — there’s no hanging about. So we rarely $20 million. That doesn’t happen here,” says Avellan. “And in between us and the big studios is, we don’t pay an actor demands.your entourage “The difference and usual set of a ‘Mom’ role!” kind of that’s a really hard one. But in a way, every job I do is employees we have here. And then being Mom... well, plus the workshop, and looking after the 16 permanent producing movies. I’m also running a visual-effects company, on our second day. “But people don’t realise I’m not just minded yin to Rodriguez’s creative yang, when we meet her they’re here,” says the breezy Venezuelan, the business- ongoing business partner. they announced their amicable separation in April 2006) and in keeping the studio going. She’s Rodriguez’s wife (although mother, even though Elizabeth Avellan is as crucial as anyone credit for Sharkboy). But you probably haven’t their heard of in ;gets his head blown off Rogue gets a story since they’re often also his collaborators (Rebel’s the one who children — Racer, Rogue, Rocket, Rebel and Rhiannon — may be able Rodriguez’s to name at least a few of five For movie stars, coming to Troublemaker means ditching “Robert casts the , them while then I take care of it’s much more of a family affair. You time at Troublemaker, though, reveals hero of his .clad man band, a lone wolf like the black- odriguez’s legend paints him as a one- The greenscreen The greenscreen on Grindhouse. on Grindhouse. stage doubling stage doubling chopper) park chopper) park Diesel power: Diesel power: ’s Empire’s as car (and as car(and

april 2010 thug Cucuy. Naturally, asdeadly Danny Trejo? shot inHD. Rodriguez’s firstfilm extremes —plusit’s is pushed togleeful before, buttheaction gets lesstodothan plotted andBanderas the carnage. It’s over- Enrique Iglesiasjoin even Latino heartthrob Eva Mendes,and Depp, , with abang,asJohnny The Mariachisagaends In Mexico(2003) Once UponATime as UncleMachete. Danny Trejo? Yes, personal film. this maybehismost and through;oddly, a familymanthrough galore. Rodriguez is with hi-techgizmos a solidblastofsilliness, ‘classic’, Teen Agent) is by theRichardGrieco Kids (possiablyinspired But theoriginalSpy Rodriguez’s kids’ films. not fansofmost We won’t lie, we’re Spy Kids(2001) EMPIRE t

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Sin City (2005) The studio’s greatest, this future adaptation was shot on a greenscreen stage but TROUBLEMAKER seems to sprawl across Coming outta the whole of nefarious Austin in the metropolis Basin City. not-too-distant... Rodriguez delights in making wholesome Machete (2010) stars do unspeakable That Grindhouse things, like turning wasn’t a spoof; Frodo into a cannibal. Rodriguez wrote a draft Danny Trejo? of this feature a decade Strangely not. We’ll bet ago. Fun casting, too: he’s in the sequel. co-stars as the knife-happy hero’s nemesis, as well as and Steven Seagal, who Rodriguez tells us has a sword fight with Trejo. Predators (2010) Left: Rodriguez with director Nimród Antal Again, this is based on the Predators set. on a script Rodriguez This picture: Danny wrote ages ago — Fox “Everyone falls in love with this place when they get Trejo boasting a blade for every occasion dug it up and greenlit here. even threatened to move as Machete. it last year. Armored’s Nimród Antal directs Grindhouse (2007) next door to me and ask for cups of sugar the and FX wizard Greg Rodriguez and QT’s with politicians and the accompanying guff. Rodriguez we’re good at is keeping the budget low, by cutting out the Nicotero has designed ill-fated two-hander is whole time.” Robert Rodriguez makes a snoring noise when the subject comes up. “Elizabeth paperwork and keeping the effects in-house. Where 300 and the monsters, which uneven, especially when has to sit through most of the boring stuff, the drudgery! But The Spirit cost between $70 and $90 million each, we made include some you’ve gets talky. arrived last summer to shoot scenes for Machete — though film festival at the Alamo Drafthouse, hosted by Rodriguez’s it’s definitely necessary. You just try to keep it simple.” Sin City for half that.” never seen before... But its high-points are he did insist on being cooled by a giant air-conditioning vent, blood brother, Tarantino, which puts on such treats as a One method of greasing the wheels came up inadvertently Rodriguez concurs. “You don’t want to feed the dog so Spy Kids 4 (TBC) blissful: ’s which now has to be digitally erased from shots. string of Burt Reynolds features. while they were making The Faculty. “We were shooting a much that it turns into an obnoxious beast. I don’t like the Like Part 3, it’ll have a fake Brit-horror trailer The reward for good behaviour? Fun. Stars are housed in “Everyone just falls in love with this place when they get classroom scene and George W. Bush’s wife, Laura, turned up wastefulness that goes into making a huge film. When the 3-D element. Producer Don’t, Rose McGowan’s a set of luxury apartments in the coolest ’burb in town, South here,” says Rodriguez. “Austin is a city with a smalltown feel. on the set with a bodyguard,” says Avellan. “It turned out her budget’s small, everyone just has to be more creative and Elizabeth Avellan says, dancer with an assault Congress. Every Tuesday, there’s a banquet at the BBQ pit I told to bring his band down so we could put daughter Barbara was an extra. I invited her to stay and she do more jobs. On night shoots, I love to go in the kitchen “The original kids will rifle for a leg, Zoe Bell on Stage C. There are painting workshops (apparently Josh on a rock show at Antone’s and sell the place out for charity. whispered, ‘Oh my God, no! She’d be mortified if she knew and cook up breakfast tacos for everyone. What we do here only have a cameo, clinging to a speeding Brolin wields a mean brush). At night, there’s a down-and- That day everyone just ran there from the Sin City set and I was here!’ Weirdly, our greenscreen stage is in the hangar is big , giant home movies. It’s not about as they’re all grown- car’s hood — for real. dirty bar called Lustre Pearl where the likes of Robert De rocked out. I put it on the DVD and Bruce told me he where Bush, as governor, used to keep his plane.” bloating — I love the fact Spy Kids was probably the only up now. It would be Danny Trejo? Yes, in Niro, and Danny Trejo could be found playing watches it all the time. Antonio Banderas even threatened series in history in which each movie got cheaper.” Spy Tweens!” Machete, the fake trailer ping-pong and hula-hooping during the Machete shoot; to move here — he was like, ‘Robert, I’m gonna move next t’s a long way from El Mariachi’s $2 million And finally, bearing in mind the name he gave his Sin City 2 (TBC) that’s now a real film. another favourite is Mexican restaurant Fonda San Miguel. door and ask you for cups of sugar the whole time!’” gross in 1992 to Sin City’s $159 million haul studio, when did he last need to slip into the confession box Pencilled in for a late And nerdier entertainment comes in the form of an annual A less glamorous side of running a movie studio is dealing in 2005, though Rodriguez is still smarting downstairs? “Now, I’m not going to tell you that,” he grins. 2010 shoot. It’ll be from the Grindhouse debacle. So where next “But I don’t really stir up that much shit. The name of this based on A Dame for this rebel band? There’s talk of the long- place actually comes from the type of cowboy hat I wear, To Kill For, as well as Isimmering Sin City 2 going in front of cameras in late 2010 pinched at the front. Every time I travelled to Europe, they’d new material written — the only physical set built for the film, the Club Pecos bar, go, ‘You’re from Texas — where’s your hat?’ So I went to by Frank Miller. still sits intact on one of the stages — though the director will the guys who made (legendary Texan guitarist) Stevie Ray Nerveracker (TBC) only allow a wry, “Maybe.” But it seems bigger, mainstream Vaughan’s hats and said, ‘Quick, I need a cowboy hat...’ Futuristic thriller that’s movies aren’t on the agenda. “Our philosophy here is, Then I thought, ‘Troublemaker? That’s a fucking cool name part Desperado, part ‘Keep it weird,’” Avellan laughs. “I’d love to make romantic — I’m going to call my studio that, and I’ve been wearing Blade Runner. Involves Regular Troublemakers: Troublemaker Digital’s comedies, but we specialise in a certain kind of film here and this hat ever since.” an elite crime-fighting Production designers Alex Toader and Rodney that’s what we do best. There was one point when The Jetsons [email protected] unit forced to battle Caylah Eddleblute and Brunet. To avoid Predators Steve Joyner (left), spoilers, don’t look at was in place here. That would have been a much bigger ‘nerverackers’, super- and VFXer Chris Olivia. the wall behind Alex! project than we’ve ever done; you’d have to create a whole Predators is out on July 22. Machete is out in powerful killers. world from scratch. Right now it’s not on the cards. What summer 2010.

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