Richard Linklater

Self-taught writer-director Richard Linklater was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s.

Born in Houston, Texas, Linklater suspended his educational career at Sam Houston State University in 1982, to work on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He subsequently relocated to the state's capital of Austin, where he founded the Austin Film Society and began work on his debut film, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING (1988). Three years later he released the sprawling SLACKER (1991), an insightful, virtually plotless look at 1990s youth culture that became a favorite on the festival circuit prior to earning vast acclaim at Sundance in 1991. Upon its commercial release, the movie, made for less than $23,000, became the subject of considerable mainstream media attention, with the term "slacker" becoming a much-overused catch-all tag employed to affix a name and identity to America's disaffected youth culture.

Linklater founded the Austin Film Society in 1985 together with his frequent collaborator Lee Daniel, and is lauded for launching and solidifying the city of Austin as a hub for independent filmmaking.

In 2005, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his film BEFORE SUNSET. Despite his popularity and ability to direct high paying Hollywood productions, Linklater remains in Texas, with his own studio there to run most of his film productions.

John Sloss

John Sloss is a founding member of Cinetic Media, as well as the Managing Partner of Sloss Law Office, LLP. Mr. Sloss has also acted as Executive Producer for over thirty-five feature films including The Fog of War (2004 Academy Award winner, Documentary Feature), Pieces of April, and Far From Heaven. Mr. Sloss serves as a partner in InDigEnt, a low budget production company for high-level filmmaking talent that has become the gold standard in digital film production. He is a frequent featured lecturer and moderator at major international film festivals, conferences and universities. Mr. Sloss received his J.D. and B.A. from the University of Michigan.