Career As a filmmaker On his 21st birthday, Smith saw Richard Linklater's comedy Slacker. Impressed that Linklater set and shot the film in his hometown of Austin, Texas, rather than on a soundstage in a major city, Smith was inspired to become a filmmaker, and to set films where he lived. He has said: "It was the movie that got me off my ass; it was the movie that lit a fire under me, the movie that made me think, 'Hey, I could be a filmmaker.' And I had never seen a movie like that before ever in my life." He assembled a library of independent filmmakers like Linklater, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee and Hal Hartley to draw from.
Career As a filmmaker On his 21st birthday, Smith saw Richard Linklater's comedy Slacker. Impressed that Linklate,r set and shot the film in his hometown of Austin, Texas, rather than on a soundstage in a major city, Smith was inspired to become a filmmaker and to set films where he lived. He has said: "It was the movie that got me off my ass; it was the movie that lit a fire under me, the movie that made me think, 'Hey, I could be a filmmaker.' And I had never seen a movie like that before ever in my life." He assembled a library of independent filmmakers like Linklater, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee and Hal Hartley to draw from.