I would like to thank Swansea University for research leave and the British Academy for the award of a research grant that enabled me to spend invaluable time in Austin, Texas in July and August 2009. In the course of writing this book, I was assisted by several generous and talented individuals. Firstly, thanks are due to Yoram Allon, Jodie Taylor and the dedicated team at Wallflower Press for their support and collaboration. Grateful thanks are also due to Paul Cooke, who first invited me to write on Linklater for his edited book World Cinema’s ‘Dialogues’ with Hollywood and who did his best to rid this book of nonsense and errors, as did my friends and colleagues, Elaine Canning, Joanna Rydzewska and Jimmy Hay. Thanks too to all the film students past and present at Swansea University, especially the gang who keep in touch via Facebook, for their interest in the project, which was more important than they know.
Thanks also to colleagues who helped in a variety of ways: Chris Homewood for information on German cinema, Kate Griffiths for help with a few translations, Peter Jones for kitting me out with the equipment I needed for Austin, and Mostyn Jones for invaluable technical assistance. Thanks to Lesley Speed, who graciously provided me with copies of her excellent articles on Linklater, to Josh Steuer, who generously allowed me to have a copy of the workprint of Dazed and Confused, and to Andrew Richards, who kindly sent me a copy of the documentary Linklater: St. Richard of Austin. Thanks are also due to Nick James, who commissioned my interview with Linklater, which appeared as ‘Ambition’s Debt’ in Sight & Sound 20, no. 1 (January 2010), 34–6.
At Detour Filmproduction in Austin, Texas, many thanks to Kirsten McMurray for her assistance and kindness, and at the Austin Film Studios, Chale Nafus and Martin Parrington for the guided tour.
And, of course, a huge thank you to Richard Linklater, who graciously provided the time for lengthy interviews and chocolate cake on his 49th birthday no less! It was a pleasure to meet you.
Finally and always, my thanks and love to Esther Santamaría Iglesias, whose intuition is far superior to my intellect and whose time is my eternal present.