Robert Rodriguez Hosts SXSW Showcase

Famed indie film director Robert Rodriguez and his technology partner AMD hosted a  SXSW Showcase Tuesday night at the ACL Moody Theater in Austin, Texas.

Rodriguez revealed his plans to launch a production company called Quickdraw Animation, with two feature-film projects already in the works, and announced a filmmaking contest in partnership with AMD.

Logos for his recently announced El Rey Network were also prominently on display. The new Comcast television network will be designed to be an action-packed, general entertainment network in English for Latino and general audiences that includes a mix of reality, scripted and animated series, movies, documentaries, news, music, comedy, and sports programming. The El Rey network will include programming that features Latino producers, celebrities and public figures.

Tuesday night’s event was also a Latin-fused rock affair with Tito and Tarantula and Chingon taking the stage.

Rodgriguez, rocking a brand new Gretsch Electromatic guitar, performed with both bands, and even took the time to introduce each song and explain why and how he used them in his movies. Scenes from some of those films —  DesperadoFrom Dusk Till Dawn and Machete — aired on a large screen behind the bands during their performances.

Tito and Tarantula’s David Garza on his Gretsch …