Richard Linklater is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films which deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was named to the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the romance films Before trilogy (1995–2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016); the action romantic comedy Hit Man (2023); and the biographical films Blue Moon (2025) and Nouvelle Vague (2025). Many of Linklater's films are noted for their loosely structured narratives. The Before trilogy and Boyhood both feature the same actors filmed over an extended period of years. He has received five Academy Award nominations and won the Silver Bear for Best Director for Before Sunrise. He also won a Golden Globe Award for directing Boyhood.