Elizabeth Avellán co-founded Los Hooligans Productions with Robert Rodriguez when the two began their first feature film project, El Mariachi, in 1991.  El Mariachi, winner of the Audience Award at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, launched Elizabeth’s career as a producer.  Since then, she has produced numerous films and, as Vice President of Troublemaker Studios, has played a primary role in developing Austin, Texas as a thriving film community.

 Avellán co-produced Desperado, written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, which starred Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek.  She also co-produced From Dusk Till Dawn, written by Quentin Tarantino, directed by Robert Rodriguez and featured George Clooney, Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis.  In 1997, Elizabeth Avellán, Pamela Cederquist and Rana Joy Glickman produced Real Stories of the Donut Men, a dark comedy, written and directed by Beeje Quick, which won the 1998 Best Comedy Feature Film at the Long Island Film Festival.  Additionally, Avellán served as producer’s rep along with Rana Joy Glickman for I Love You, Don’t Touch Me, a romantic comedy written and directed by newcomer Julie Davis.  I Love You, Don’t Touch Me premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival where Avellán and Glickman sold the rights to Goldwyn Entertainment Company.  In 1998, Avellán produced The Faculty, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez, which starred Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett and Robert Patrick.  In 1999, Avellán executive produced In and Out of Focus, a documentary about balancing motherhood and a career in the film business.  In 2000, Avellán produced Spy Kids, her first film to gross over $100 million, directed by Robert Rodriguez starring Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, and Daryl Sabara.  Immediately following the release of Spy Kids, Avellán went to Mexico and produced Once Upon A Time In Mexico, the third film in the Mariachi trilogy, directed by Robert Rodriguez with Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, and Willem Dafoe.  Shortly after Mexico wrapped, she returned to Austin and produced Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, which welcomed Steve Buscemi, Matt O’Leary, and Emily Osment to the original cast of Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, and Daryl Sabara. In May of 2003 Elizabeth wrapped production on the third installment of the Spy Kids trilogy, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. The final chapter of the family favorite welcomed back all the memorable characters from Spy Kids 1 and 2 and introduced kids to a new dimension of movie making, with it’s innovative 3d technology.  Currently, Avellán is producing Frank Miller’s Sin City – an adaptation of three of the popular graphic novels in the Sin City series.

 Elizabeth Avellán was born in Caracas, Venezuela, where her grandfather, Gonzalo Veloz, was the pioneer of commercial television.  At the age of thirteen, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family and later graduated from Rice University.  Avellán and her husband, Robert Rodriguez, live in Austin, Texas.