Mexican-American fimmaker Robert Rodriguez is on a roll lately -- he's known for his films From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids and the upcoming Sin City: A Dame to Kill For; he's the founder/chairman of El Rey network; creator of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series; and he just launched a video-making contest with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew.

Based in Austin, Texas, the 45-year-old filmmaker also felt right at home during South by Southwest 2014. On March 11, as part of SXAméricas, Rodriguez teamed up with director Diego Luna (Y Tu Mamá También, Rudo y Cursi, Milk) to discuss their latest productions and share their insight with other aspiring Latino filmmakers. (Luna discussed his role as director of the upcoming film, Cesar Chavez, which is made its North American premiere at SXSW Film on Monday, March 10.)

So what does the impressive filmaker tune into -- from apps, TV shows, music to his favorite reads, and how does he program for his netwok El Rey?

Adweek's Emma Bazilian got an inside look the Mexican-American filmmaking mastermind for Info Diet.

What's the first information Rodriguez takes in when the sun comes up?

When Rodriguez first rises, he checks his "to-do list." And "as far as outside-world stuff, I try not to look at any of that until midday or later. Sometimes I'll check Deadline and Ain't It Cool and Indiewire for entertainment stuff."

Recently Rodriguez took part in a Reddit Ask Me Anything, which he says he thoroughly enjoyed.

"It was great! I got some really good questions," he told AdWeek. "I'm going to go back and grab some of my answers and stick them in my journal because some of them were to questions that I hadn't answered before. [Reddit users] always set the bar really high."

What's Rodriguez's favorite app?

"I probably use the Kindle app the most. I also use Shazam, and the regular voice recorder iPhone app, which I use to write songs or record actors' dialogue. I like programs that don't have a lot of steps-you can just open it up and start recording or writing. When I have to clear out apps, those are the ones that stay."

While films are more his forte, the filmmaker taps into music, when it's accessible. Rodriguez says he used to use Spotify, but it turns out it wasn't so user-friendly for him. "But I changed my passcode or something, and it's too difficult to get back on. I just end up buying the song I want to hear on iTunes."

What does he watch on the tube?

"I watched House of Cards, Breaking Bad, of course, and The Walking Dead I like a lot. And True Detective-I've only seen a couple of those, but I want to go binge on that when I get back home," he said.

We all have guilty pleasure shows, but we don't all have our own TV network -- Rodriguez admits he relishes in the ability to put all of his "guilty pleasures on the schedule!"

"Right now Starsky & Hutch is on. Quentin [Tarantino] called me the other day and said, 'I saw that Starsky & Hutch was on! And I thought, wow, I wonder what network plays Starsky & Hutch? And it was your network!' He was so excited to re-watch it from the beginning."

When it comes to choosing his programming for his El Rey network, Rodriguez explains to AdWeek that he sees what's available and what fits his brand.

"If I'm genuinely a fan of something, I'll get it. If I don't like it or watch it, I'm not going to force it on my viewers just to fill up time," he explained. "Lately we've been showing a lot of grindhouse films and martial arts movies, and people really like the respect we show toward genre films."

Rodriguez says he's drawn to "lot different biographies of directors." He's working on a new show called The Director's Chair, which he says is "kind of like Inside the Actors Studio, but for directors-so I'm trying to brush up on their work so I can ask good questions. I just finished reading about John Carpenter for his interview. It takes a lot of preparation, more than I had anticipated."

Rodriguez's English-language channel, El Rey network, "targets Latino audiences in the U.S. and features a mix of feature films and series focusing on the action, sci-fi and grindhouse genres. Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures control the El Rey network with a minority stake held by Univision Networks & Studios."

He's been having a blast creating From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series.

"The show (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, featuring Wilmer Valderama, Eiza Gonzalez, Zane Holtz, Don Johnson and D.J. Cotrona, among others) is awesome. It takes Quentin's original characters and re-imagines their storylines and trajectory, introduces new characters and will surprise the audience with its twists and turns. I'm really proud of it, it's edgy and cool freaking scary. The whole season takes place from dusk til dawn. It's going to be one hell of a night," Rodriguez said during his Reddit AMA.

Based on the 1996 movie, From Dusk Till Dawn, starring George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo and Juliette Lewis, which reeled in about $25 million in the box office, it is about "two criminals and their hostages who unknowingly seek temporary refuge in an establishment populated by vampires, with chaotic results."

As mentioned, Rodriguez will also partner with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew soda in a video-making contest known as Green Label Studios: Open Call.

Not only is there a hefty prize up for grabs -- an award of $250,000 -- but there's a once in a lifetime chance to have the opportunity to score Rodriguez and producer Roberto Orci as mentors.