Russell, David O. 1958–

(David O'Russell, David Russell)

PERSONAL

Full name, David Owen Russell; born August 20, 1958, in New York, NY; son of Bernard (a publishing executive) and Maria (a homemaker and political activist) Russell; married Janet Grillo (a producer and studio executive); children: Matthew Antonio Grillo Russell. Education: Amherst College, B.A., English and political science, 1981.

Addresses: Agent—Endeavor, 9601 Wilshire Blvd., Sixth Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career: Director, writer, and producer. Involved in activities at the Directors Guild of America. Worked as a waiter, political organizer, literacy teacher, and bartender.

Member: Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, East.

Awards, Honors: Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival, dramatic category, 1994, Grand Jury Prize nomination, Sundance Film Festival, dramatic category, 1994, and Independent Spirit awards, best first feature (with Dean Silvers) and best first screenplay, Independent Feature Project/West, both 1995, all for Spanking the Monkey; Independent Spirit Award nominations, best director and best screenplay, both 1997, for Flirting with Disaster; Boston Society of Film Critics Award, best director, 1999, Writers Guild of America Screen Award nomination (with John Ridley), best screenplay written directly for the screen, 2000, and Golden Satellite Award nomination (with John Ridley), best screenplay, original, International Press Academy, 2000, all for Three Kings; honored by the Film and Media Department of the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, 2002; Best Film Award nomination, Gotham awards, Independent Feature Project, 2004, for I Heart Huckabees.

CREDITS

Film Work:

Director, Boston to Panama (short film), 1985.

Director, producer, and editor, Bingo Inferno (short film), 1987.

Director, Hairway to the Stars (short film), 1990.

Director and executive producer and (as David Russell) dog trainer, Spanking the Monkey, Fine Line Features, 1994.

Director, Flirting with Disaster, Miramax, 1996.

Director, Three Kings (also known as Spoils of War), Warner Bros., 1999.

Producer, The Slaughter Rule, Cowboy Pictures, 2002.

Director and producer, I Heart Huckabees (also known as I Love Huckabees and I Love Huckabee's), Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004.

Director, producer, and camera operator, Soldiers Pay, Cinema Libre, 2004.

Executive producer, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (also known as Action News, Action Newsman, and Anchorman), DreamWorks, 2004.

Executive producer, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (also known as Anchorman: Wake-Up Ron Burgundy and Wake Up Ron Burgundy), DreamWorks, 2004.

Director and producer, The H-Man Cometh (also known as Head Games, Untitled David O. Russell Project, and Untitled DOR Project), Universal, 2007.

Film Appearances:

Orlean dinner guest, Adaptation. (also known as The Orchid Thief), Columbia, 2002.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

(As David O'Russell) Himself, The 100 Greatest War Films, Channel 4 (England), 2005.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Panelist, Directors on Film: A Conversation about Preservation, American Movie Classics, 1994.

Himself, In Bad Taste: The John Waters Story, Independent Film Channel, 1999.

Himself, Wanderlust (documentary), Independent Film Channel, 2005.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Himself, On the Set of Three Kings (short), Warner Home Video, 2000.

Himself, I Heart Huckabees: Production Surveillance (short), Twentieth Century-Fox Home Entertainment, 2005.

WRITINGS

Screenplays:

Bingo Inferno (short film), 1987.

Hairway to the Stars (short film), 1990.

Spanking the Monkey, Fine Line Features, 1994.

Flirting with Disaster, Miramax, 1996.

(With others) Stuart Little (based on the book by E. B. White), Sony Pictures Releasing, 1999.

(With John Ridley) Three Kings (also known as Spoils of War), Warner Bros., 1999.

I Heart Huckabees (also known as I Love Huckabees and I Love Huckabee's), Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004.

The H-Man Cometh (also known as Head Games, Untitled David O. Russell Project, and Untitled DOR Project), Universal, 2007.

Contributor to other screenplays.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Black Book, October, 2004.

Entertainment Weekly, June 25, 1999.

Film Comment, September, 2004, pp. 28-33.

New York Times, September 19, 2004.

On Writing, August, 2005.