Chris J. Russo’s award-winning short films have screened at hundreds of film festivals worldwide including the Sundance Film Festival and have aired on several networks such as PBS and MTV’s LOGO Network. Her film, A Woman Reported (starring Moira Kelly), about the moments before a hate crime, garnered critical praise in the national press as Curve Magazine wrote, “It should be required viewing for most of Congress.” In 2002, she wrote and directed the light-hearted coming-of-age short, Size ‘em Up, (starring Julie Brown, Stella Stevens and Leisha Hailey) which aired on Showtime, IFC and the Women’s Entertainment Network. In 2000, Russo won the OUTFEST Best Short Documentary Audience Award for Straight Down The Aisle: Confessions Of Lesbian Bridesmaids.
Last year, Russo completed the prestigious FILM INDEPENDENT Directors Lab with her feature script, Directed By Dorothy Arzner, co-written with Glenn Gaylord. She directed five scenes from the script as part of the requirement for the Lab, replicating environments from the 1920’s on a soundstage and on location, all shot on 35mm. Lydia Dean Pilcher is attached to produce. Directed By Dorothy Arzner has also been through FILM INDEPENDENT’s 2006 Screenwriters Lab, as well as the Emerging Narrative Section at the IFP Market & Conference, and has been presented as a live staged script reading at the 2008 Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.
Russo has also directed music videos for STAX Recording artist, Soulive, political campaign commercials for Santa Barbara District Attorney Candidate, Gary Dunlap, and a trailer for I Just Want to Be Alone, a romantic comedy feature about two unlikely people in love. Russo most recently completed, 25 Random Things I Did During My Big Fat Lesbian Depression, a comedy she wrote, directed and even acted in, that premiered at OUTFEST 2009. She is currently developing a web series based on the overwhelming response to the project. She continues to hone her craft by independently shadowing television directors that have included Arlene Sanford on “Desperate Housewives,” and Charles Randolph Wright on “South of Nowhere.” Currently, Russo is in development on three feature scripts she is writing and is attached to direct.
Russo completed her BFA in Photography from the University of Buffalo, and her MFA in Film from the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. In addition to filmmaking, Russo is an accomplished industry professional, with ten years of experience working in Hollywood with producers, studio executives and cinematographers in her role as Account Manager for Eastman Kodak Company.
