Biography

Originally from San Francisco, Russ grew up in both Japan and the United States, garnering an international viewpoint of the world throughout his childhood.

After graduating from the University of Southern California with degrees in Cinema-Television, International Relations and Japanese (and gaining more production experience at the UCLA Extension Program), he founded Russem Productions in 2002. He did this to promote his short films, including "Her Knight (2003)" (2003), the award-winning "Girl with Gun (2006)" (2006), "The Assassin's Apprentice: Silbadores of the Canary Islands (2023)" (2017) starring Robert Picardo and Marina Sirtis, and the documentary "Restoration of Paradise (2014)" (2014).

He also produced shorts that include "Mavet (2005)" (2004), the zombie-flick "The Diary (2004)" (2004), the vampire film "Perfect Red (2007)" (2006), as well as "Cult 11 (2010)" (2010) and "The Meeting (2013)" (2013), two popular web series (where he directed two episodes each).

A prominent feature film, "Occupants: IndieGoGo Video (2014)" (2015), was the winner of the "Best Sci-Fi Feature Film" Award at Shriekfest and an Official Selection at the San Diego Comicon. The film was highlighted in the Huffington Post, and marked Russ's fourth foray into feature filmmaking after having directed "Heaven's Messenger (2008)" (aka P.J.: A Journey of the Heart") (2007), "Chasing the Green (2009)" (2009) and "The Legends of Nethiah (2012)" (2012).

Russ resides in Huntington Beach, CA.
- IMDb mini biography by: Russ Emanuel