JAY RUSSELL (Director/Executive producer) has distinguished himself as a filmmaker and documentarian since 1985, when he earned his M.F.A., with honors in screenwriting and directing, from Columbia University. Having won filmmaking grants from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Louis B. Mayer Foundation, Russell was invited to attend the Sundance Institute Film Workshop to develop his project "End of the Line." Written and directed by Russell, the critically acclaimed film starred Wilford Brimley, Mary Steenburgen and Kevin Bacon, and was released by Orion Classics. He also wrote the screenplay for "The Black Cat," a segment of George Romero and Dario Argento’s "Two Evil Eyes."
Russell directed the first music video for children, "Minnie’s Street," produced by Walt Disney Records. He subsequently produced and directed the Discovery Channel series "Amazing America" as well as other documentary series and specials for NBC, CBS, Fox, the Learning Channel, USA Network and others.
In 1995 he was asked to write, produce and direct two hours of a five-hour miniseries for PBS on famous American highways, entitled "Great Drives." His installments, "Highway 61 Revisited" with Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Levon Helm and "Highway 93: The Killer Road" hosted by Graham Greene, premiered nationally to exceptional reviews in 1996.
A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Russell at 19 directed a series of commercials for the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Division under his boss, Gov. Bill Clinton.
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