JEREMY RUSSELL

Director, GARTNER

Among Jeremy Russell‘s most recent work are projects for NASCAR and Lustgarten Foundation. His Lustgarten spot was featured in SHOOT’s Best Work You May Never See, and was voted ‘Freakiest Spot of January’ on Adfreak.

An ADDY-winner for RGS "Hands, "Finalist" (note: not a winner) of a Cannes Lion, and an independent and willful yet charming and collaborative artist, Russell offers the following spin on his bio, and bios in general:

"I often wonder why bios are written in the third person, when most of the time it’s the person submitting the bio who’s actually writing it. For this reason, I am authoring my bio in the first person. That person being me.

I have a lot of hobbies. I’ve learned so much from them. From baseball I have learned patience and to never give up. From flying I have learned the art of calmness. And from woodcrafting I have learned that if you don’t do it right the first time, don’t do it at all.

As far as a biography goes, I didn’t know I wanted to be a director when I was growing up like most. I wanted to be a fighter pilot, or a major league pitcher. I used to fall asleep at night thinking of how I would strike out Wade Boggs or how I would land on an aircraft carrier. But never how I would direct an actor. (It was always a high fastball).

I guess I was led to being a director because you can take everything you’ve learned in your life and apply it in some way. Everything you’ve ever learned, or wanted to learn, or anyone you’ve ever known, or wanted to know.

I love my job.

March 2009