Jay Russell (born January 10, 1960 in

North Little Rock, Arkansas North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...

), is an American film director, writer and producer.

Biography

He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1985 with a MFA in screenwriting and directing, having studied with producer

Michael Hausman Michael Hausman is an American musician and talent manager, known for his collaboration with former-girlfriend and bandmate Aimee Mann. Hausman attended Berklee College of Music and played with a Boston band called The Dark before becoming the ...

and director Miloš Forman. He wrote the screenplay and served as director for his debut film, '' End of the Line'' (1987), which was a

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers fr ...

project and was released by

Orion Classics Orion Classics started in 1982 as the distribution label for the then independent film production company Orion Pictures, now owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was relaunched in 2018. The original focus of 1980-era Orion Classics was on acquirin ...

. In 1996 he directed two episodes of the PBS documentary mini-series ''Great Drives''; notably interviewing

Willie Morris William Weaks Morris (November 29, 1935 – August 2, 1999) was an American writer and editor born in Jackson, Mississippi, though his family later moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi, which he immortalized in his works of prose. Morris' tradem ...

for the episode "Highway 61: Memphis to New Orleans". Russell returned to feature film directing with the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

family film ''

My Dog Skip {{Refimprove, date=March 2009 ''My Dog Skip'' is a memoir by Willie Morris published by Random House in 1995. ''My Dog Skip'' is the story about nine-year-old Willie Morris growing up in Yazoo City, Mississippi, a tale of a boy and his dog in ...

'' (2000). He next directed two

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

features, ''

Tuck Everlasting ''Tuck Everlasting'' is an American children's novel about immortality written by Natalie Babbitt and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1975. It has sold over 5 million copies and has been called a classic of modern children's literature ...

'' (2002) and ''

Ladder 49 ''Ladder 49'' is a 2004 American disaster thriller film directed by Jay Russell and written by Lewis Colick. The film follows Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire, and his recollection of the events that got ...

'' (2004). He directed ''

The Water Horse ''The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep'' (stylised on-screen as simply ''The Water Horse'') is a 2007 fantasy drama film directed by Jay Russell and written by Robert Nelson Jacobs, based on Dick King-Smith's children's novel ''The Water Horse'' ...

'' (2007) for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. For the

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...

he directed the original film ''

One Christmas Eve 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

'' (2014). Russell served as a producer on ''

Whole Lotta Sole ''Whole Lotta Sole'' (known as ''Stand Off'' in North America) is a 2012 independent criminal comedy film co-written and directed by Terry George and starring Brendan Fraser, David O'Hara, Colm Meaney, Yaya DaCosta and Martin McCann. Plot Ho ...

'' (2011) and the 2015 stage adaptation of the

Cornell Woolrich Cornell George Hopley Woolrich ( ; December 4, 1903 – September 25, 1968) was an American novelist and short story writer. He sometimes used the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr., rated Woolrich th ...

thriller ''

Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...

'', starring his ''End of the Line'' and ''

'' (2000) collaborator

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...

Filmography

*'' End of the Line'' (1987) *''

Great Drives Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

'' **''Highway 61'' (1996) **''Highway 93'' (1996) *''

'' (2000) *''

'' (2002) *''

'' (2004) *'' The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep'' (2007) *''

'' (2014)

References

External links

*
Hollywood.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Jay 1960 births Living people American film producers American male screenwriters People from North Little Rock, Arkansas Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Film directors from Arkansas Screenwriters from Arkansas