Jason Russell (born October 12, 1978) is an American film and theater director, choreographer, and activist who co-founded
Invisible Children, Inc.
Invisible Children, Inc., founded in 2004, is an organization to increase awareness of the activities of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Central Africa, and its leader, Joseph Kony. Specifically, the group seeks to put an end to the practices ...
He is the director of ''
Kony 2012
''Kony 2012'' is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by '' Invisible Children'' creators Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as ...
'', a short documentary film that went
viral in the beginning of March 2012. In the first two weeks it gained more than 83 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
and became the subject of media scrutiny and criticism.
Its subject is the Ugandan rebel leader
Joseph Kony
Joseph Rao Kony (likely born 1961) is a Ugandan militant who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Christian fundamentalist organization, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union and variou ...
, his alleged war crimes, and the movement to bring him to the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
.
Early life and education
Russell is the younger son of Sheryl (nรฉe Hortman) and Paul Russell, co-founders of
Christian Youth Theater, which Russell was part of as a child.
Russell discussed acting in an interview when he was 13 years old: "That was my life. It was what everybody around me did. I didn't even think about it. I did my first show at 8, and I have done over 20 plays since. You can't do this if you don't like it. You have to commit yourself to it."
Russell graduated from the
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
.
Career
Russell, with Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole, created the Invisible Children organization in 2006 after they "traveled to Uganda and witnessed children camping out in the city of Gulu to avoid being kidnapped into the militia in their villages." With camera equipment obtained from
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
, they went to Uganda as student filmmakers but had no plan for the focus of their intended documentary.
According to Russell, the trip was inspired by the 1993 death of
Dan Eldon, who had been beaten to death while trying to document the ongoing famine in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ar, ุงูุตูู
ุงู, aแนฃ-แนขลซmฤl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
After Russell's group reached the Sudan their caravan was attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army, forcing a retreat to Northern Uganda.
In
Gulu
Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District.
The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2ยฐ46'54.0"N 32ยฐ17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and larg ...
, Russell and the others interviewed and videotaped children who had to commute to the city every night to elude raids by the LRA on their home villages in
Acholiland
The Acholi people (also spelled Acoli) are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples (also spelled Lwo), found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda (an area commonly referred to as Acholiland), including the districts of Agago, Amuru ...
.
During filming, the three men contracted malaria, but omitted covering their illness so that the documentary would remain focused on the children. The footage they shot resulted in the original ''Invisible Children'' documentary draft, which was first screened in June 2004.
Russell and others returned to Uganda for six months in 2005 to collect more interviews and documentation for the next ''Invisible Children'' documentary. In 2006, after the Washington D.C. screening of Russell and Poole's
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...
, the U.S. Congress approved discussion of the plight of the Acholi before the
Congressional Human Rights Caucus. The 2006 ''
Invisible Children: Rough Cut'' also won Russell, Bailey, and Poole the Pioneering Spirit Award at the 2007
Heartland Film Festival
The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...
.
With his wife Danica Jones and
Jon M. Chu, Russell co-wrote a musical, ''Moxie'', which the team sold to
Steven Spielberg.
Legal issues
On March 15, 2012, at the height of the ''Kony 2012'' video's viral popularity,
San Diego police
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of San Diego, California. The department was officially established on May 16, 1889.
History
Prior to the establishment of the San Diego Police Departme ...
detained a naked Russell for
psychiatric evaluation
Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...
after he allegedly vandalized cars and made sexual gestures after removing his underwear, during a public
breakdown
Breakdown may refer to:
Breaking down
*Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated
*Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components
*Decompo ...
that was filmed and released online. Russell was hospitalized for several weeks. A statement by his family said the diagnosis was a "brief reactive
psychosis
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...
, an acute state brought on by extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration" as a result of the popularity of the campaign. In October 2012, Russell appeared on the TV show ''
Oprah's Next Chapter
''Oprah Prime'' (formerly ''Oprah's Next Chapter'') is an American prime-time television series hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey, airing on Oprah Winfrey Network. The series premiered on January 1, 2012, with a two-part episode featuring Ae ...
'' to discuss the incident, describing it as an "out of body experience" and stating "that wasn't me,
..that's not who I am".
Personal life
On October 23, 2004, he married Danica Jones in
La Jolla, California. They have two children.
Russell has a sister, Amy, who is married to actor
Ryan Hansen
Ryan Hansen is an American actor, entrepreneur and comedian. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004โ2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series ''Party Down'' (2009โ2010), and ...
.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Jason
1978 births
Living people
Activists from California
American documentary filmmakers
American evangelicals
American human rights activists
American male film actors
American political activists
American social activists
Children's rights activists
Film directors from California
Invisible Children
People from El Cajon, California
USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni