It was a chance meeting with (then unknown) director Bryan Singer at the Toronto International Film Festival that solidified his desires. After striking up a conversation, Singer invited Russell into a screening of his film The Usual Suspects and later offered him some pointers on the industry. Singer’s words had a lasting impression on Russell and to this day, Russell credits Singer for being the first person to give him the confidence to drive forward towards his goals. Their connection would continue over the next four years, as they would meet again during a screening of Apt Pupil at the same festival two years later, and yet again during the pre-production stage of X-Men in Toronto.

Russell signed his first production deal at age twenty, slated to write, direct and star in his first independent feature film with a modest budget of $500,000. Inner turmoil and disagreements between the producers within the company forced the company to go under and Russell’s deal went into turnaround. The next few years proved to be a serious uphill battle for Russell as he tried to get his film made, but he continued to take Singer’s advice to heart: “Don’t give up”. After numerous fits and starts, Russell decided to explore the options of self-financing his own work.

In April of 2001, Russell began Artful Jester Productions and joined forces with Nigel Draper, an IATSE Local 873 member who was looking to break into producing. Draper patented Whisky Stills Productions and helped produce Russell’s first two short films: The Circle Game, a psychological thriller based on a feature script that Russell had previously written, and Changes, a modern day ghost story. They currently have three short films in development in addition to the feature length version of The Circle Game, the first in an arc of three films that detail the final decade of a fictional high school.