Yvonne Russo

Yvonne Russo, an award-winning producer, director and writer of film, television and animation. She's the director and producer of VOW OF SILENCE: THE ASSASSINATION OF ANNIE MAE a 4-part docu-series based on the life of Annie Mae Aquash an activist who fought for Indigenous rights with the American Indian Movement. She's producing with Amy Kaufman, Caroline Waterlow for ONYX Collective/HULU. She's also serving as a Producer on KELLY'S BAR an indie drama about a Mi'kmaq Indian man and an Irish-American woman who fall in love in an impoverished and racially divided 1980's South Boston. She's producing with Casey Affleck. She is the creator, director, producer and writer of TINY TOT NATION an animated children's series currently in development. She serves as the director, producer, and writer of the feature documentary VIVA VERDI!, which explores life inside Casa di Riposo per Musicisti in Milan, the home Giuseppe Verdi established in 1896 for retired opera singers and remarkable musical artists. The film is being produced in collaboration with Christine La Monte. VIVA VERDI! had its World Premiere at the 25th Anniversary Woodstock Film Festival in 2024. She worked as a Production Advisor on WOMAN WALKS AHEAD, a period epic feature film circa 1889, which follows widow Catherine Weldon (Jessica Chastain) leaves behind her unsatisfying life in New York City to pursue her dream to be a painter, and bravely travels alone to the Dakota Territory, with the goal of painting the infamous Lakota Chief, Sitting Bull - The film was written by Academy Award nominated Steven Knight, produced by The Bedford Falls Company and Black Bicycle Entertainment. Russo has recently entered a television development deal with Handmade Films to adapt the 1989 cult classic film POWWOW HIGHWAY based on a novel by David Seals. She is Executive Producing with Sterlin Harjo, Bobby Wilson and Heather Rae. She has a deal with Warner Brothers Television and Bad Robot to Executive Produce a new television series currently in development with Steven Knight. She recently directed, wrote and produced an animated short MINNIE'S WAR BONNET, for PBS and is now being utilized in K-12 educational programs in the USA. As an independent producer, Russo has worked on a range of national and international productions in the United States and over 17 countries from Rajasthan, India, to Rwanda. Her projects include, "40 Under 40," a documentary featuring America's top 40 visual artists under 40 years of age, a CBS/Smithsonian Network production; the National Geographic series, "Nat Geo's Most Amazing Photos"; National Geographic's "Capturing the Deep," as well as Nat Geo's "All Roads Film Project" and TLC/Discovery's "Bringing Home Baby" series, which she also directed; "Nat Geo's Top Ten Photos of 2010"; "The Other Milan," an episode from the series 1

"Nat Geo's Most Amazing Photos," are among her writing credits. She has produced over 75 "Behind the Photo" segments that were syndicated on the National Geographic International Channel and for NGM digital studios. Russo's feature film work includes the 2012 feature documentary, THE RESCUERS: HEROES OF THE HOLOCAUST, where she served as Co-Producer; the film was nominated for "Outstanding Documentary" at the 2012 NAACP Awards. She served as Producer on the award-winning indie feature NATURALLY NATIVE that had its launch at Sundance, played theatrically at Landmark theaters, and was acquired by Turner Classics. Russo produced the feature documentary, TRUE WHISPERERS: THE STORY OF THE NAVAJO CODE TALKERS, in association with Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla Motion Pictures. From 1996 to 2002, Russo served as Vice President of Production for Red-Horse Productions. She started her film career as a voice-over actor on the animated film, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, and segued into television series and feature film. Her acting credits for television include "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and "Stolen Women, Captured Hearts," a television special; NATURALLY NATIVE and AMERICAN INDIAN GRAFFITI are among her feature film acting credits. A member of the Directors Guild of America, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America where she served on the Board of Governors. Russo is a long-standing member of SAG/AFTRA, a Board Member of New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) and the Co-founder and Director of The Akatubi Film/Music Academy, with Kimberly and Johnny Guerrero which focuses on teaching Native American youth entertainment and new media production. She was a grantee of Awesome Without Borders, a chapter of the Awesome Foundation for her upcoming feature documentary, VIVA VERDI! She is the recipient of The Redford Center grant for VOW OF SILENCE: THE ASSASSINATION OF ANNIE MAE And a recipient of the NIA TERO Grant for Indigenous Filmmakers. She was accepted into the Sundance Institute and Women in Film's Financing Intensive for Women Filmmakers in April 2014. In 2004, she was a Sundance Producers Lab Fellow; a Tribeca All Access Program Fellow in 2005 and a Juror of the National Geographic Society's All Roads Film Festival in Washington, D.C. Russo received the "Producer of the Year Award" from the American Indian Film Festival, and the "Outstanding Achievement in Producing" from the First Americans in the Arts. She has been a guest lecturer at The Royal Film Commission in Amman, Jordan, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and the University of Miami. Russo is a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post and contributing columnist for Indian Country Today and Produced by magazine covering media and entertainment. Russo is a member of the Sicangu Lakota Tribal Nation.