David O. Russell

Five-time Academy-Award nominee David O. Russell co-wrote and directed AMERICAN HUSTLE, which earned ten Academy Award nominations – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and acting nominations in all four categories. The film also won three Golden Globe awards including Best Picture, three BAFTA Awards including Best Original Screenplay and won the Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle. AMERICAN HUSTLE is David O. Russell’s highest –grossing film at over $150 million domestically and over $248 million worldwide.

Russell's previous film, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (2012), was also a box office success and a major awards contender. It earned eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and acting nominations in all four categories (with a win for lead actress Jennifer Lawrence). The film also garnered four Golden Globe nominations, four Independent Spirit Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, and a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In addition, his film THE FIGHTER (2010), earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress - meaning that Russell has directed actors to a total of eleven Oscar nominations and three Oscar wins in his last three pictures.

Prior films include I HEART HUCKABEES (2004), THREE KINGS (1999), FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (1996) and SPANKING THE MONKEY (1994)

Russell is a board member and longtime supporter of the Ghetto Film School, which helps develop and support emerging filmmakers in the South Bronx and runs the nation's first film public high school. He also has been an ardent supporter of the Glenholme School, a therapeutic boarding school for children and young adults with special educational needs. He was instrumental in raising funds to build a new arts center at Glenholme that opened in 2011.

Russell was recently honored by the renowned McLean Hospital for his efforts to advance public awareness of mental health issues through advocacy and his 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook. The director has been open about his own family¹s experiences with mental illness. His advocacy efforts brought him to Washington where he and actor Bradley Cooper supported legislation in Congress and met with Vice President Joe Biden to also discuss parity for mental health in all health care.