Brian Russell P ’10, ’12, ’16

Brian Russell is No Stranger Behind the Camera. Whether Moderating SJ Today, Shooting Promo Videos for our Admission Team, or Directing Short Films on our Campus, Brian has Watched St. Joseph High School Grow and Thrive Through the Lens of his Camera for More Than 14 years.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to be on campus while Brian Russell was filming our students, you’ve seen a director truly capable of capturing the authentic spirit of St. Joes. After all, he’s seen our school through the eyes of a parent, alumni spouse, teacher, club moderator, and film director.

“I taught Advanced Technology at SJ from 2009 to 2012, a computer course focused on graphic design and video production. At the time, two of my three my children, Sam ’12 and Carly ’10, were attending the school, and Sam was a member of the video club I moderated.”

Despite loving the first video camera he received as a child, Brian opted to earn his degree in Business – the “correct” career path – instead. “I spent 17 years in the business world before I realized my soul needed a career change.”

Brian sold his business and bought a new camera on a whim. “I had no idea that the camera I bought would turn out to be the next big thing,” he says with a smile. “I started out shooting videos for my family, and the next thing I knew, friends, and friends of friends called me to do this work for money.”

This newfound hobby helped land Brian at St. Joes, moderating SJ Today, SJ’s video news program, and working with a group of students who continue to assist Brian to this day.

Midway through the pandemic, Brian realized he was desperate for another change. “It was Spring of 2021, and I just became tired of shooting corporate talking-head videos. I needed to do something different. So I’ve directed four films in the last year and a half, including co-directing the most recent one with my son, Sam. SJ alums have also worked on all these stories.”

Brian called his friend Mike Boland to collaborate. “A month later we shot Mike’s script, Yo Andrea. And a month after that we were getting into film festivals.” Yo Andrea counts Brian’s wife, Lisa Russell (nee DeTullio ’82) and Tom Baik ’11 on the crew.

“I met Tom when he was in the 10th grade at SJ. It’s been amazing to watch him grow up before my eyes, and now we’ve been working together professionally for almost eight years.”

Later that same year, Brian decided to tackle another film, Tommy and the Guru, this time bringing the crew home to Joe, filming a key scene on SJ’s fields. The crew for Tommy and the Guru included Lisa, Tom, Sam, and Diane Morrisey ’84.

In 2022, Brian wanted to go even further, trying his hand at screenwriting. “It all started while I was having breakfast at a diner in the fall of 2021. I noticed a family sitting beside us. It was an interracial family… a very pregnant mom and dad sat eating breakfast with their toddler. Then, I look over to the other side of the diner, and see another multiracial family. And as I’m sitting there, the thought occurs to me that there are literally people – people alive to this day – who were unable to have these beautiful families, and were not allowed to express their love publicly.”

Brian took his inspiration and began to co-write the script for what would become Past Prologue with Ross Popick ’14, an aspiring screenwriter and filmmaker, and another former student who worked on SJ Today

“Ross and I went back and forth on 41 different drafts of the script,” Brian says, “because getting the dialogue right in such a short film was incredibly important.” The crew on Past Prologue also included, Tom, Nick Constantine ’14 (another SJ Today Alum), Sam, and Lisa.

Working with St. Joes students as both a parent, teacher, and co-creator has been a wonderful experience for Brian…as well as a bit of an adjustment. “It was the hardest thing to get them to stop calling me Mr. Russell. To realize that I was their co-worker … their co-creator … and not their high school teacher.”

As Brian embarks on his fourth film, he shares a bit of advice for aspiring filmmakers: “Just keep shooting. Shoot all the time. Film everything you can and never stop. And then edit and show it to the world.”

Brian’s newest film, co-written and co-directed with Sam, is currently in production and expected to be screening at film festivals by the summer of 2023.