Jason Russell

Last updated

Jason Russell
InvisibleChildren founder&celeb.jpg
Russell and Kristen Bell in 2009
Born (1978-10-12) October 12, 1978 (age 45)
Alma mater USC School of Cinematic Arts
Occupation(s)Film director, charity worker, activist
Known for Kony 2012
Board member of Invisible Children, Inc.
Spouse
Danica Jones
(m. 2004)
Children2
Relatives Ryan Hansen (brother-in-law)

Jason Russell (born October 12, 1978) [1] is an American film and theater director, choreographer, and activist who co-founded Invisible Children, Inc. [2] He is the director of Kony 2012 , a short documentary film that went viral in the beginning of March 2012. In the first two weeks following its release, the documentary gained more than 83 million views on YouTube [3] and became the subject of media scrutiny and criticism. [4] [5] Its subject is the Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, his alleged war crimes, and the movement to bring him to the International Criminal Court.

Contents

Early life and education

Russell is the younger son of Sheryl (née Hortman) [6] and Paul Russell, co-founders of Christian Youth Theater, which Russell was part of as a child. [7] [8] [9] 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." [9]

Russell graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. [10]

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." [11] With camera equipment obtained from eBay, they went to Uganda as student filmmakers but had no plan for the focus of their intended documentary. [12] [13] 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. [14]

After Russell's group reached the Sudan their caravan was attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army, forcing a retreat to Northern Uganda. [15] In Gulu, 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. [12] During filming, the three men contracted malaria, but omitted covering their illness so that the documentary would remain focused on the children. [16] The footage they shot resulted in the original Invisible Children documentary draft, which was first screened in June 2004. [15]

Russell and others returned to Uganda for six months in 2005 to collect more interviews and documentation for the next Invisible Children documentary. [17] In 2006, after the Washington D.C. screening of Russell and Poole's rough cut, the U.S. Congress approved discussion of the plight of the Acholi before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. [18] The 2006 Invisible Children: Rough Cut also won Russell, Bailey, and Poole the Pioneering Spirit Award at the 2007 Heartland Film Festival. [19]

With his wife Danica Jones and Jon M. Chu, Russell co-wrote a musical, Moxie, which the team sold to Steven Spielberg. [20]

Personal life

On October 23, 2004, he married Danica Jones in La Jolla, California. [21] They have two children. [22]

Russell has a sister, Amy, who is married to actor Ryan Hansen. [23]

Brief psychosis incident

On March 15, 2012, at the height of the Kony 2012 video's viral popularity, San Diego police detained a naked Russell for psychiatric evaluation after he had a public breakdown. [24] Russell was hospitalized for several weeks. A statement by his family said the diagnosis was a "brief reactive psychosis, an acute state brought on by extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration" as a result of the popularity of the campaign. [25] In October 2012, Russell appeared on the TV show Oprah's Next Chapter to discuss the incident, describing it as an "out-of-body experience" and stating "that wasn't me; [...] that's not who I am". [26] [27]

Filmography

FilmsRelease
Roseline: The Story of an AIDS Victim2008
Together We Are Free2009
The Rescue2009
Tony2010
Kony 2012 2012
Move 2012

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord's Resistance Army insurgency</span> Ongoing insurgency in central Africa

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is a conflict involving the Lord's Resistance Army against the government of Uganda. Following the Ugandan Civil War, militant Joseph Kony formed the Lord's Resistance Army and launched an insurgency against the newly installed President Yoweri Museveni. The stated goal was to establish a Christian state based on the Ten Commandments. Currently, there is low-level LRA activity in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. Kony proclaims himself the 'spokesperson' of God and a spirit medium.

Joseph Rao Kony is a Ugandan militant and warlord who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union, and various other governments including the United Kingdom and United States of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Spirit Movement</span> Ugandan militant religious group

The Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) was a Ugandan Christian rebel group centered around founder Alice Lakwena (Auma). Alice, an ethnic Acholi, was purportedly directed to form the HSM by Lakwena, one of her spirits, in August 1986. The movement grew to adopt a military wing and waged a major but short-lived rebellion as part of the insurgency (1986–1994). It may have inspired Joseph Kony to begin his Lord's Resistance Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Auma</span> Ugandan Acholi spirit-medium and revolutionary

Alice Auma was an Acholi spirit-medium who, as the head of the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), led a millennial rebellion against the Ugandan government forces of President Yoweri Museveni from August 1986 until November 1987. The primary spirit she purportedly channelled was that of a dead army officer called "Lakwena", meaning messenger, which the Acholi believe to be a manifestation of the Christian Holy Spirit. The combined persona of Alice Auma channelling the spirit Lakwena is often referred to as "Alice Lakwena". Auma's HSM was ultimately defeated in November 1987 by Ugandan forces led by Yoweri Museveni.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulu</span> City in northern Uganda

Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District.

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Okot Odhiambo was a senior leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan militant group which operates from Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Odhiambo was one of five people for whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first ever arrest warrants in 2005, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2009, he announced his intention to defect from the LRA and return to Uganda if the government would agree not to surrender him to the ICC.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006–2008 Juba talks</span>

The Juba talks were a series of negotiations between the government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group over the terms of a ceasefire and possible peace agreement. The talks, held in Juba, the capital of autonomous Southern Sudan, began in July 2006 and were mediated by Riek Machar, the Vice President of Southern Sudan. The talks, which had resulted in a ceasefire by September 2006, were described as the best chance ever for a negotiated settlement to the 20-year-old war. However, LRA leader Joseph Kony refused to sign the peace agreement in April 2008. Two months later, the LRA carried out an attack on a Southern Sudanese town, prompting the Government of Southern Sudan to officially withdraw from their mediation role.

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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 of the LRA, which include abductions and abuse of children, and forcing them to serve as soldiers. To this end, Invisible Children urges the United States government to take military action in the central region of Africa. Invisible Children also operates as a charitable organization, soliciting donations and selling merchandise to raise money for its cause. The organization promotes its cause by dispensing films on the internet and presenting in high schools and colleges around the United States.

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<i>Kony 2012</i> 2012 film

Kony 2012 is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as to have him arrested by the end of 2012. The film was released on March 5, 2012, and spread virally, and the campaign was initially supported by various celebrities.

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References

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  22. Orden, Erica (2011-10-18). "'Kony 2012' Director Jason Russell Detained After 'Meltdown' - Speakeasy WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
  23. "MI.net: Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas)". www.marsinvestigations.net. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
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  27. "'Kony 2012' Creator Jason Russell Addresses Nude Breakdown on 'Oprah's Next Chapter' (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. October 8, 2012.