R.J. Redl

A need to escape past traumas drove Russ to develop his skills in drawing and writing but it wasn't until he was in his last year of high school that he discovered a passion for filmmaking. Russ had grown up frequenting cinemas in order to cope. He felt neglected by his family and misunderstood by his peers, and had a deep mistrust for people in general. His emotional isolation from the world allowed him to focus on his thoughts and channel them. Russ'' overall passion for and knowledge of cinema led him to take up drama at high school in an attempt to become an actor. He quickly discovered that he didn't have a talent for performance but he had an eye for detail and the ability to command a scene. Thus, he became infatuated with filmmaking. Russ mad his first film when he was fresh out of high school. It was a 4-minute action piece that he was so ashamed of that he never showed it. He went to TAFE to learn media integration and made a short experimental film to play with in class, learning. The experimental piece was so good that the tutor used it as an example. Russ later dropped out of that course to focus on his filmmaking. He made an 11-minute short, which became "Feb". This project was Russ' crowning achievement for almost 6 years. He tried making films that were as good if not better but failed. It wasn't until he attended film school and studied under Stavros Halvatzis, Evan Clarry, Danny McShane, and Mairi Cameron (to name but a few) that everything started falling into place. Russ co-wrote a draft of "My Reprisal" with fellow budding filmmaker and classmate Shea Nathaniel Moir. This draft helped to gain the interest of international producer Darwin Brooks, who agreed to come on-board the next couple of short films made by Russ and Shea. The draft Russ co-wrote for "My Reprisal" went unproduced and eventually, due to irreconcilable creative differences, Russ left the project. He used his contacts from a short film he made ("Pale Horse") to start on his first feature film. Around the same time, Russ co-created the production company "ImageScape Films" and challenged his directorial vision with a family friendly short film created by Cameron Caulfield and Jayden Caulfield. Russ is currently in pre-production for "What Goes Around", his feature.