David O. Russell

Born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, David O. Russell made his first film, a school project, using a Super 8 film camera. Both of his parents worked for Simon & Schuster, so growing up surrounded by books he aspired to be a writer, starting a high school newspaper and writing short stories. He graduated from Amherst College in 1981, majoring in English and Political Science. In 1987, his first short film, Bingo Inferno was shown at the Sundance Film Festival which helped fund his second short, the 1990 comedy Hairway to the Stars.