Producer/Director Lisa Russell, MPH has utilized her public health expertise in international health and media advocacy to pursue a career as an independent documentary filmmaker. During her Masters of Public Health in International Health program at Boston University, she concentrated on health from a human rights perspective while simultaneously began taking courses and working in film and video. Through an interesting blend of consultancy experiences and media/entertainment work, she embarked on a career path as a social issue filmmaker that blends her two passions.

Over the years, Lisa has worked with many UN agencies and NGOs, which has diversified her international experience. Before her graduate program, Lisa worked with the Safe Haven Project, embarking on national and international speaking engagements with HIVplus youth. After completing her Masters degree in 1997, Lisa became a consultant to UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS), helping to develop a high-profiled social marketing and media event that would bring American and African youth together on a U.S. nationwide tour to educate American youth about the global impact of HIV/AIDS. In 1999, Lisa left for Kosovo and Albania to work for a relief agency during the refugee crisis, overseeing donor relations, and the development of safe motherhood and childrenýs educational programs. In 2000, Lisa returned to Kosovo independently in 2000 to create Photos for Peace, a 3-year pilot project funded by the Soros Foundation which provided rural Kosovar youth with photography training as a means to explore peace and rehabilitation in the region. She also consulted for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), leading a workshop on the reproductive health consequences on the trafficking of women in the Balkans.

Lisa is committed to producing narratively-driven films on international social issues. Her filmmaking credits include:

Producer/Director/Editor for LOVE, LABOR, LOSS - the first U.S. produced feature length documentary film on obstetric fistula, shot in Niger West Africa (Governess Films).

Director for Speak Up Young Africa, a one-hour documentary funded by NBPC profiling positive stories about young AIDS activists in five African countries (Globalvision/Radioaktive Films).

Ghana Segment Producer for Changing Nature, a PBS-broadcasted documentary with UNFPA exploring the effect of urbanization and overpopulation on the planetýs natural resources (Saybrook Productions/Insight News TV).

Producer/Director/Editor of Settling in Seattle, a one-hour documentary with support from the International Rescue Committee that increased awareness of falling refugee admissions since the events of September 11th. The film had over 100 community and theatrical screenings on World Refugee Day 2003 (Governess Films).

Co-Producer on Brazil: Patents versus Patients, a Channel 4 London World AIDS Day news reports which looked at Brazil's AIDS policy and it's fight against the pharmaceutical industry for access to affordable treatments (Insight News TV/Channel 4).

Publicist for festival-favorite EvenHand - a narrative film about two police officers in Texas (Cypress Films).

Lisa is currently a media and communications consultant, having worked with such clients as: UNFPA, UNAIDS, US Committee for UNFPA, World Links, Urban Word NYC, Antigravity, NBC/TWI, Savvy Partners, Cypress Films, and others.