Russell Schwartz is currently the lead marketing professor in the Creative Producing Program at the Dodge College of Film and New Media at Chapman University and former teacher at the American Film Institute.

Russell’s new book, The Marketing Edge for Filmmakers: Developing a Marketing Mindset from Concept through Release has recently been published by Focal Press. Co-written with Katherine MacDonald, the book is an American Film Market presentation.

From 2001-2008, Russell was President of Theatrical Marketing at New Line Cinema where he oversaw all of the company’s marketing efforts which resulted in over 44 Academy Award nominations and extraordinary success at the domestic box office. Included in this list: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Hairspray, Wedding Crashers, Elf, Rush Hour 2 and 3, The Notebook, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, About Schmidt and Little Children.

From 2013-2014, he was President of Worldwide Marketing at Relativity Media and was responsible for the entire slate including The Family, Don Jon and Beyond the Lights.

Prior to that he was President of USA Films and released such films as Traffic, Nurse Betty, Topsy Turvey, Being John Malkovich and Vin Diesel’s early film, Pitch Black.

From 1992-1999, Russell was President of Gramercy Pictures and oversaw the marketing of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Fargo, The Usual Suspects, Elizabeth, The Big Lebowski, Dazed and Confused, Dead Man Walking and many others

Concurrently Russell has been President of Pandemic Marketing Corp since its inception in 2008. Pandemic Marketing provides strategic marketing, theatrical distribution, ancillary placement solutions and digital execution for the motion picture industry. He has worked with a broad mix of independent and studio releases.