Raised on film and television, Russell James Redl began to analyze movies from an early age. He was a curious child and a bit of an outcast who moved around a lot. So he found stability in frequenting movie theatres, where he'd lose himself in the worlds projected on-screen. By the time R.J. Redl was 10-years-old, he'd seen many of the films mentioned on Top 100 lists. By 12, his favorite director was Tim Burton. Easy access to movies and a burning desire to find out everything built Redl's lifelong fascination with cinema. But it wasn't until he graduated high school that he dabbled in making films. He started as a writer for an amateur director friend, building many of the sets and doing many of the crew roles themselves. When the opportunity arose to direct a short film, it kickstarted Redl's lifelong pursuit. Since then, he has written and produced multiple award nominated and winning short scripts and appeared at festivals such as Cannes (with "Know By Heart"), Austin After Dark (with "Red Is My Favorite Color", which was co-written by Michael Kospiah) and others. Redl's biggest challenge currently is developing his sophomore directorial feature, "The Darkest Shade". His influences are Michel Gondry, Guillermo del Toro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, and Tim Burton.