ABOUT

Anthony Russo IMDb  |  Joe Russo IMDb

Anthony Russo and Joe Russo have been absorbing classic movies since growing up in Cleveland in the 1970s. By high school, the brothers were immersing themselves in every genre, as well as catching every classic they could at their local arthouse theater. They each went on to study English and Film — Anthony at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia, Joe at the University of Iowa and UCLA — and the result is a contribution to worldwide moviegoing that mixes storytelling craft, filmmaking skill, and a deep understanding of how great characters can connect us all.

Through a quartet of movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Russos raised the bar for blockbuster filmmaking in artistry, scope, and box office returns: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which in addition to concluding the “Avengers saga” racked up numerous industry records, including Biggest Single-Day Gross, Highest-Grossing Opening Weekend, and Highest-Grossing Film of All Time.

While working on the Marvel films with screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely; director of photography Trent Opalach; composers Henry Jackman and Alan Silvestri; amazing below-the-line and FX crews; and the most extraordinary roster of actors ever assembled, the Russos have always stood by their belief that strong teamwork brings stratospheric results. Rejecting the label of “auteurs,” the Russos subscribe to the “collective theory,” noting that collaboration is crucial. It’s a philosophy that can be felt in their debut feature, Welcome to Collinwood (2002), and underscores their work on TV’s critically-acclaimed Arrested Development (for which they won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing of a Comedy Series), Community, and Happy Endings — for which the Russos directed the pilot episodes as numerous beloved signature episodes.

Similarly, the Russos are committed to helping young storytellers gain a foothold in the film industry. Just as their own careers received an early boost from producers including Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, the Russos now lend their skills to producing films that spotlight fresh talent and ideas and are eager to help filmmakers they believe deserve membership in the Directors Guild of America. Beyond their sponsorship, the Russos try to personally mentor aspiring directors as they strive to grow as filmmakers, and they regularly host internships to help educate and guide them.

In addition to the film community, the Russo Brothers — whose family back home are longtime members of Cleveland’s Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) organization, which is defined by a strong belief in “Tradition, History, Family, and Philanthropy” — believe in giving back to the community they grew up in. Toward that end, they founded a forum with The National Italian-American Foundation (NIAF) that encourages and advises filmmakers who are eager to tell stories unique to the Italian-American experience.

In 2017 the Russo Brothers were pleased to announce the formation of their independent film and TV studio, AGBO. Through AGBO, the Russo Brothers have produced 21 Bridges, Mosul, Relic, and Extraction. Their next directorial endeavors Cherry and The Gray Man are AGBO films that will be released in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

In addition to their film and television successes, the Russos are also co-founders — along with almost two-dozen fellow directors and artists — of Bullitt, a filmmakers’ collective and creative studio that is centered on the creation of brand-integrated entertainment and advertising content, and which utilizes state-of-the-art technology to break down barriers between advertisers and audiences.

Christopher Markus IMDb | Stephen McFeely IMDb

With Avengers: Endgame holding the record for the number one highest-grossing film worldwide and Avengers: Infinity War holding the record for the fifth highest-grossing film worldwide of all time, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have written not only the most films (six) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also a number of Marvel’s most acclaimed and successful. Crafting what is essentially a new genre of superhero feature, the duo approaches each as an opportunity to layer in more humanity and complexity, more real world, thought-provoking themes and political self-awareness, while still honoring the Marvel family of characters. Their writing skill and imagination has proven a consistent delight to both critics and audiences.

As partners in AGBO, Markus and McFeely are AGBO’s Co-Presidents of Story, shepherding a growing list of titles.  Screenwriting projects for AGBO include the screenplay for Cambridge Analytica, about the data consultant turned whistleblower, Christopher Wylie, and an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s The Electric State. They are developing a TV series based on the Brandstetter detective novels by Joseph Hansen. They are executive producers on The Gray Man, for which they also wrote the final screenplay. Additionally, they are executive producers on Matthew Michael Carnahan’s Mosul, based on a New Yorker article by Luke Mogelson and premiered on Netflix in November 2020; and Exit West, by Jessica Goldberg, based on the Booker Prize shortlisted novel by Mohsin Hamid.  As screenwriters, they will continue to write at least one big commercial project per year, and a passion project every other year for AGBO. There is a natural and long-forged creative relationship between Markus and McFeely and the Russo Brothers, having collaborated on the last two Captain America films and the two final Avengers sequels.

Beyond the Marvel films, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are the screenwriters behind such diverse, genre-spanning movies as the sharp and subversive Pain & Gain, starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie for director Michael Bay, and the first three films in the enormously successful Chronicles of Narnia series for Walden Media. Then as now, through their collaborative process, they create character-rich stories that connect with audiences in a truthful, compelling way.

Markus and McFeely’s initial venture into the Marvel universe was with 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, which stars Chris Evans and chronicles the origin of Steve Rogers, the first superhero of the MCU. In 2013, they wrote the smash hit Thor: The Dark World, starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston and Natalie Portman, for Marvel/Disney. In 2014 they followed with the box office hit, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, earning rave reviews; then in 2016 with the critically-lauded and box office triumph, Captain America: Civil War.  Civil War marked a crisis point in the ongoing MCU saga, a crucible that changed the Marvel heroes forever, setting the stage for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the two part saga with screenplays by Markus & McFeely. These epic films, gigantic in scope, yet intimate in nature, represent the climax of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, interweaving the characters and storylines of more than 20 preceding films.  It is an historic undertaking, cementing Markus & McFeely’s position as key architects of this epochal series. They were also co-producers on Endgame.

Now acknowledged as billion-dollar screenwriters, Markus and McFeely began their official writing career together in Hollywood with the acclaimed 2004 teleplay, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, which earned them both an Emmy and a Writers Guild Award.  Their first script, conceived when they began writing together in 1995 while finishing a Masters program in writing, and the one that got them their first agent and the attention of serious producers, was the black comedy You Kill Me.  It was made into a film in 2007 starring Ben Kingsley Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson, Dennis Farina and Bill Pullman, and distributed by IFC Films.

For television, the duo created and executive produced the critically acclaimed ABC drama Agent Carter, which followed Peggy Carter as she juggled her exploits for the Strategic Scientific Reserve while fighting the prejudices of 1940’s America. 

Born in Buffalo and San Francisco, respectively, the two met in a small Northern California fiction writing program.