Joe Russo, who with brother Anthony directed the all-time box office champion Avengers: Endgame and just finished Netflix’s biggest budget film in the Ryan Gosling-Chris Evans thriller The Gray Man, realized a personal dream last weekend in launching a new film festival. It’s called the Sands International Film Festival of St. Andrews, done in conjunction with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Watch the video above.
Russo, whose AGBO label is generating projects on every platform, spoke with Deadline Co-Editor-in-Chief Mike Fleming Jr. in a wide-ranging conversation about his career. Speaking largely to an auditorium filled with film-study students from the elite college, Russo was a lively narrator through his and brother Anthony’s rise to success from Cleveland-based film lovers who ran up credit card debt to make a debut film Pieces that saw half the attendees walk out at the Slamdance premiere (fortunately Steven Soderbergh liked it and became their mentor).
After winning an Emmy for Community and plaudits for Arrested Development, the Russos were plucked by Marvel’s Kevin Feige to inject pizzazz into 2011’s Captain America. That led to four Marvel movies that grossed nearly $7 billion. Here, he discusses how to position yourself for success and how he and his brother worked out which Marvel superheroes were killed off in their final outing.
Nestled into a picturesque setting that also is the birthplace of the sport of golf, the Sands International Film Festival will become an annual pre-Cannes stop on the festival calendar, and plans are in the works to expand next year. It was Deadline’s pleasure to help get the festival off to a rousing start.
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