Yvonne Russo is an award-winning director, producer, and writer and accomplished storyteller working in film, television, and animation. Her range of honors include as a Humanitas Award Winner, winner of Outstanding Achievement in Producing from First Americans in the Arts, a recipient of both The Redford Center Grant and Nia Tero Foundation Grant, and serving as keynote speaker at the United Nations Human Rights and Salesforce’s Office of Equality & Engagement on preserving Indigenous endangered languages. 

A proud member of the Sicangu Lakota Tribal Nation, Russo has worked throughout her career to elevate underrepresented voices through storytelling, bridging past and present with compelling narratives that inspire and educate.

Known for her cinematic intuition and storytelling discipline, Russo’s most recent film is the documentary feature, VIVA VERDI!, which she directed, wrote and produced. The film is an intimate look into the lives of the celebrated opera singers and musicians living out their “third act” while mentoring international music students who live among them inside Milan’s Casa Verdi, the unique retirement home founded in 1896 by composer Giuseppe Verdi for aging opera singers and musicians. The film’s accolades include: its World Premiere at the 25th Anniversary Woodstock Film Festival, the West Coast Premiere at the 2025 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and its Official Selection at HOT DOCS’ Doc Soup in Toronto. The film opened exclusively in theaters at the Laemmle’s Monica in October, 2025 and will continue to expand to other cities and platforms in the upcoming months.

Other recent work includes directing and producing for the four-part acclaimed ONYX Collective/Hulu docuseries, “Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae,” for which she won a 2025 Humanitas Award. She also served as Production Advisor on “Woman Walks Ahead,” starring Jessica Chastain, written by Steven Knight and produced by The Bedford Falls Company and Black Bicycle Entertainment. In animation, Russo wrote, directed, and produced, “Minnie’s War Bonnet,” a short film for PBS paying tribute to one of the many women warriors who fought courageously in the major battles of the 1800s, which is now widely used in U.S. K-12 educational programs.

As an independent producer, Russo has worked in more than 17 countries, from Rajasthan, India, to Rwanda. Her producing credits include the documentary feature “The Rescuers: Heroes of the Holocaust,” which received a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Documentary. Additional producer credits include more

than 30 episodes of National Geographic Television’s “Most Amazing Photos,” collaborating with National Geographic photographers to capture extraordinary cultural and adventurous stories. She also produced more than 75 “Behind the Photo” segments for National Geographic International and NGM digital studios.  

Russo has also recently expanded her directing work to include audiobooks for Penguin Random House bringing bestselling fiction, thriller, memoir and Indigenous literature to life. Her credits include Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.’s “The El,” voiced by D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Michael Beck and an exceptional ensemble cast; Vanessa Lille’s gripping thrillers “Blood Sister” and “The Bone Thief,” performed by Carolina Hoyos; Clémence Michallon’s “Our Last Resort,” voiced by the acclaimed Saskia Maarleveld and soon to be adapted by Blumhouse Television; and Jordan Salcito’s bold and spirited memoir, “SMARTMOUTH.”

Deeply committed to fostering new talent and global storytelling, Russo has worked in partnership with the Royal Film Commission – Amman, Jordan and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT), where she designed and led a two-year intensive workshop that helped Jordanian filmmakers develop and produce both documentary and narrative films, strengthening the region’s creative industry.

She is equally dedicated to cultural preservation. As a former board member of the Lakota Language Consortium, Russo has worked to safeguard the endangered Lakota language, reflecting her lifelong commitment to protecting Indigenous languages and knowledge systems. Her leadership in the entertainment industry further ensures that Indigenous cultures are authentically and respectfully represented in pop culture, media, and entertainment.

She is an active member of the Directors Guild of America, BAFTA, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the Producers Guild of America, where she previously served on the Board of Governors. She is also a longtime member of SAG-AFTRA and served on the Board of NYWIFT.