Ry Russo-Young
Los Angeles, CA
Ry Russo-Young is a bold and innovative director and writer whose work defies traditional limitations in filmmaking. Ry’s early independent work has been associated with the mumblecore genre, though she has gone on to direct the wide release features Before I Fall (2017) and The Sun is Also a Star (2019) as well as television and commercial projects, including Sweetbitter, Everything Sucks!, and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger. Ry’s films have premiered and won awards at several international film festivals including Sundance, Stockholm, Torino, SXSW and TriBeCa. Ry has received accolades from the New York State Council on the Arts, the TriBeCa Film Institute, the LEF Foundation, the Sundance Institute, and Creative Capital. She majored in film at Oberlin College and grew up in New York City. Her work has been praised by The Wall Street Journal, Variety, Vanity Fair and The New York Times, among others. She currently resides in Los Angeles.
From the Journal
Photograph of Sandy Russo, Ry Russo-Young, Tom Steel, Cade Russo-Young, Robin Young, from Nuclear Family by Ry Russo-Young, 2021.
Family portrait including Ry Russo-Young, Sandy Russo, Robin Young, Cade Russo-Young, from Nuclear Family by Ry Russo-Young, 2021.
Nuclear Family
Ry Russo-Young is a bold and innovative director and writer whose work defies traditional
limitations in filmmaking.
Through this three-part documentary series, Ry Russo-Young examines how the power of love, the terror of loss, and the universal pull of family sent a shockwave through her life as a young girl—and how its echoes have reverberated all the way up to today. At a time when being gay or lesbian seemed to mean you had given up the right to have children and a family, Ry was born to two lesbian moms through a sperm donor. Their idyllic life was threatened by an unexpected lawsuit, culminating in a landmark decision that would change the way gay families are viewed evermore. Featuring a lifetime of home videos, press and interviews, the series tracks the arc of Ry’s relationship with her donor—from idealization to villainy and, ultimately, to loss and understanding. Her story, in all its particularity, is also a universal exploration of love, hate, and the universal pull of family.
The series will air on HBO and HBO Max starting September 26, 2021.
From the Journal
Ry Russo-Young spoke about her Creative Capital Project, Nuclear Family, a three-part documentary series on HBO and HBO Max. The series follows Ry as she turns the camera on her own past to explore the meaning of family.