Russell Smith

Brainstormer, Buddhist, Business leader, Connector, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Lawyer, Potential employer, Producer, Writer/Editor

Russell Smith is a co-founder of Los-Angeles-New-York-Derry-London entertainment law firm SmithDehn LLP, one of the most innovative law firms in the US and the UK, and the first Western law firm to provide legal services from India. He's also Founder and CEO of Convergent Media, a film and television development, financing, production, and sales company. Convergent Media's first film is BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB - ADIOS directed by two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker. Convergent Media represents the joining together of SmithDehn’s international connections, financing abilities, and industry knowledge, with the development, production and sales experience of the pathbreaking Social Construct Films. Driven by a mission to explore socially relevant and meaningful themes, and to bring engaging, entertaining stories to audiences worldwide, Convergent Media is leveraging the formidable combined skills of its team to elevate audience awareness while simultaneously providing commercial success for independent filmmakers and investors alike. With a number of outstanding new projects for film and television already in development, and with an established presence in the US, UK, Ireland and India, Convergent Media is quickly emerging as one of the leading providers of excellent media content internationally. Russell and his law partners formed SmithDehn LLP, referred to as "legal heavies" by the Wall Street Journal, mostly to provide top-tier results at affordable rates for creative individuals in the arts and entertainment fields. But in the process, the firm also attracted some of the world’s largest media companies. Dubbed "The Maharaja of Media" by The American Lawyer magazine, Russell has counseled companies such as Paramount Pictures, HBO, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, Media Rights Capital, BBC America, Raw TV, Passion Pictures, Firecracker Films, All3Media, ITV, John Wiley & Sons, Reed Elsevier, Miramax Films, MTV Networks, Universal Records, Simon & Schuster, Channel Four Television (UK), Def Jam Records, Penguin Books, King World Productions, Warner Books, Matthew Marks Gallery, R/GA Digital Studios, Spin Magazine, and the Estates of Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol, and John Cheever. Russell also has worked for an unusually diverse range of prominent individuals, such as Sacha Baron Cohen (“Ali G,” “Borat” and “Bruno”), Philip Glass, Mohamed Al Fayed, Sen. John Kerry, Erykah Badu, Graham Norton, Boy George, Chuck D, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Spike Lee, Jeffrey Toobin, Terry McMillan, Errol Morris, George C. Wolfe, Nelson Demille, and Richard Gere. A Columbia Law School graduate, Russell has over 28 years of experience as a lawyer. He has handled trials and/or appeals in dozens of courts across the United States. Most recently, he and a legal team in India made headlines by defeating the Los Angeles libel suit, Doe v. HBO, winning a victory for comedians, broadcasters and film companies everywhere. Russell also has been production counsel, and among the defense counsel, for “Borat,” “Bruno,” and "Searching for Sugar Man," as well as countless other films and TV series. He also was counsel for "Death of a President," the controversial film about the fictional assassination of then-President Bush. Russell was appointed by the UK Government's Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry to act as counsel. In 2010, the Inquiry concluded that in 1972, the British Army unjustifiably fired on a civil rights march in the Northern Ireland, killing 14 unarmed protesters. The Inquiry's conclusion regarding this massacre led to a public apology by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Bringing to the screen films and TV content that matter. Making quality legal services affordable, by removing barriers across countries, and allowing talented lawyers to do what they do best.

Imagine a world where high-quality legal services are affordable. Imagine deals getting done, because the attorneys don't kill them, with overlawyering and overcharging. Contemplate court cases being resolved on their merits. Visualize how much further the funds of social entrepreneurs could go, if exorbitant legal fees were not an obstacle. Think about lawyers located in places that suit the interests of clients, rather than in the most expensive cities in the world. Consider the savings when legal bills are based on services, not real estate. Envision deals and cases staffed by the most talented and enthusiastic lawyers available. Open your mind to the possibility that many of those lawyers are in India! And consider that this kind of outsourcing creates more legal jobs in the West, rather than cutting them. Every time a deal is done, or a litigation is waged, because legal services are suddenly affordable, it means more work for the Western lawyers necessarily involved.

entertainment law, Film and Television Creative and Production, Film and Television production, Intellectual Property Law and Strategy, Media law, Outsourcing/ Offshoring

Maybe it's destiny, but it's not yet been written down!

Standing on my head; making one of the best smoothies in the world; finding happiness on long airplane flights; self-deprecation.