Joe Russo is the Co-Founder, Executive Producer, and Chief Executive Officer at Starburns Industries, a full-service animation, VFX, GFX, and live-action production studio based in Burbank since 2010. In its first year, the company produced an all-stop motion episode of NBC's critically acclaimed show "Community," which garnered an Emmy award for outstanding achievement in animation, as well as 10 episodes of "Mary Shelley's Frankenhole." The company also produces Adult Swim's hit animated series, "Rick and Morty."
Throughout his career, Joe has VFX supervised over 13 films and dozens of TV shows, including The Perfect Game, The Cell 2, Species: The Awakening, Abominable, Cougar Hunting, A Good Funeral, Monster Mutt, Love Hurts, Next Day Air, I Know Who Killed Me, and Reno 911. He is also an Executive Producer on the feature films "Harmontown" and Charlie Kaufman's "Anomalisa."
Commercial clients of Starburns Industries include JCP, Old Navy, Little Caesars, Career Builders, Bud Light, Men's Wearhouse, Guinness Draught, Motorola, NetZero, Kyocera, Pop Secret, and Chex Mix.
Prior to Starburns Industries, Russo worked as an animator and layout artist on many successful shows, including the Emmy Award-winning "The Simpsons" and "The Rugrats." He made his feature animation directorial debut with "All Aboard America," which brought in a Scholastic Achievement Award.
Russo's stop motion music video credits include "Prison Sex" and "Sober" by Tool, "Other Side" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Bachelorette" by Bjork, "Role Model" by Eminem, and "Calavedas Y Diablitos" by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.
Before his career in animation, Russo was a member of the highly successful Performance Art/Rock band Green Jello. In addition to playing bass, Joe animated music videos and designed sets for the band's live recordings. Green Jello's video for the hit song "Three Little Pigs" was number one on MTV's "120 Minutes" for ten weeks in a row.
Russo is an active board member of the Producers Guild of America and the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts.
