Neil Russell

Neil Russell is President of Site 85 Productions, Inc. a company engaged in the creation and acquisition of intellectual properties for entertainment media. A former executive with Paramount, Columbia and MGM/UA, he formed his first company, Horizon Entertainment, which subsequently merged with Orbis Communications before it was acquired by Carolco Pictures.

Carolco, one of the most successful independent motion picture companies ever created, was responsible for such hits as the Rambo films, Terminator 2, Total Recall, Red Heat, Iron Eagle II and III, Cliffhanger, Universal Soldier and more. Neil was involved in all facets of the company’s business. He also acquired more than 100 motion pictures for Carolco, including Platoon, Terminator and The Last Emperor and participated in the acquisitions of the De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, Artisan Entertainment, and the Vista Organization. As founder and President of Carolco Television Productions (CTP), he oversaw seven production companies that produced 31 high-profile television motion pictures, several of which were released theatrically in international markets.

In 1993, Neil purchased the assets of the former CTP and began aggressively acquiring intellectual property rights under his own banner. Since then, producing partnerships or licensing arrangements of rights owned or controlled by Neil have been made with Jerry Bruckheimer Films, ABC/Touchstone Television, MGM, Mace Neufeld Productions, Activision, Simon & Schuster, Heyday Films, Scott Free Productions, Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, Tribune Entertainment, FP Productions, the Hallmark Channel, Hyde Park Entertainment, F/X Networks and others.

A graduate of Parsons College, he is a member of the Naval War College Foundation at Newport, RI. and a former member of the board of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Washington, DC. He also sits on the board of New Leaf Brands, Inc., a publicly-traded beverage company.