Professionally a film director, screenwriter, and producer, David Owen Russell directed his first documentary about Panamanian immigrants in Boston, which secured a job as a production assistant on a series called Smithsonian World. In 1987, Russell not only wrote, but he also produced, and directed Bingo Inferno: A Parody on American Obsessions, post which, he made another short titled Hairway to the Stars, which featured Bette Davis and William Hickey. By the mid 90s, he had comedy films such as Spanking The Monkey (1994) and Flirting With Disaster (1996), to his credit. His critically acclaimed films, The Fighter (2010), Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and American Hustle (2013), earned him three Academy Award nominations. His forthcoming film, Joy, is scheduled for a January 2016 theatrical release.