By ignoring a lot of American culture you can write more interesting stories. Unfortunately, if you were writing about America as it is, you'd be writing about a lot of people sitting in front of television sets.

Early life and education
Russo was born in Johnstown New York and raised in nearby Gloversville. Russo wrote the teleplay for the HBO adaptation of Empire Falls the screenplay for the 2005 film Ice Harvest and the screenplay for the 2005 Niall Johnson film Keeping Mum which starred Rowan Atkinson. The couple have two daughters Kate and Emily.