W. Derek Russell
W. Derek Russell (born May 14, 1985) is an American journalist, screenwriter and podcaster known for his work in creating podcasts such as Starkville House of El and With Brian Austin Green. Russell is also an award winning newspaper columnist.
Education
Russell grew up in Northeast Mississippi and attended Tupelo High School before attending Mississippi State University.
Career
While attending Mississippi State University, Russell and some colleagues created a the podcast Starkville House of El for the WB/CW series Smallville. Russell was featured in the documentary Smallville: Big Fans, included on the home video release of the series' sixth season.
While producing Starkville House of El, Russell met and became employed by actor John Schneider. Russell continued doing publicity for Schneider, including producing his film Collier And Co. while also having his work published by CBS Watch Magazine and DC Comics, becoming a contributor to the latter's magazine tie-in for the television series Smallville. A noted article was a fictitious history of the character Warrior Angel. During this time Russell was also a host on the The 10th Wonder podcast covering the NBC television program Heroes. Both Starkville House of El and The 10th Wonder are noteworthy as two of the first podcasts to cover television programs in depth, debuting in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Russell went on to create the Skynext podcast for the FOX television program Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, during which time he befriended Brian Austin Green. Russell also created Starkville Labs, a podcast covering the CW television program The Flash. He also revived Starkville House of El to cover both the CW's Supergirl and the Syfy television program Krypton.
Personal life
Russell is newspaper columnist for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. He frequently collaborates with both actor Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills, 90210, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and writer Bryan Q. Miller (Smallville, Shadowhunters) the former of whom with he co-hosts a podcast. Miller, meanwhile, has included references to Russell in a number of his projects including Smallville, The Flash, and Shadowhunters.