Russ Finkelstein was born and raised in San Diego, California. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, he lived and worked in South America for more than 8 years, producing a number of documentaries for Al Jazeera English on a range of social and political issues in Argentina and Colombia. He’s since worked as a producer for NBC, CBS, Vice News, Fusion Network and CNN. In 2018, his first feature length documentary 'Looking for Love' premiered at the American Documentary Film Festival. He's currently shooting his second feature about a medical examiner's office in Texas that works to identify people who die while crossing the border. Russ currently works as a producer for CNN.