I was born on June 14th, 1977, in my beloved hometown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the late great Laurie Smullin Russell (her married name when she died) and the late great John “Rick” Richard Rockwell. They met at my beloved alma mater Penn.

We moved to Baltimore, Maryland in 1983, where I became a Baltimore Orioles fan, keeping my love of the Philadelphia Eagles going. I’m not the only “split fandom” fan out there :)

I attended St. Paul’s School for Boys from the 1st grade to graduation. There, I met many wonderful people, such as my film mentors Mike & Lorenzo, great actors Monica, Richie and David (and others) who helped me make some fun short films!

Then, I realized my dream of attending Penn. I was an English major & Theater Arts minor, and graduated in 2000. Just before moving to Los Angeles to attend the American Film School, my mother was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I may forever be a fan of Orioles baseball, but I’m a bigger fan of baseball itself. God bless you, Yankee Nation! She died on my 27th birthday in 2004.

After graduating from AFI, I worked as a writers’ assistant with some fantastic folks (Hi Ethlie, Gillian, James, Naomi, Scott, and all!) on a show called, “Adventure Inc.” with Michael Biehn. It was quite a thrill to pick up the phone and hear, “Hicks,” say hello!

After that, a lot. I gave up. Got my MBA. Got into the cigar business, became a bartender. But cinema kept calling me. And I will never refuse that call again.

The COVID crisis truly lit a fire under my keister; what are you doing? Why are you on this Earth, Jordan?

Number 1: my family; my wife and children. They come first always.

And Cinema (as well as aviation) is right behind. I have found my bliss. Give back to the world. Give peaceful art to bring people together, through either kindness political pictures that unite rather than divide, or popcorn pictures for you to enjoy on a Friday night with some beer and yummy grub.

God bless you all, and thank you for reading,.

Jordan