SEATTLE FILMMAKERS TO EXPLORE THE RICHARD RUSSELL “SKY KING” HIJACKING STORY IN NEW FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
[Seattle, WA - January 13, 2026] – Fresh off the success of their award-winning documentary Suburban Fury (which was named the top non-fiction film of 2025 by The New Yorker), Seattle filmmaking duo Robinson Devor and Charles Mudede (Zoo, Police Beat), in collaboration with Seattle producer Tim Satre and Say Tree Productions, today announced their next feature documentary film will be about Richard Russell, the Horizon Airlines ground agent who, with no flying experience, hijacked a plane from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport in 2018, spent over an hour flying above the greater Seattle area, and ultimately died after crashing the plane on a small Puget Sound island.
The currently untitled documentary will examine the event through a variety of perspectives. What compelled Russell to act? What did the event mean to others? What was he thinking while flying the plane? What was on the mind of the people who witnessed his bewildering flight in real time? Russell’s final hour involved aerial acrobatics and the scrambling of US Air Force jets in response to an act of perceived terrorism. His story continues to draw intense attention from around the world, with over 20 million hits on Youtube, Instagram,TikTok, and Facebook. The Internet has dubbed him “The Sky King”.
The filmmaking team plans to recreate elements of the 75-minute flight as part of the film’s visual narrative. Interviews are in the works with key people involved in the story, including Russell’s co-workers, the air traffic controllers who tried to manage Russell’s actions in the air, reporters who covered the event, witnesses of the flight, as well as friends, family, and fellow church members of Russell. By all accounts, he was a loving husband, exceptional friend and pillar of his community.
Veteran actor Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld, The Tick) will executive produce his second feature documentary with Devor, on the heels of the success of their current documentary “Suburban Fury”, which is currently playing in theaters around the US. “My first experience working with Devor was on The Woman Chaser,” said Warburton. “Since then, I’ve consistently admired his work and welcomed any opportunity to collaborate or support him. This latest true tale has it all: depth, breadth, and genuine pathos, layered with intrigue and tragedy. The Sky King leaves a complicated legacy and this story could not be in better hands.”
Original coverage of the event was written by Mudede in a 2018 article called "How Richard Russell Became the Icarus of the Northwest" in Seattle's alternative weekly newspaper, The Stranger. In the article, Mudede visits the Oregon Coast, the picturesque location of Russell's marriage and opening of a bakery in his 20’s; he was also one of the journalists present at the Russell family press conference after the tragedy. Mudede's journalism has played an important role in his and Devor’s films Police Beat and Zoo.
Says Charles Mudede, “This, in essence, is a Pacific Northwest story. It could only happen here. So, I'm naturally drawn to it. No matter how you feel about what happened on that day, Russell's last act left a permanent impression on the region’s culture and identity.”
Devor, who was trained as a suicide counselor at the Didi Hirsch Suicide Center in Los Angeles before becoming a filmmaker, was drawn to the opportunity to explore a human being in crisis and those trying to help him. “As an artist who is informed by my spiritual faith, I am drawn to Richard Russell’s life and struggle. Our films are known for their holistic and sensitive approach to challenging subjects, and we aim to bring the same spirit of investigation to this project.
Producer Tim Satre continues: “It’s a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with this filmmaking team and explore this tragic tale. I’m confident we’ll create a unique and exceptional film that will resonate with audiences around the world.”
PRESS CONTACT: ryan@smarthousecreative.com
ALL OTHER INQUIRIES: richardrusselldoc@gmail.com
Robinson Devor ‘s newest documentary, “Suburban Fury” debuted at the 2024 New York Film Festival and went on to win the Grand Prize for Documentaries at the 2025 Seattle International Film Festival. The film achieved a 100% percent Rotten Tomatoes score, with Variety calling it “a rapt documentary thriller.” His 2018 feature documentary, Pow Wow, debuted at the Locarno Film Festival and in the US at Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real series and was hailed by New Yorker film critic Richard Brody as “one of the best films of this or any year". Devor’s previous documentary, Zoo, made its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and went on to play at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight section. It was named by Filmmaker magazine as “One of the Top 25 Indie Films of The Decade.” Devor’s 2005 narrative feature, Police Beat, premiered in Dramatic Competition at Sundance, where it was called "emotionally devastating" (Rolling Stone) and "Sundance at its best" (Los Angeles Times). Devor's 2000 directorial debut, the neo-noir comedy The Woman Chaser, premiered at the New York Film Festival and later screened at Sundance.
Charles Tonderai Mudede is a Zimbabwean-born cultural critic, filmmaker, college lecturer, and writer. He is the Senior Staff writer of the Stranger, a lecturer at Cornish College of the Arts, and has collaborated with the director Robinson Devor on three films, two of which Police Beat and Zoo, premiered at Sundance, and one of which, Zoo, screened at Cannes, and the most recent of which, Suburban Fury, premiered at New York Film Festival. (Police Beat is now part of MOMA’s permanent collection.) Mudede, whose essays regularly appear in e-Flux and Tank Magazine, is also the director of Thin Skin (2023).
Patrick Warburton is known to many for the role of Elaine's laconic boyfriend "Puddy" in the famed NBC comedy Seinfeld. He starred for seven seasons on the hit CBS comedy Rules of Engagement and is now set to star in NBC's upcoming sitcom series Crowded. Warburton also played "Guy" in the international blockbuster comedy Ted and recently completed shooting the sequel Ted 2, where he reprises his role. He starred on the ABC hit comedy Less than Perfect,as "Jeb Denton," an opinionated network anchorman; and on the hit show NewsRadio as "Johnny Johnson" the unscrupulous business rival who takes over the station. Warburton starred in Disney's live action comedy Underdog as the archenemy "Cad." He is also one of the busiest voiceover artists in Hollywood for his many characters including the role of the overzealous cop, "Joe Swanson," on the long-running comedy Family Guy. In 1999, he played the lead role in Robinson Devor’s feature narrative debut The Woman Chaser.
Tim Satre is a filmmaker with a career in branded and documentary content. He’s worked for MTV Networks, ABC, and various ad agencies as a director, producer, and editor. He is the founder of Say Tree Productions, a production agency based in the Pacific Northwest.