Retro Bill's Press Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND PRINTING

RETRO BILL is revolutionizing children's entertainment! He has put fun into safety, self-esteem and character counts education for Kindergarten through 12th graders for the past 12 years! In fact, each year RETRO BILL is seen live by over 1 MILLION American and Canadian school children combined!

The United States National Park Service and the Mount Rushmore Memorial Society officially appointed Retro Bill for three years in a row 2007-2009 to be the Host & Kick-off Presenter for America's Independence Day Fireworks Celebration at Mount Rushmore, SD.

In July 2010, Retro Bill will be a Keynote Speaker and Motivational Instructor at the International DARE Officers Training Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio! Retro Bill made an appearance in July 2009 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL as a Keynote Speaker & Classroom Instructor at the 2009 Annual International DARE Officers Training Conference.

Retro Bill is honored to hold the title of the official Host of National Kids Day, an event he began officially hosting on The Ellipse in front of The White House in Washington D.C. in 2003.

September 2009 saw the release of a BRAND NEW Retro Bill DVD! Fans worldwide have eagerly anticipated the NEW "RETRO BILL Safety & Self-Esteem Tips" DVD. The DVD has been proven to be a huge success with children and police officers.

CNN’s LARRY KING and television/radio celebrity LEEZA GIBBONS have called
Retro Bill, "The 21st Century Mr. Rogers! Even Talk Show Host/Comedian Jay Leno has proclaimed that he is a fan of RETRO BILL!

RETRO BILL holds many honorable titles and affiliations, including:

The Official D.A.R.E. Safety Buddy
Host of National Kids Day
Celebrity Spokesperson for KidsPeace
Nationwide K-12th grade Motivational Speaker
Official "Character Counts" and Six Pillars of Character Presenter
Anti-drug, tobacco and alcohol abuse Presenter.
Certified Children's Life Improvement Coach
National "Risk Watch" Program Presenter
Nationwide "Red Ribbon" Assembly Speaker
National Safe Schools Week Presenter
Crime Prevention Instructor
Safe Schools Advisor
Read Across America Buddy
Anti-Bullying Presenter and Internet Safety Expert
Radio and Television Personality
Law Enforcement, Educational and Corporate Motivational Speaker
Advisory Board Member to the Home School Radio Network
Host & Emcee

RETRO BILL is the alter-ego of writer, director, producer, actor and artist BILL RUSS. RUSS grew up in a Chicago suburb. He is proud of the well-balanced, typical American household he was raised in. "I had a tree fort, skateboard, paper routes, a bike and lots of open corn fields, lakes and forests to explore as a kid," RUSS has said.

RUSS fondly remembers, "I was raised by a Dad who was a U.S. Army Sergeant, who instilled patriotic values into his children. He raised us to respect God, Country and Family. Very typical American family values. Mom always made certain we had a family ‘sit-down’ dinner prepared nearly every night, which helped keep us a strong family-unit that continues today."

At a young age, RUSS knew that he wanted to someday be a Motivational Speaker. "I also loved the 1950s era Elvis Presley!" RUSS has stated. Following his passion to be a role-model and Motivational Speaker, RUSS studied psychology, read HUNDREDS of self-help motivational books, and countless Biographies. His voracious reading habits continue... in fact, he reads at least one book a week!

RUSS started dressing in his flashy 1950s-styled clothes and began blowing drying his hair in an Elvis-inspired pompadour when he was a high school senior. He took to the motivational speaking circuit, beginning with high school presentations where he spoke out against drugs and teenage alcohol abuse. He also gained much attention for his acting in school plays and the films and videos he was writing & directing at the time. "I would make these elaborate movies with stunts and neighborhood kids in costume. It was fun and valuable experience along the way to my writing and directing career in Hollywood," RUSS remembers.

Good grades and Award-Winning student films took RUSS (via scholarships) to college, where he studied a wide-variety of subjects including Filmmaking, Television Production, Art, English, Psychology, History, Interior Design and Architecture. While attending Columbia College in Chicago, RUSS caught the attention of Steven Spielberg and his company AMBLIN Entertainment. A meeting with his childhood hero, Steven Spielberg, ended with RUSS receiving a scholarship to attend the prestigious USC School of Cinema-Television.

At USC, RUSS wrote, directed and produced an American CINE Eagle Award-Winning student film entitled, "The Last Ride" starring Academy Award-Winning actor, Ben Johnson. The film made its debut at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, where the Master of Ceremonies was actor, Charlton Heston. The film was remade into a feature film by Warner Brothers, entitled, "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” starring Scott Glenn, Kate Capshaw-Spielberg, Ben Johnson and Mickey Rooney.

RUSS remembers, "One day, while I was successfully directing music videos, commercials and television programs I came to the realization that it was time to devote my full-time energies to following my real passion in life, which was (and is) to ‘Make a positive difference in this World! '

In 2001, using his life-savings, RETRO BILL (aka writer, producer, director, actor and artist BILL RUSS) wrote, produced, directed and starred in The Award-Winning "D.A.R.E. Safety Tips starring RETRO BILL" (video and DVD) which is now being used by police officers in 350,000 classrooms throughout the United States, and by thousands of other DARE Officers worldwide, in many languages! Over 36 million children worldwide enrolled annually each year in the International DARE program view RETRO BILL’s “DARE Safety Tips.”

RETRO BILL recently celebrated his 10^th year as the “Official D.A.R.E. Safety Buddy.” Started in 1983, the D.A.R.E. program is a law enforcement officer taught anti-drug & violence program that educates 26 million American students (and 10 million foreign school children) each year!

RETRO BILL is proud to be an Official "Celebrity Spokesperson for KidsPeace," an organization dedicated to the physical and psychological well-being of children in crisis.

RETRO BILL is the Official Host of National Kids Day! Held nationwide on the first Sunday of each August, National Kids Day is a nationally recognized day for Families to observe the "importance of spending quality time together as a Family."

RETRO BILL has received "personal thanks" for his efforts on behalf of America's youth from a number of prestigious organizations and government entities such as the United States Senate, The White House Office of Drug Control Policy, the FBI's Community Outreach Program, and the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Since December 2004, RETRO BILL has proudly Hosted the FIRST LEGO LEAGUE's "Robotics Championship" held in California. The annual event is sponsored by LEGO, 3M Corporation and Duracell, and is a powerful way for RETRO BILL to assist in inspiring America’s next generation of “Techies!” RETRO BILL believes breakthroughs in technology and the medical field can keep America at the forefront of a global economy!

Over the years, RETRO BILL has lent his support to organizations that he believes in, such as D.A.R.E., Meals on Wheels, KidsPeace, C.O.A.C.H. for Kids, The Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts of America, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.), The Red Ribbon Coalition and the Character Counts program. Numerous “Keys to the City” have been presented to RETRO BILL. Many Mayors, Law Enforcement Agencies and Educational organizations across the nation have also bestowed Appreciation Certificates, Plaques, Proclamations, and Letters of Recommendation.

RETRO BILL says, "My goal to 'Make a positive difference in this World' while inspiring the next generation of America’s Youth to be the best people they can be keeps me quite busy with live presentations on the road full-time 300 days a year touring malls, elementary, middle and high schools, civic centers, military bases, college stadiums, city parks and street fairs. And STAY TUNED for more RETRO BILL DVDs, motivational children's books, a daily television show and a weekly radio program!"

The future is definitely "Retro!"

For more information, please visit the Official Retro Bill website www.RetroBill.com!