“Leos focused on 'Annette' for eight years. He's not the type of director who'll have 10 films in development at any one time. He had this one film going for the entire eight years. We knew his focus was on the same wavelength as ours. And with that kind of intensity and passion, it had to turn out to be something special.”

American singer

Russell Craig Mael is an American singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the pop and rock duo Sparks. Born in 1948, he formed the group in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. He is known for a wide vocal range, especially his high falsetto, and for a flamboyant, highly animated stage presence. Sparks later released the 2015 album FFS with Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand under the name FFS, and the Mael brothers founded Lil' Beethoven Records.