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Diane Russo Cheng heads to Kode
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Kode welcomes the award-winning director and photographer to its roster.
Diane Russo Cheng is a director whose work is deeply informed by her East Coast Italian-American roots and her queer identity.
Across film and photography, she is drawn to the extraordinary found within ordinary people, translating intimate human stories into visceral, emotionally charged imagery that feels both grounded and electric.
She joins Kode amidst the release of her most recent work with Venus, and Olympic Champion figure skater Alysa Liu, a fearless competitor and magnetic presence whose performances at the recent Winter Games have captivated audiences worldwide.
Cheng’s creative journey began in fashion photography, where she developed a love for detail, specificity, and the collaborative process of building a single, beautiful moment. That foundation soon evolved into a deeper obsession: pairing visual precision with storytelling. Her early fashion films for British Vogue and Document Journal took a humanistic approach to fashion, where rebellion, truth, and beauty coexisted, work that quickly caught the attention of global commercial brands.
Since then, Cheng has gone on to create bold, uncompromising work for clients including Nike, Spotify, Under Armour and META. Her projects consistently sit at the intersection of physicality and connection, balancing cinematic beauty with emotional honesty.
At the heart of Cheng's work is a profound respect for the body, not as an object, but as a site of experience, struggle, and reconnection. A casual athlete herself, she is drawn to physicality in all its messiness: the grit, power, blood, sweat, and tears of pushing through hard things. Her films are less interested in victory than in endurance, in pride earned through effort, persistence, and self-discovery. This sensibility shapes the emotional core of her storytelling, immersing viewers inside her characters’ worlds and capturing those rare, electric moments when someone feels whole again, reconnected to their identity, creativity, and body.
Cheng's work has received multiple Vimeo Staff Picks, and her accolades include a 1.4 Award, a Gold ADDY, and a Top-10 placement at Berlin Commercial. Her personal projects have been recognised by festivals worldwide, including Clermont-Ferrand, Palm Springs ShortFest, and Outfest.
Dan Mallerman, Head of New Business and Partner at Kode comments “I have always sought voices that speak truths that need to be heard. Diane’s work does that in ways which enlighten the viewer. Her commercial work is distinctive in a genre that feels, at times, over-saturated. The film she made for adidas (The Ridiculous Run) traversed branded work with a significant message, which is exactly the sweet spot we’re so often seeking. Through our conversations this past month, I have come to realise that Diane is the exact sort of person we want to be associated with, someone who’s not prepared to passively let injustices go unchallenged. It’s a real honour to have her join our roster.”
Cheng added “Kode and I share the same values, a focus on making meaningful work. That was really apparent to me when Dan and I first spoke. There is a really ambitious spirit from the team, and a realistic point of view that I appreciate so much. When I envision the future of my career it's definitely a challenging road for a filmmaker, who is also a woman, to venture towards. And I love that Kode couldn’t imagine my future any other way. It meant a lot to me. I am looking forward to making some really badass work together.”
