THE DIRECTOR:

A South African father and English mother. His obsession with film started at the age of 14 when he acquired a JVC MovieVideo camcorder and feverishly filmed his friends and family in a series of “movies”. Exploring themes of criminality, wacky relationships and action driven plots, he slowly began to nurture his narrative style and soon found his passion in the art of storytelling.

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Bored to death with the mundane realities of high school Ryan graduated and jumped at the opportunity to obtain his acting diploma from The Guildhall School of Music & Drama. To fill his time he took on a personal project: a gritty reality-type show called GTV! For three years Ryan delved into the underbelly of the live music scene, filming with some of the world’s biggest rock bands. Juliet Lewis and the Licks, Misfists, Slipknot and Black Flag allowed Ryan to venture into the unknown and the outcome was a sobering yet hilarious glimpse of the ridiculous life of a rock star.

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Shifting his focus back to acting, Ryan landed a few small roles ons shows like “Shameless” and “Hollyoaks” as well as feature films taking notes from veterans like Danny Boyle on the set of “Millions”. This was his first film school and he sponged all the information he could about life on set, the creative thought process and the dynamic between director and actor.

Hoping for bigger opportunities, Ryan headed to sunny South Africa and enrolled at Cape Town’s AFDA Film School where he ultimately received a bursary to complete his honnours in Directing & Writing. Not being one to stand still, Ryan quickly made his connections while studying and approached bands to direct their music videos. His hard work payed off when local rock band Taxi Violence announced Ryan as the winner of their music video competition due to his unique concept and treatment.

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Many claim “The Turn” to be the start of Ryan’s signature style and narrative and the work just kept on flowing after the release. Today, he is known as the top music video director in South Africa and has conceptualized and directed over 45 music videos for SA’s most prolific artists.

His talent has clearly not gone unnoticed. He’s won numerous awards over the years (both locally and internationally) including a SAMA (South African Music Award) for his work with internationally acclaimed rock band, Prime Circle.

Also in his trophy case is 2 Short & Sweet awards and even the Afrikaans community has embraced Ryan’s work and awarded him best music video of 2015. 2016 saw him nominated once again for Best Music Video by the SAMA’s and he’s hoping to walk away with another one .

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Sometimes dark, sometimes light - Ryan’s directing style is dynamic, fresh and specially focused on narratives: Whether it’s an interesting, yet straight-forward story or a collection of compelling visuals that portray a story.

With an extensive background in acting for film, television and commercials, Ryan understands what it takes to get the desired performance and places special emphasis on characters and their levels of depth.

Ryan has acted alongside the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen (whom he also assisted during the filming of Grimsby in Cape Town), Johnny Vegas and some of SA’s most prolific actors and uses this experience to craft his skills as an actor-director, always ensuring his talent feels comfortable and supported.

From a visual perspective, Ryan’s experimental flair has led to some striking compositions and his portfolio is testament to his versatility: a visual chameleon with an everclear idea dancing around in his head.

Heavily influenced by the films of his childhood, Ryan’s style reminds of 80’s cinema in all it’s various forms. He mentions Spielberg’s work as his first love in film and consequently finds himself fixated on interesting characters, real-feel production design and stories that transcend across cultures, ages and gender.

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Often placing extraordinary circumstances into real- life situations, Ryan finds great pleasure in contrasting big concepts with the rawness of human behavior and emotion while placing special emphasis on the aesthetic of his work.

Effortlessly switching from gritty, edgy and dark to commercial and clean-cut, Ryan’s strength lies within his adaptability and is constantly striving to perfect his craft by openly exploring different styles.

With his mind set on his first feature film, he has several scripts in development and exciting collaborations in the pipeline. Broadening his horizons to the commercial world, Ryan is also set on creating compelling content for agencies and their clients. A true talent and a refreshing addition to the film industry, he’s definitely a filmmaker to watch.