Ryan joined the film industry straight after obtaining his Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Media Arts and Production at UTS in Australia.
Since then he has participated in the online component of the Digital Emmy-winning Scorched and was a recipient of the AFC Producers Initiative Program (Screen Australia).
In 2015 Ryan wrote and directed his first short film You Turn that had its premiere at the Sydney Film Festival and received a special mention for his screenwriting and directing. The film later screened in the Travelling Festival that toured all around Australia.
Ryan recently worked with Goalpost Pictures on the twelve-part, high concept genre series called Cleverman which he created and wrote for. Cleverman had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and later screened at Series Mania in Paris. The show has aired around the world on ABCTV Australia, Sundance TV and Netflix in the USA, and BBC3 in the UK. Cleverman was Ryan’s first venture into TV and the show won ‘Best Series’ at the Screen Producers Australia Awards and, thanks to WETA, Cleverman received ‘Best Hair’ and ‘Best Makeup’ at the ACTAA Awards. Ryan produced the first season alongside Rosemary Blight, and he also wrote and produced the second season. As Show-runner, he maintained his vision while also consulting with Traditional Aboriginal Elders around cultural elements in the show.
Ryan is currently writing two comic series; Cleverman which complements the TV series with all-new stories and his afterlife-noir series, Lustration. Both titles are being published through Gestalt in Australia.
