Ryan is a Los Angeles–based director and creative executive producer. A two-time nominee for the Cannes Young Director Award, he has created commercial work that has earned Clio, D&AD, ADDY, Effie, and ADC awards. At Picture North, he serves as creative EP, championing and developing the work of the company’s directors.

How many years have you been a judge?

This is my first year!

What are your responsibilities in your current role and what do you love most about your job?

I direct commercials, in addition to helping the other talent on Picture North’s roster pitch and develop their own ideas.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

I decided to both direct and serve as a creative EP simply because I love making content and helping other directors craft their own visions.

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

My first job in the industry was as a video editor at Playboy’s headquarters in Chicago, where I edited both tame and (somewhat) questionable content for the brand.

What do you look for to determine excellence in video?

An excellent video is the perfect mix of intentionality and craft. You can shoot something on an iPhone, but if that doesn’t look like an intentional choice, the audience is going to see right through it. Make things with intention and vision, and your work will shine.

What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?

I’m currently developing and directing a five-minute dance video. It’s purely a passion project in a genre I haven’t worked in for a while.

Tell us about a moment of recognition that had an effect on you – whether personal or official? What does recognition mean to you and why is it important in our industry?

Some of my early directing work was selected for the Cannes Young Director Award and later screened at SXSW. I fully believe I wouldn’t have my agents or my career right now if it weren’t for those festivals. The right people saw my work, and some of them have been collaborators ever since.

Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?

When I need ideas, I brainstorm by writing down whatever comes into my head on a piece of paper. It’s stream-of-consciousness brainstorming, where I hold nothing back. Only about 5% of the ideas end up being good, but that’s enough to get something going!

In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?

There hasn’t really been one sweeping change that happened all at once. Instead, the changes I’ve seen have been small and iterative. From Zoom pitch meetings to GIFs and video in treatments to AI-generated content, I find that the industry changes in small ways over the course of years. While we tend to talk about sweeping, significant changes, I often feel that they’re slower and more deliberate. And that’s a good thing: you need to know the new tools you’re working with before you commit to using them.

What excites you about judging for the Telly Awards?

I’m excited to be able to sit down and really take in great works, while also honoring work that deserves to be put on a pedestal.