Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Sellers.
Hi Ryan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts as a kid, where I was fascinated by movies like Jurassic Park and Star Wars. I spent my early years watching the behind-the-scenes videos and learning how their production teams built unique worlds was very captivating and left a lasting impression on me. As I grew older, that turned into a strong passion for the craft and drove me into the film industry. Things really kicked off when I started my college’s Video Production Club, where what was intended as a club to bring students together, eventually grew into an opportunity for members to work with our first real paying clients and non-profits throughout Philadelphia.
After graduating college, I worked on multiple production sets where I learned the intricacies of live production. Then everything changed when I was tasked with directing my first feature film in 2014, Heroin, written by Rico Salam. This project was incredibly impactful to me; for the first time my dream felt like a reality and that this could evolve into something more than freelance, which inspired me to create Paradigm in 2017. Since then, we’ve won and been nominated for multiple awards, produced a second feature film alongside many other narrative cinematic stories, and expanded our team and resources. It truly feels as if everything came together with purpose.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been smooth at all; in fact, it’s been filled with potholes much like the state of PA. When I first started my business, one of my earliest struggles was how I allocated my time. I loved the work I was doing and seeing my clients succeed, but at the same time, it was easy to become too immersed in the work and the creative side of things. I didn’t give my own brand that same level of attention, and I think that set me back from where I wanted it to be. However, since then, I’ve learned to treat Paradigm as its own client and have dedicated team members to promoting the business and handling daily operations, allowing me to focus more on client projects.
Another challenge has been building the right team. In the entertainment industry, you encounter a lot of talented people, but everyone has their own goals projects, schedules, and other commitments, making it hard to have a consistent go-to team, especially one with the same level of dedication as yourself. You’ll often see people come through for a single shoot, while others stick around for years and work on multiple projects. It’s been a learning experience over the years, especially when there are people who aim to take advantage of your time and energy. Despite that, we’ve built really strong relationships with the right people and continue to meet great new talent all the time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I operate a full-service production company, focused on bringing our clients’ vision to life through cinematic storytelling. The business specializes in featured and short films, narrative music videos, events, commercials, and digital content and has worked with clients across multiple industries.
What separates Paradigm from other video production companies is that we offer everything from concept development, production, and post-production to marketing, print and digital design. This allows us to develop strategies tailored to our clients to best achieve their goals. Our creative and on-site teams are also extremely talented, with each person bringing a diverse range of skills and experience to each project. The team is very goal-oriented and is deeply invested in the success of every project.
Of all the projects we’ve worked on, I would say I’m most proud of our recent feature film, Kidnapped. Having the film available on Amazon Prime Video has been particularly significant to me because the platform has very high standards, and having our film included in their library is a great achievement.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We’re proud to celebrate 10 years of Paradigm this coming February, which is surreal and exciting. When we started back in 2017, I never imagined we would be where we are today, especially given the success odds for new businesses. I’m incredibly grateful for every opportunity that has brought us to this point and to have such a great team to celebrate this milestone with. Reflecting on the last 10 years, I feel like we’ve built a really strong foundation that’s going to propel us to new and exciting places in the years ahead.
With that in mind, we have some exciting things planned throughout the year to celebrate the anniversary. This includes what we expect to be one of our most exciting projects of the year, a cinematic horror short film with a planned October release. See what the next chapter of Paradigm looks like, follow us on our social media channels and we’ll keep the content coming.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paradigm-entertainment.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paradigmentertainmentusa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParadigmEntertainmentUSA
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paradigm-entertainmentusa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Paradigm_Entertainment_USA
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8113547/
