Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Anderson.
Hi Ryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Since I was 4 years old with a Fisher Price camera and some toys, I have known I wanted to tell stories visually. Although others may have had a hard time following the narrative at the time, I had it in my head. My interest in storytelling had bounced around over the years. For a long time, I thought I wanted to be an actor above all else but I dabbled in directing and animation in the midst of it all. After teaching myself stop motion with a 3DS and Legos in middle school, I stepped away from all that in high school and started to make my own live action short films and participate in plays and musicals. My drama teacher even got me an acting role in my first professional feature film! Come graduation in 2020, I began to shift away from acting and more towards directing and expanding my network. I had already made 7 short films ranging from 3-23 minutes between 2020 and 2023. Circa February 2023, I had found myself running register at my local Taco Bell when two teenagers asked me if they looked like they were in a band. What had been them trying to plug their album became the first of many professional working relationships of my career in music videography. Since then I have dove headfirst into videography and have almost made it my sustainable full-time job. I have worked on countless concerts from DIY venues to stadiums and made several music videos from Folk to Gothic Metal. As of late, I have been looking to shift my focus back to filmmaking but still work actively in both spaces. My personal films have been left on hold while I have helped on friends’ productions and directed another 7 shorts for various time-restrained competitions (48 hour, 1 week, etc). Staying busy with art and staying connected are the fulfilling habits that keep life worth living and have gotten me where I am today!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No. If any creative tells you otherwise, they’re lying. Staying disciplined through it all and keeping my head up through rough times have been persistent challenges. I have had expensive gigs fall through once the work was already done, worked with others who took the fun out of the process, had films die or never get made because of drama, and have had to face copious amounts of money-related stress. Getting to create despite all the struggle is all the more rewarding.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize as a film director and music videographer. I’m known for capturing live bands with high-energy, exciting visuals and for directing movies that often lean into unconventional means of both production and storytelling. I’m most proud of my video work with the band Heads Or Tails Experience as well as my short film ‘Not at the Table’, a horror shown from the first person perspective of the last surviving victim. I like to think that because I persistently strive to be different in my approach to my work and even the way I dress and act, it sets me apart from others by nature. I do everything within my power to stay away from what is considered the norm by the general populace’s standard and I try to be as authentic and true to myself as I can fathom.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In both film and music, I think we are seeing a shift in production. Production and distribution are falling into the hands of the creators and the mainstream I think will become populated less by Hollywood and record labels and more by independent artists who bring a fresh perspective to their mediums that audiences are proving to favor!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rja-media.jimdosite.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rja.films/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568661811749
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RJAFilms
