Meet Andrew Lee Ryan | Writer, Director & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Lee Ryan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew Lee, what role has risk played in your life or career?
As a filmmaker, my entire life has been built on risk. The word “risk” implies that there is a higher probability of encountering a dangerous situation. Yeah, sounds scary. But the riskiest thing you can do with your one life is waste it not putting yourself in those very situations. A life of comfort is a life without growth because growth is painful. Now, I’m not suggesting you jump out of a plane without a parachute where the probability of death is near 110%. That’s hazardous risk. I mean, take calculated strategic risks. For me, one of those risks was moving out to Los Angeles from Connecticut in pursuit of filmmaking. Yes, it’s risky to make films. You’re putting finances on the line, whether you’re an independent production scraping the bottom of your own bank account just to feed the crew cold pizza or a studio production begging for a higher budget so you can blow up a remote island. But that’s all part of the game you agree to play as a filmmaker. The biggest risk you take, however, is agreeing to play. You’re starting the journey up the mountain without any assurance you’ll make it to the top. What I love about this industry is that it attracts people from all over the world willing to take that risk, and there is no bigger risk than leaving your family, friends and support system behind. You’re leaving the known for the unknown. It’s the kind of risk worth taking every time. If we’re talking about probability, it is a much higher probability that you were born into an environment that is not the appropriate fit for your soul, whether that be in regards to socioeconomic status, location, or network of people. We are just conditioned to believe it is over years of upbringing. The comfort can be intoxicating. It is up to you to break free of that confinement. So maybe the biggest risk isn’t leaving to fulfill what calls to your soul. Maybe you’re risking more never trying at all.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Nothing worth doing comes easy. To get good at something, you need to practice. To become great, you need to sacrifice a lot over a long period of time. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice what is fun in exchange for hard work. Not everyone has the discipline to ignore short term happiness for a long term goal. Initially, I didn’t. Even after moving out to LA, it took some time to force myself to write every day. And you write knowing, most likely, those first scripts are not going to be good. In fact, they’re going to suck. And the ones after that, even if they are great, most likely will never get made. But you do it because you know you’ll get better, and with enough practice you’ll get faster and develop your unique voice. If you have a day job, this requires you to use your off hours to continue working which can be exhausting. This also means you will be ignoring your family and your friends. If they love you, they will encourage rather than ostracize you. When I first started writing, a half-hour 35 page comedy pilot took me 9 months to write. This year, I have already finished two 120 page feature scripts, one of which is set to be pitched as my feature directorial debut. This brings me to my next point, no matter how productive you are, you still have to get your work seen. This particular opportunity came because of a combination of my short films [Mongrel (2020), Chimera (2022)], networking and, most importantly, luck…but I was prepared to seize the opportunity because of the sacrifice I had made when there was nothing tangible (read: money) to immediately gain from putting in the work. Sometimes you have to will something into existence and hope you get recognized for it. My most recent sci-fi short film, Chimera, was mostly self-financed for 35k and self-produced during the height of the pandemic, but not self-made. I had an incredible team of artists all sacrificing to give it their all. There was no shortage of challenges on this one. But after a year in post-production and another year in film festivals across the world, I am very proud to say that the film has been picked up by DUST and will be premiering on their YouTube platform relatively soon.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When you spend a lot of time writing and watching films, you tend to not get out much. I’m not a shut-in, living in my own hoarded nest of newspaper writing by candlelight. I’m just not exactly a socialite littering Instagram with my out-and-about selfies either. If you want to catch a glimpse of all my glory, you can usually find me sweating through my shirt hiking Griffith Park, inhaling ramen and sushi at Robata Jinya in West Hollywood, or grabbing a burger and one too many drinks at Forman’s Whiskey Tavern in Toluca Lake. My sister, Kelly Ryan, is a stand up comic, so if it’s a late night you’ll probably find me bar and comedy club hopping in the Hollywood area until ultimately ending up at the Comedy Store, one of the most iconic places in LA.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife has been in full support of this journey every step of the way for the past decade…Sounds like a fairytale right? Because it’s a lie. Of course she hasn’t. You’d have to be mad to be in FULL support of your partner spending thousands of dollars to make short films so several hundred people could see them in film festivals. Risk comes with the potential for failure so naturally anyone that cares about you will question if it is worth the investment of money, time and energy, especially if they are directly affected by the investment. No, my wife hasn’t been in full support because that suggests frictionless agreement. She has provided unconditional support, meaning, disregarding her own concerns, she’s recognized that these riskier moves are made with an endgame in mind. And then she helps me figure out how to do it without putting us on the street. That kind of support in invaluable. The blind cheerleading comes from my two twin sisters, Ali and Kelly Ryan, who are also in LA pursuing their goals elsewhere in the entertainment industry. I could go bankrupt making the worst film in human history and they’d still demand I make a sequel. Not everyone is blessed with this stability and hype crew, respectively, so I am very grateful to have them in my life. Regardless, my recommendation is to find mentorship that can actually influence your growth as an artist. Not every successful person is cut out for mentorship. Some are terrible people with poor ethics. Others are hacks or social climbers. And some are born into the industry with the key in their mouth. Find people stages ahead of you that worked their asses off and listen to what they have to say. They will be more than willing to help because most likely they were just like you looking up to someone else not so long ago. I’m not going to name drop, but my industry mentors have played pivotal roles during crucial turning points in my career. They’ve shared insight I wouldn’t find in a book, provided me with guidance school could never give me, and created opportunities I would never have gotten on my own. Your story is written by you but it is influenced by others. Surround yourself with the right people and you will grow in the right direction.

Website: www.subvertedproductions.com

Instagram: @andrewleeryan

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@subverted9830