Biography

Ryan is a Canadian-born American writer/director who recently sold his genre-bending thriller CUL-DE-SAC to Sony, with his frequent collaborator Jon M. Chu (WICKED) producing. He is currently writing a four-quadrant fantasy adventure for Hasbro and Electric Somewhere, and developing a project in the vein of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN for Hobie Films that got both Matt Shakman (THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS) and Joachim Rønning (TRON: ARES) attached in the pitch stage. He also wrote the screenplay for Jem and the Holograms (2015), Universal's live-action adaptation of Hasbro's toy line and animated series that was theatrically released worldwide.

In television, Ryan is writing and directing Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True for Disney and Hallmark - the first movie Disney has ever set inside its parks - premiering Christmas 2026. He wrote the multiple Primetime Emmy-winning Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022) for Disney+ and ABC, a hybrid live-action/animation tribute starring Martin Short, Josh Groban, Rita Moreno, David Alan Grier and H.E.R. He was also the writer and director of Santa Tell Me (2024) and Sugarplummed (2024) for Hallmark, with Santa Tell Me (2024) ranking as the No. 1 new Christmas movie of 2024 across all broadcast networks and streaming platforms, and Sugarplummed (2024) earning him a Directors Guild of Canada Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Directing. Additional credits include adapting Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel (2017) for Amazon and Ubisoft, creating and directing Abby Normal (2016) for Disney Channel, and writing and directing across three seasons of Hulu and Paramount's hit streaming series The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (2010).

Ryan is a graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television, where he studied on a scholarship from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. His thesis film, The Midnight Express (2002), screened at more than thirty international festivals, won the Audience Award at Slamdance, and was featured in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Ryan is based out of Los Angeles and a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of Canada and the Television Academy. He is represented by Rob Carlson at the United Talent Agency and Mike Fera at Kaplan/Perrone.