Blake Ridder

Blake Ridder is a filmmaker, writer, director and actor, born in Shanghai and raised in the United Kingdom from the age of nine. He began acting in 2017, then wrote and directed his first short a year later. His feature debut, Help (2021), picked up multiple festival prizes and marked him as a fresh voice in contained psychological thrillers.

Ridder's horror follow-up, Manor of Darkness (2025), is slated for release soon, while his third feature, the California-set suspense thriller Spill (2026), is in post-production.

Across more than 70 shorts he has written, directed, and appeared in award winners such as The English Teacher (2020). He founded Ridder Films, an independent production company operating in Los Angeles and London, and launched the Ridder Film Festival in 2024 to spotlight emerging genre filmmakers. His behind-the-scenes filmmaking content has attracted an online audience of over half a million followers. Ridder speaks English and Mandarin fluently.