Maureen Ryan
Maureen Ryan, Adjunct Professor
Maureen A. Ryan is a freelance producer based in New York concentrating on feature films and documentaries. She is co-producer of James Marsh’s “Man on Wire,” a documentary about Philippe Petit, the wirewalker who stunned the world when he walked between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. It won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary, the 2009 BAFTA for Best British Film and many other awards including the Critics Choice Award, the IDA Award, the National Board of Review, the NY Film Critics Award, the PGA Award, several Cinema Eye Awards and the LA Film Critics Award.
Her latest project as producer is the independent film “Bomber” which was shot last summer in the UK and in Bad Zwischenahn, Germany. Written, directed and produced by Paul Cotter (“Estes Avenue,” “Last Hand Standing”) it had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival and is now on an international film festival run including the Munich, Raindance, Mill Valley and Savannah Film Festivals. Ryan also has a short film on the fest circuit titled “Red Flag.” Written and directed by Sheila Curran Dennin it has already won the Audience Award for Comedy at the 2009 Palm Springs International Shorts fest and the Audience Award for Best Comedy at the Woods Hole Film Festival.
Ryan has completed her first book titled Producer to Producer: The Step-by-Step Guide to Low Budget Independent Film Producing. It will be published in April 2010 by MW Publishing.
Ryan is also the producer of the feature documentary titled “The Gates.” It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the 2008 Peabody Award. In 2006, Ryan produced the documentary titled “Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway.” Ryan is also the producer of the feature documentary “The Team,” and co-producer of the narrative feature film “The King.”
Ryan was co-producer on a short film titled “Torte Bluma” which won Best Short at the Palm Springs International Festival of Shorts and the Best Drama Award at the L.A. Shorts Film Festival in 2005. She also produced a short film titled “Last Hand Standing” which was a finalist in the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival.
Another feature documentary produced by Ryan includes the award winning “Wisconsin Death Trip.” It won the award for Best Cutting Edge Documentary at the First Annual BBC2 Awards ceremony in London, England. It also garnered the 2001 Royal Television Society Award for Best Arts Documentary and the 2001 BAFTA award for Best Cinematography. It received a nomination for Best Arts Documentary for the 2001 BAFTA Television Awards and was nominated for an EMMY for Best Lighting Design. “Wisconsin Death Trip” was also short listed for the 2001 Academy Award for Best Documentary.
Ryan’s first narrative feature film “Matchbox Circus Train” was shot entirely in Mackinac Island, Michigan. Due to the island’s “no motorized vehicle” policy, the production was made with only horse-drawn dreys and bicycles for transportation of equipment and crew.
Ryan’s past work has included producing award winning commercials, television series, music television specials, music videos and EPKs (Electronic Press Kits). Her television series work includes “At the Ryman” (as Supervising Producer) and “The Road” (as Documentary Producer) and her television specials include “Long Live the King: Country Salutes Elvis.” Music video work includes the Billboard award winning video (for Best Latin Video) for Christina Aguilera’s “Come on Over,” the CMA award winning piece for Junior Brown’s “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead” and the ACM award winning video for Jeff Carson’s “The Car.”
While a thesis candidate for her Master of Fine Arts degree in Film at Columbia University, Ryan was awarded the Paramount Studio Fellowship in Producing. One of five nominees from the top American film schools, she was given a one-year contract as a producer with the Hollywood studio in their production division.
Since 1999, Ryan has taught Film Production and the Craft of Documentary Filmmaking at Columbia University’s Graduate Film Program and supervises student production at the school. Ryan also teaches a course in Producing Essentials at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.