Private Project

Greetings From America!

When the prince of a tiny Eastern-European country is invited to establish a foreign exchange program with the Best School in America, he discovers the dark and violent underbelly buried beneath the patriotic facade of U.S. culture.

  • Ryan Williams-Abrams
    Director
  • Ryan Williams-Abrams
    Writer
  • Gracie Ferguson
    Producer
  • Taylor Teusch
    Producer
  • Byrne Mazzella
    Producer
  • Jonah Barresi
    Producer
  • Matthew Morgan
    Producer
  • Charlie Lockwood
    Key Cast
  • Isaac J Connor
    Key Cast
  • Mark Tramont
    Key Cast
  • Laura Stisser
    Key Cast
  • Taylor Teusch
    Director of Photography
  • Matthew Morgan
    Gaffer
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    dark comedy, political
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 7, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    7,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, RED 8K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Ithaca College
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Ryan Williams-Abrams

Ryan Williams-Abrams is a filmmaker based out of Ithaca, NY and Los Angeles, CA. As a film student at Ithaca College, Ryan seeks to explore visual storytelling through his focus on cinematography (Eat My Heart Out (2024), A Rushed Ending (2023), Anachronism (2023), Spin Cycle (2023)). As a director, Ryan shares his passion for characters with deep and developed emotional journeys, and expressing the stories that need to be told (Greetings From America! (2025), Where the Light Cannot Reach (2023), Expired (2022)).

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Director Statement

Creating my thesis film, Greetings From America!, allowed me to explore the political unrest that sits on the foundation of contemporary American culture. Through the lens of the public school system, I was able to build a cinematic world that incorporates my personal experiences in childhood, including being involved in a shooting, and apply a critical view on the experiences that American students share in relation to violence, bullying, and political divides. The future of society lies within the next generation, and the school system sets the standard for how they view the world. Guided by my collegiate studies and artistic influences, we incorporated a distinct Wes Anderson-style that guided our hyperbolic production design and characters.

As we continue barreling towards a future of political uncertainty, unregulated artificial intelligence flooding the creative market, and a turnover to a new generation of filmmakers, I have never felt more driven to join a revolutionized world and industry. These moments of creative exploration are crucial pieces of cultural expression, capturing the essence of the time and developing stories that will transcend our generation. Film holds the window to history and the key to the future, and I am determined to be a part of it. I hope to experiment further into how cinema will evolve into the native-technological generations’ lives and how to maintain the engagement of the movie theater experience. How can younger voices be incorporated into the film canon? How does the impact of constantly-evolving technology affect our work as filmmakers, and how can it be incorporated to advance the medium? My work as a director will continue to delve into challenging topics and encourage conversations within communities. My passion for cinematography will serve as my guiding force of cinematic inquiry, always striving to create compelling images. Film is my voice and primary opportunity to influence our world.