Anita

Ryan's earliest work was as co-creator of one of the most successful early online-only video programs, The 1UP Show. A hugely ambitious production that produced hour-long episodes every week of the calendar year for three years before most people had even heard of a "YouTube." It established his presence as a creative force in and around the videogames industry, and created a baseline expectation of high quality when the crew on that show later co-founded the San Francisco-based production company, Area 5. While Area 5 pays the bills through commercial client work, their true passion has always lived in their original productions—productions that were never quite the "side projects" they were made out to be. Anita is the latest example of this passion, their first submission to any film festival, and Ryan's public premiere as both a documentary feature film director and editor. In 2014, Area 5 successfully crowdfunded a documentary series titled Outerlands, which has released six episodes and is still in post-production on the final four. In partnership with Blizzard Entertainment they have produced another documentary series, The Tour, which followed professional Esports players around the world in a quest for the grand prize. They've also created other feature-length documentaries in commercial partnerships, including Grounded: Making the Last of Us and I Am Street Fighter.