Ryan Mekenian (he/him) is an Armenian-American writer/director based in Tonga territory, his hometown more commonly known as Los Angeles. Ryan’s screenplay, The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair, was a 2022 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting quarterfinalist and won the 2021 Screenwriting Discovery Award Grand Prize at the Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival.

His film, Spokespeople, a short documentary about L.A.’s bicycling communities, won Best Film for Change at the Bolton International Film Festival & Best Doc Short at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. In addition, Spokespeople screened at 30 other festivals worldwide, including the Oscar-qualifying Edmonton International Film Festival, the Planet in Focus International Environmental Film Festival, & the American Pavilion’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival.

Ryan recently completed his master’s in Film & T.V. Production at the renowned U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts. He aims to direct the kind of movies that inspired him as a kid — true stories that convey honest, complex portrayals of the American dream.