Ryan first got interested in the using the media to change the world while growing up in Hackensack, NJ. “Nobody we saw on a TV show looked like us,” said Ryan. “We were poor families with a lot of single moms and I wanted to give a voice to people like us. When I graduated from high school, I won a really big scholarship from the International Elk’s Club that, fortunately, allowed me to go anywhere I wanted to for college.”
Ryan opted for Harvard University where she earned a degree in sociology, studying both the Labor and Civil Rights movements. She also worked for the legendary WGBH-TV, the school newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, and as a stringer for The New York Times. After college, she worked for Time magazine until downsizing forced her to take a job at the investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York. “The salary astounded me, let me help out at home and allowed me to pay down a chunk of my student loans, but I realized that crunching numbers alone in a cubicle gave me the willies,” she laughed.
Fate stepped in when she met DGA Trainee Steve Wertheimer at a party. “Everybody else at the party was a banker talking about the prime rate. I could not have been more bored. Then this guy walked in and started talking about his cool job as a Trainee and before he was done I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I could be part of a team working together to make movies! So in 1983, I applied to the DGA Training program in New York and much to my shock, I got in. Before I was even out of the program I had worked with Brian DePalma, Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson, John Huston… I was hooked!”
|
|
|
Liz Ryan on the set of Brokedown Palace (1999). - photos courtesy Liz Ryan
|
|
|
Upon graduating the program in 1985, Ryan joined the Guild and began working as a Second AD on a variety of jobs. “I’ve been fortunate enough to work with and learn from a host of really talented Guild members,” said Ryan. “When I was a Second AD, I worked with Yudi Bennett, Albert Shapiro and Alan Curtiss, and as a First I’ve been mentored by Directors Jonathan Kaplan, Ken Kwapis, Lesli Linka Glatter and Arlene Sanford, among others.” Ryan took their lessons to heart and parlayed it into an enviable career. “I feel honored to have worked with some of the best directors in the business, like Jonathan Kaplan on Brokedown Palace, Christopher Guest on Waiting for Guffman, Frank Darabont on The Green Mile, and Peter Weir on Green Card. I’ve been a part of over sixty productions including work on TV shows like NYPD Blue, Freaks and Geeks, The Office, and Quarterlife at their inception. I AD’d one of the first DGA digital productions, Collected Stories, with Director Gil Cates, and I worked as a UPM and First AD on one of the first designated ‘mobisode units’ for the television series Lost.”
Ryan enjoys the excitement and challenge of each new project. “Working as an AD, I’ve gotten to direct background action from a helicopter, place 9,000 soldiers as extras on one film, reroute traffic in downtown Manila on another, shoot in the Roman mines of Sardinia, and discuss politics with Tom Hanks! I can’t imagine a better job!”
As much as she enjoys her work, for Ryan part of the allure of DGA membership has meant the opportunity to get involved in the Guild itself. She explained that her enthusiasm for service derived from her upbringing. “Growing up it was just my mom and I and my mom was handicapped. Although we survived primarily on public assistance, our home was always filled with a lot of love, a lot of laughter and compassion for those who were even less fortunate than we. Even though my mom was in a wheelchair, every day she would call up a list of people who were ill at home alone and cheer them up. So I grew up in a family where volunteer work was considered one of the best things you can do with your free time. As a result, I’ve always relished working to make things better. Whether I’m working to make the shot better for the Director as a First AD, or helping to make the Guild better through committee work, work on the AD/UPM Council, or the National Board, I’m a meliorist. That means I believe that through our actions we can each make the world better one step at a time.”
|
|
|
Ryan works from a helicopter .
|
|
|
In the pursuit of that belief, Ryan has been elected to the DGA National Board three times as an Associate Member and once as an Alternate Member. She has spent eight terms as Co-Chair of the Women’s Steering Committee (WSC), and is an appointee to the Diversity Taskforce. Recently she was elected to the AD/UPM/TC Council for the thirteenth time, and currently serves as its First Vice Chair. Her service to the Guild is characterized by the extent to which she puts her ideals into action. “Because I lived in an underserved community as a child, I’ve consistently worked to tackle fair hiring issues particularly in regards to our women and minority members whose employment statistics continually lag behind those of their counterparts. The WSC annually sponsors a below-the-line mixer, a feature Directors networking event, screenings, fireside chats and visits to equipment and technology suppliers to keep our members state of the art. Last year Kodak granted to each of seven DGA women 1,000 feet of film and all the equipment needed to shoot it, for one day each. We did a twist on the old Kodak TV ads, calling the project, Kodak Presents: Moments to Forget. The screening of the seven finished shorts played at the DGA Theatre this April to an overflow crowd of over 750. It gave great exposure to our women members who are trying to transition to directing.”
Another cause close to Ryan’s heart is the fight to staunch runaway production, which threatens the livelihoods of so many in the industry. “I chair the AD/UPM Council’s Runaway Production Committee. Since 1997, our goal has been to mitigate the effects of Runaway Production by empowering our members. We recently produced our latest event, where two panels of experts and a dozen state film commissioners disseminated information on how to use state tax incentives. We’re hoping that this information will allow our members to multiply not only their own work opportunities, but those of other members as well. I’ve also been a long-time supporter of the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program, where I serve on the Executive Committee of their board, and continue to lecture and mentor trainees. I’m a tireless cheerleader for getting involved. If there’s a circumstance that needs changing, I believe that our collaborative energy as Guild members is unstoppable!”
|
|
|
Ryan serves as moderator for the Brotherhood case study panel with Elizabeth Guber Stephen and Director Phillip Noyce at the DGA Film Incentives Seminar. (see related items below)
|
|
|
Asked what it means to her to receive such a prestigious honor as the Capra Award so young in her career, Ryan answered, “I feel truly honored and I thank the Guild. I never could have done it without my fellow members and the stellar staff of the DGA. Yet, I feel there is still so much to be done, that I’m not ready to start thinking about a legacy. I just hope I can inspire others to pick up the torch and add their efforts to our ever stronger Guild!” |
