Ryan Henry
Alias:
Ryan Mekenian
Ryan's short documentary "Spokespeople" recently won Best Documentary Short at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. The film also won awards at the Better Cities Film Festival and the Virginia Dares Cinematic Arts Awards for Decolonizing/Re-Indigenizing Media. Ryan's work has been seen at the Goodspeed Opera House, the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the New York Musical Festival, and the American Theatre of Actors. Ryan directed "Mrs. Sharp" with Tony-Award Winner Ali Stroker and "Spare Some Change" with Tony-Winners Celia Keenan-Bolger & Lindsay Mendez. His short film, "The American Ambassador", premiered at the Prague Independent Film Festival. Ryan served as Assistant Director of "Essential Alice" directed by Des McAnuff, "The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway" with Jennifer Aniston, and "Awake in the Park" directed by Jeremy Sisto. He was the Associate Producer of "Snoopy" starring Sutton Foster. He assisted on the Broadway productions of Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention" produced by Steven Spielberg, "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks" with Mark Hamill, the Tony-Nominated revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar," and the national tour of "Jersey Boys." He assisted on the final two seasons of "Law and Order." As a songwriter, Ryan's songs as Purmamarca can be found on the soundtrack for the Emmy-winning Netflix series Eastsiders. Ryan has performed off-Broadway at Ars Nova, New World Stages, and the Harlem Center for the Arts. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and is currently based in his hometown of Los Angeles where he is an M.F.A. Candidate at the U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts. He has taught and directed at Carnegie Mellon University, Laramie State University, and the Orange County School of the Arts.