#FemaleFilmmakerFriday: Lindsey Ryan

Ladies and Rebelmen, after a short winter break, our proposed bi-weekly #femalefilmmakerfriday blog posts have returned! We are still so inspired by all the kickass women working around us, and can’t wait to share their successes with you. This re-launch begins with someone very special to us: our freshly-hired COO, Lindsey Ryan!!

REBEL: Welcome to the Rebellion, Lindsey! We’re so thrilled to have you not only on the blog… but on the Rebel Team! Please introduce yourself for us.

Lindsey: Hi! My name is Lindsey Ryan and I’m a New York born and raised filmmaker and content creator.

REBEL: What was the first thing that inspired you to venture into the Film & TV industry?

Ever since I was young I have been infatuated with watching Films and TV shows. I love the idea of being transported into someone else’s story. I used to come home from school every day and go straight to the TV to watch something. Then one day, I remember having the epiphany that people make careers out of this and I wanted to be one of those people. 

REBEL: After that all-too-familiar realization (we’ve been there!), how’d you go about entering the industry?

I started out in the industry back when I was in high school. I knew I wanted to be involved in some way with the storytelling process, so I decided to start attending networking events. I ended up connecting with a DP through an event who brought me onto an MTV show as a camera PA. From that project on, my freelance career snowballed and I was offered the opportunity to work on an Oscar nominated documentary called “The Hunting Ground” by Kirby Dick. I traveled through Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts to get B-roll of various universities.

After High School, I went to Hofstra University to study Film & TV. I continued to freelance throughout my time there and went on to hold several staff positions. In 2016 I started working for a documentary production company called Pentimento Productions. We had a picture deal with HBO at the time so I got to work on the “Spielberg” and “Fonda in Five Acts” documentaries. I was involved in the research and development of those specific projects. Spielberg went on to be nominated for an Emmy which was very exciting! After leaving Pentimento, I returned to my freelancing roots again and took a job as a 2nd Assistant Director for the MTV Award Promos which led me to AD additional MTV promos later that year. Those were huge learning experiences for me because it involved tons of background and a huge crew. After that I took a month long job Talent Coordinating for the second season of The Match Game on ABC.

In the beginning of 2017, I decided to accept a Fellowship position for a VFX company called Phosphene. When my fellowship came to an end with Phosphene, I went a different direction and started working as the assistant to director Reed Morano. Reed has been and incredible mentor and a very important part of my growth as a filmmaker. We most recently worked on the Armani Code campaign for 2019 with Ryan Reynolds and Elodie Yung which is coming out very soon!

My production background is incredibly varied; I’ve done every position there is. It has been incredibly helpful experience to have in understanding how each and every department works cohesively to create the big picture. I think it’s important to have a team player attitude and to take any opportunity that comes your way. You never know where it’ll lead you!

REBEL: What still inspires you about filmmaking?

Easily the constant excitement and room for creativity. The day in and day out is always different and I love how versatile everyone’s positions are and can be!

REBEL: What’s like… your dream piece of content, if you could make anything?

I dream of making comedies; more specifically a comedic feature. I love making people laugh so if I can someday achieve that in a 90 (or so) minute feature I would be very excited!

REBEL: Tell us about your favorite on-set experience!!!

That’s a hard one - I have so many that are near and dear for different reasons. But I’ll go with the time I was a talent coordinator on this ABC show called The Match Game. I was working with 9 celebrity guests every day so I got to meet and get to know a lot of incredible talent, which kept everyday super exciting. On top of that, two of my best friends were also working on the show which made it an absolute blast. The rest of the crew ended up becoming very close friends of mine as well. It was a great bunch full of laughter and fun. I think it’s really important to have that on set because the hours and workload can often be overwhelming and demanding - it’s nice to have some relief. 

REBEL: Now looking into the future - you’ve been hired at Rebel as our new COO! We know you have a lot of on-set experience, but tell us a little about the work you’ll be doing here.

I will be spearheading daily business operations to ensure that Rebel is operating at maximum efficiency. I will also be actively attending events and working to expand the Rebel network. Rebel Motion is an incredibly talented group of individuals and I am very grateful to be a member of the team!

REBEL: We’re so grateful to have you! What’s one thing you’re excited about in the upcoming year?

I’m just excited to see where my Rebel journey takes me this year and I’m even more excited to see what incredible content we go on to create.

We’re so pumped to welcome Lindsey to the team and cannot wait to see what the year has in store. Follow our newest adventures at @rebel_motion on Instagram!