Scott Ryan is a Los Angles based director and producer of documentaries and animation. He is also the founder of cause oriented production company Monkey Wrench Agency.
Scott has worked on projects as disparate as the groundbreaking docuseries Manifesto!, critical PSA campaigns, award winning feature documentaries like We Want the Airwaves, animated television like HBO’s Animals, Strange Planet, and The Olympics.
Scott began his professional career as a performer and quickly realized that his desire to make films went way beyond the need to tell a story. He wanted to make films that entertained and inspired people. This need was cemented while working in the environmental movement since he was a teen.
Scott’s vision came to fruition when he began directing documentaries for the startup company Zoom Culture. Many of these films were produced for the national TV shows PLAYGROUND EARTH and HIP HOP NATION. During his time at ‘ZC’ Scott found himself shooting stories on everything from professional street lugers to Los Angeles street art and multiple PSA’s.
On his next adventure, he supervised edits of the OLYMPICS and the first ever multiplatform broadcast of the Paralympics for NBC/Universal. He then further honed his documentary skills shooting with the Gantz Brother’s production company View Film (of TAXICAB CONFESSIONS fame).
In 2005 Scott formed Zero Point Entertainment with partner Charmel Green and served as Senior V.P. of Production. At ‘ZPE’ they developed and pitched multiple series and shot the first season of A BLOODY BRILLIANT LIFE which aired on ABC (Australia). They also developed the online video platform Kachoo!, packaged feature films, collaborated with AIM (Amnesty International Media) and formed partnerships with industry veterans such as Promenade Pictures, headed by former president of Paramount, Frank Yablans.
Charmel & Scott discovered a missing element in television during this period: the desires and dreams, the very manifestoes (or missions) of everyday people were not being represented in media. Scott’s background intertwined with this deficit & inspired the project & show known as MANIFESTO! The team’s dedication resulted in multiple episodes, has inspired countless commercial projects, and is now the subject of Scott’s feature documentary, WE WANT THE AIRWAVES.
Scott also consults on production & creative. He consulted on the animated feature Anomalisa, the epic feature film The Matrix , as well as a feature documentary about the quintessential, defunct punk music venue The Outhouse based in Lawrence, Kansas.
Scott’s social justice work spans environmental, animal welfare, & civil rights issues, having worked on behalf of Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, NRDC, Friends of the Los Angeles River, and Rhapsody in Green amongst others. Scott’s animal advocacy includes working with animal advocate Karen Dawn on her campaigns; he was also the co-founder and executive director of the endangered species non-profit Identify Foundation. At Identify, they launched a Mountain Gorilla project and a prepped a Pink Dolphin project. Partners included DFGFI (Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Intl) and MGVP (Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Patrol), as well as WWF and Sea Sheperd on prepped projects.
Monkey Wrench Agency has been a recent passion. An MWA public service announcement Scott directed and produced for 5 Gyres Institute was featured in their international campaign to ban plastic microbead pollution in our waterways; this resulted in a statewide ban in California and contributed to a nationwide ban, which was signed by Barack Obama in 2015 and known as “The Microbead Free Waters Act.”
Scott is currently on the board of the non profit Give a Beat. He was an early, loud and proud creator and supporter of socially conscious, cause oriented television. He continues to push the envelope whenever possible. He hosts documentary film/television projects and organizes/speaks at charity events whenever time allows.
