A filmmaker with over two decades of experience directing, shooting and editing, Ryan Darst is a graduate of the UCLA School of Film and Television with a concentration in Screenwriting. Winner of the Alan S. Jacobsen Award for outstanding achievement in Directing and the Peter Stark Memorial Scholarship, Ryan is the co-founder of Sneak Attack, creators of several award-winning films, such as LONG STORY SHORT (Independent Spirit Award - 2011 SCFF) and DREAMWORLD (Best Director - 2012 WSIFF, Best Picture - 2012 PMFF).
Recents credits include the comedy series, Film Permit Police; Funny Or Die’s Ryan Gosling Stole My Best Friend, the breast cancer survivorship documentary, Cancer? Seriously?; The Caper Kind, an adventure series starring Whit Hertford, Jon Heder & Kyle Mooney, and WILDLIFE, a revenge tale set in rural Utah which premiered at the 2015 Cannes Court Metráge.
My experience living overseas during my childhood - in Saudi Arabia and Turkey - steeped me an incredible mixture of art, customs and stories, no doubt influencing me now as a filmmaker. The compassion and patience that I try to strive for in my work comes from the concept of being stranger in a foreign, welcoming home; the balance between respecting a culture and making an impression. I want to tell the story, no doubt, but I also want to let the actors and collaborators feel like it's their own, maybe so much so, that all I can do is interpret what I'm experiencing.
“It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.” ― Jean-Luc Godard