We were lucky to catch up with Ryan Cho recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.
1 big trend that I’ve been seeing in my industry is film and television distribution through streaming services (Disney+, Max, Netflix, etc.). With film and television having been extremely popular for the past several years through streaming services, a lot of job opportunities are going through these services. With sometimes film, television, commercial and other mediums being slow sometimes, when a streaming service production opportunity comes along I need to work on it to make a living. Some examples of productions that I’ve been offered to work on last year are the Stars Wars Disney+ television show “Ahsoka” and Zach Snyder’s Netflix feature film “Rebel Moon” in an acting role (didn’t work on them but was an honor to be offered them). It’s all about being adaptable to the changes and job market to take care of myself. Some steaming service productions that have been highlights in my career so far are a Max pilot “More” and an Amazon Prime television show “Expats” (acting in a scene with Nicole Kidman: 1 of the highlights of my life). 1 thing I’m concerned with is if and/or when streaming services will decrease and eventually stop with production jobs, like several+years from now. It’s nice to have these services to have jobs coming. We’ll see how things go in the next several+ years.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a filmmaker+creative that mostly does production department work and sometimes acting. I’ve directed projects (fitness startup company videos, music videos, other fitness content, events, etc.) before and directing is ultimately my end goal, with production department and acting work on the side as well. I work on feature films, television shows, music videos, events, commercials and other mediums as well. I got into the entertainment/film industry by creating YouTube videos in the film community (film reviews, trailer reactions, blu-ray unboxings, film news, etc.), by acting in them but also post-production work. I then did 2 years of a high school film class and then a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in cinema at San Francisco State University. I mostly did production, directing and editing work in school (sometimes acting also) then did freelance film work in San Francisco Bay Area. In May 2018, I moved to Los Angeles, mostly doing the same thing. Production companies and clients hire me to do production department work (making everything run smoothly behind the scenes logistically), acting and directing.I’m a collaborative artist that gets along with everyone, adapts very well to challenges and passionate with every project that I work on. I’m most proud of having a wide variety of work experiences in different media platforms (competition television shows, studio feature films, network and streaming television, high profile music videos, etc.).
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In November 2019, I worked on the A24 feature film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, a film of critical and commercial success and won a multitude of awards (Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, etc.). It was my 1st big film that I worked on. Unfortunately, I only worked on it for 1 day during pre-production (was dealing with a stressful situation in my personal life that affected my job performance sometimes, etc.). In January 2020 when the film started shooting (my favorite phase of production), I didn’t get brought back and I already knew beforehand that I blew it. With other issues in my personal and professional life going on in January, it was a really tough time in my life. In July 2021, I worked on the Paramount Pictures film “Babylon” for 3 days, then 1 more day 2 months later. As “Babylon” is from the same director+writer of “La La Land” (my favorite film of all time) and I was highly anticipating “Babylon”, working on the film for those 4 days was the best job of my life and 1 of the best and happiest times of my life. With experiencing grief from 1 of my grandmothers passing away a few weeks before starting the shoot and my 1st big film in the shooting phase being “Babylon”, it was a full circle introspective experience, and it saved and changed my life with overcoming grief. Sometimes things need to fall apart to make way for better things.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
A personal story, but I’ve shared this story many times on social media, in person, etc., so I’m cool with sharing this publicly. In December 2020 on my birthday, I found out that 1 of my grandmothers was diagnosed with brain cancer. With having a schedule to do a lot more apartment tours in LA for my next living situation (lease was ending in 1 month), I had a moral obligation to visit her for several days or so instead of searching for more and much better apartments. I had to choose the next apartment (studio) when I did the tour due to my grandmother’s situation. When came back to LA in the 2nd week of January, let’s just say that the living situation (1 1/2 year) wasn’t a good experience at all. I have no regrets with seeing my grandmother during that time, as also it was a couple months or so before she wasn’t able to talk anymore. It was a time in my life that I had to choose between having a better quality of life and peaceful living situation, or see my grandmother. I have no regrets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ryan-cho.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cho.318/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theCho508/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryancho508/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theryancho
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXeYUxdPYiAuugW2nIahNag