Ryan Robert Minford is a writer, director, and film editor whose work is rooted in character-driven storytelling and a deep understanding of how films are built in the edit.

He began making films in 2009, when a high school production class first put him behind both a camera and an editing timeline. He went on to study filmmaking at Ringling College of Art + Design and later earned his MFA from ArtCenter College of Design, writing, directing, shooting, and editing numerous films along the way.

His first feature, The Cry, was an ambitious no-budget production that Ryan wrote and directed over the course of nine months before spending nearly a year editing the film. That experience cemented his belief that editing is the final rewrite of a movie and ultimately shaped the way he approaches directing: thinking about performance, coverage, rhythm, and story long before the footage reaches the cutting room.

In the years that followed, Ryan built a career in post-production, editing narrative features, commercials, music videos, and other film and television projects while also working as a union assistant editor. His credits and clients have included RadicalMedia, Michael Bay’s 451 Media Group, T-Mobile, Apple, Honda, and Hallmark. Most recently, he edited The Class Reunion, directed by Chazitear and starring Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Free Guy) and Sarunas J. Jackson (Insecure).

After years spent helping other filmmakers shape their stories in post, Ryan has increasingly returned his focus to writing and directing his own work, bringing the instincts developed through thousands of hours in the editing room back to the set.

His upcoming short film, The Surveyor, which he wrote and directed, stars Chloe Breen (Obsession) and Michael Paré (Streets of Fire).