Ryan Mekenian (he/him) is an Armenia writer, director, and producer based in Tongva territory, his hometown, Los Angeles and a graduate from the U.S.C. School of Cinematic Arts and the N.Y.U. Tisch School of the Arts. 

His film, Spokespeople, a short documentary that delves into the campaign to make Los Angeles more bicycle friendly, won Best Film for Change at the Bolton International Film Festival & Best Doc Short at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. The short screened at nearly 50 festivals worldwide including at the Edmonton International Film Festival, Bogotá Short Film Festival, and the American Pavilion’s Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival.

Ryan’s feature screenplay, The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair, was a 2022 Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting quarterfinalist and won the 2021 Screenwriting Discovery Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

He is a 2023 California Arts Council Arts Fellow, and aims to direct the kind of stories that inspired him as a kid — honest, complex portrayals of the American dream. 

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