Ryan Gielen
Directing
Known For

Fran is thinking about dying, but a man in the office might want to date her.
Sometimes, I Think About Dying

In an attempt to complete the Seven Summits, a do-or-die mountaineer with a severe bleeding disorder risks his life in order to shine a light upon the disturbing lack of access to life-sustaining medicine around the world.
Bombardier Blood

Beautiful Thing is a year in the life of Larry Keel. The film follows Larry and The Larry Keel Experience as they canvas from coast to coast, playing night after night in search of bigger and better crowds during 2002. Audiences range from a handful of disengaged people to standing ovations at world-renowned bluegrass festivals. Larry Keel remains somewhat obscure to audiences because his style, his interpretation of bluegrass and roots music is so personal that it is almost impossible to define, and subsequently, it is almost impossible to market. So Larry battles on, night after night, city after city, slowly generating a following of true believers, fans who sit and stare and smile in awe of this beautiful thing. Beautiful Thing is a glimpse into the life and spirit of a true artist, during his many tours and performances of 2002.
Larry Keel: Beautiful Thing

Follows five kids who stutter, ages 9 to 18, from all over the United States, who after experiencing a lifetime of bullying and stigmatization, meet other children who stutter at an interactive arts-based program, The Stuttering Association for the Young, based in New York City. Their journey to SAY find some close to suicide, others withdrawn and fearful, exhausted and defeated from failed fluency training, societal pressures to not stutter or the decision to remain silent. Over the course of a year we witness first hand the incredible transformation that happens when these young people of wildly different backgrounds experience for the first time the revolutionary idea at the heart of SAY: that it's okay to stutter.
My Beautiful Stutter

Four friends head to Senior Week in Ocean City, Maryland, to celebrate high school graduation.
The Graduates

It's the last night of the fall semester, and all over campus parties are raging. While alcohol flows, Richard and Shawn argue over what to do with Noopie, the mysterious upperclassman passed out on their floor. After a blizzard seals them in the dorm with a handful of hapless friends, Noopie awakes and uses a mix of drugs, booze and sex to manipulate the group to their physical and emotional breaking points over the longest, most dangerous night of their young lives. Will it be their last?
Drinking Games

Mateo and Will invite their friends over for Will's 30th birthday. After a few surprise visitors, they get through the day, but realize that doubting your partner isn't nearly as scary as doubting yourself.