Quick Facts
Biography
Terence Ryan (born 2 March 1948) is a British film director, writer, and producer. He has written, directed and produced eight feature films and he has also produced and directed an enormous variety of television programs and television series ranging from serious drama and comedy to sport, music and documentary.
Feature films directed and produced by Terence Ryan include The Brylcreem Boys, Puckoon, Going Home, Hold My Hand I'm Dying. Feature films produced by Terence Ryan include Botched, Heaven on Earth.
His work includes films in the genres of drama, comedy, music, and sport. He has also produced and directed social documentaries for charities including Help the Aged, Who Matters, Children in Need and Immunization Awareness.
Terence Ryan is a founding member of the Irish Academy of Film.
He was born in London, England.
Career
Terence Ryan began his film career in 1972 at the London International Film School. His first short feature, dramatising the life of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, was awarded the Finbar Prize for the Best Film at the Cork Film Festival. This film also won Terence Ryan the Grierson Award at the 1972 UK BAFTA Awards.
In 1980 Terence Ryan formed Opix Films with partner Ray Marshall. The company produced 120 films and television series over a twelve-year period. Thirty films made at Opix, produced and directed by Terence Ryan won international awards.
In 1982 Terence Ryan produced and directed the sports series Focus on Soccer with sporting greats including Kevin Keegan, Ray Clemence and Graham Hill. He also produced and directed two further sports series for Sky Television plc, Focus on Rugby and Superstars of Soccer.
From 1982–87 Terence Ryan wrote, produced and directed seven comedy television features in association with both the BBC and ITV starring British comedians Jasper Carrott, Billy Connolly and Max Boyce.
In 1988 Terence Ryan produced and directed the award-winning World War I feature film, Going Home, a co-production with Canada's Paterson Ferns at Primedia Films and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Going Home was nominated in the Canada Gemini Awards in the categories Best Director and best film. He was awarded the gold medal at the Huston Film Festival for Going Home.
In 1989 Terence Ryan directed the feature film adaptation of the John Gordon-Davis novel Hold My Hand I'm Dying, the story of the building of the Kariba Dam between Zimbabwe and Zambia, starring Oliver Reed.
In 1997 Terence Ryan produced and directed the romantic adventure feature The Brylcreem Boys, set in 1940s Ireland. Starring Gabriel Byrne and Bill Campbell, this film has become one of the most broadcast film on American Television.
In 1999 the Welsh Arts Council honoured Terence Ryan for his work in film.
In 2000, Terence Ryan produced and directed the feature comedy Puckoon, adapted from the best selling novel by Spike Milligan, with a cast including Richard Attenborough, Elliott Gould, Milo O'Shea, Daragh O'Malley, David Kelly and John Kavanagh.
In 2006 Terence Ryan produced the film Botched (aka 13), filmed in Ireland at Ardmore Studios, Dublin.
2008 saw the publication of The Rise and Rise of the Independents, written by Ian Potter, published by Guerilla Publishing, Nov. 2008. This book details Terence Ryan's career as one of the major Independent Film Producers in the UK and Ireland.
Terence Ryan is married to screenwriter Susan Morrall. They have two sons, film director Kit Ryan and film producer James T. Ryan.
External links and references
- Terence Ryan at the Internet Movie Database