TEDx
Localism: Building A Collaborative Creative Community
“Filmmakers Ryan Byrne and Danial O’Brien share how they’re working to create a locally-focused film-production studio in their hometown, using only local talent and resources. Ryan Byrne was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In 2002 he toured Asia as a model/actor after winning a local modeling competition and signing with Elite Models in Hong Kong. After returning home to Canada in 2006, he founded a company called ACE Studios. Ryan first pursued his passion for film-making at Sault College in an introductory film-making course. Immediately after completing the program he jumped into creating his first feature film with all-local-talent called “All Hallows Eve: October 30th”. This first film was distributed by Gravitas Ventures. In 2016 his second feature-length film “The Book of Nightmares” won the iHorror Award for the Best Original Screenplay and will be released in October 2019 by Wild Eye Releasing. Presently, Ryan continues to lead the team at ACE in producing original content.
Danial O’Brien is an award-winning independent filmmaker. He is a graduate of Sault College’s Digital Film Production Program, and also holds a post-graduation certificate from Fanshawe College in Marketing Management. In 2018, while a student at Sault College, he was part of a team that traveled to Tanzania to produce a series of marketing videos for Arusha Technical College and Pwani Veta. The project was funded by CICan. He made his feature film directorial debut with “The Book of Nightmares”. The film won the iHorror Award for Best Original Screenplay and will be distributed by Wild Eye Releasing in October 2019. Danial lives in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, with his family.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
