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Meet Ryan Henry Knight of HÖMA Motion Pictures in Midtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Henry Knight.

Ryan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m from Alexandria, Virginia. My passion for film wasn’t derived from the desire to pursue film as a career. Instead, it was derived from the absolute need to express myself and create a way to manifest my deepest thoughts, emotions, and ideas into something that those outside of my own head can comprehend and feel something from. Personally, it is the most effective medium of art to express yourself through because it combines every form of art into one (i.e., creative writing, visual art, music, design, installation, etc.), and allows the audience to experience something that challenges their own perception on an array of concepts. For example, films such as Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” or Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” have become known to test people’s comprehension of symbolism and even their own emotions. These are the kinds of films I aspire to create and the stories I intend to tell. If a film doesn’t have any effect on its viewers, why make it?

For as long as I can remember, I have been surrounded by open-minded and extremely creative individuals. My mother, for instance, is a fan of poetry and the art of literacy. My father is an author and a visual artist. My uncle is a graphic novelist and visual artist. This concept of telling effective stories might’ve been hereditary, and has been an important aspect of my being since I was very young. As a toddler, I remember watching 80s music videos on VH1 with my mother. I recall very vividly the music video that struck my interest and got me asking questions. It was a stop-motion animation music video, and there were two shoes that were moving on their own. I looked at my mother and asked her how that was possible. It was at that moment, where my entire life changed.

My mother told me it was something called “stop motion,” and my curiosity grew. Then, to add to my amazement, she grabbed the closest object (which happened to be a Dora the Explorer doll) and placed it on the couch. She then proceeded to grab her camera, and take photos of the doll on the couch. With each photo, she placed the doll further to the right. Minutes later, she showed me the photos she took in a continuous reel, creating the illusion of the doll moving on its own. Seeing that it was possible for someone to create movement and story from scratch and portray it in a visual manner was when I knew I wanted to tell stories of my own.

When I was six years old, I wrote and directed my first short film. The short starred my mother, my sister, and myself. My dad helped me edit it. Long story short, the project was garbage – as expected from a six-year-old. I don’t know where that film is today, as it only lives within my memories. However, I can say that I have vastly improved as a filmmaker since then. As the years passed, I continued exploring writing and putting my ideas on camera. This included any and all ideas, important and unimportant. I would take my dad’s camera and record everything, from my pets to the crevices in the walls of my home. Somehow, everything had a story, and I felt that it was my job to document whatever that story was. Years later, at the age of 9, I joined the Workhouse Arts Center animation and film class in Lorton, Virginia. My instructor was Joseph Wallen, a film and theatre veteran who was experienced in all fields of performing arts. He was the first instructor to show me the ropes of visual storytelling, and it was from his initial teachings that I was able to excel.

Between ages 10 and 14, I was focusing primarily on screenwriting so that I could have these ideas documented somewhere so that I could adapt them into actual films when I had the right time and equipment. I must’ve written at least 15-20 screenplays in my pre-teen to tween years. And I can’t lie, some of them were solid concepts. But, it wasn’t until I was about 16 when I started taking my passion for visual storytelling to the next level. I started treating and directing music videos, PSA shorts, ad campaigns for the brand I had founded, and creative instructional videos. I started posting my work on YouTube and Vimeo and began focusing on my social media presence to grow my network. Eventually, I started getting freelance jobs and was getting paid to write and direct visuals. As a director, I was in charge of overseeing and leading a staff of cast and crew, as well as communicating my creative vision.

As I continued to grow and learn over the years, I came into contact with an array of people and films that would ultimately change my perspective, and even my life. When I was 17, I met Ahab Mullick, a fellow filmmaker who eventually became my best friend and creative partner. He and I co-directed our first feature film that same year and screened it to a sold-out audience. In 2018, at age 18, I wrote “And Home We Came,” a social thriller that went on to win four awards, including first place at the New York International Screenplay Awards for Best Short Screenplay. At age 18, I was the youngest recipient of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Award for my achievements in film and video. Additionally, I was accepted into the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Georgia where I currently study film with an Achievements Honors Scholarship and an Academic Honors Scholarship.

And here I am now — still creating and trying to get my stories out to the world. Most recently, I completed my latest work, “Ludere,” which is currently on a festival run. So far, the film has been officially selected to premiere on independent film platform, NoBudge. Over the last week or so, the film has been getting the attention of multiple film festivals across the world. I’m excited to see what’s in store for the future.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
From being a curious and creative toddler to being an even more curious and creative adult, I can say confidently that it has been a relatively smooth road for the most part. If “failure” is what’s deemed as making it a bumpy road, then I guess it’s been slightly bumpy. But even then, failure is just a new path to success. I don’t consider myself to be a quitter, so when I fail or something doesn’t go as I plan it to, I try harder until I get the results I desire. I learn from every mistake and every fail.

However, throughout my creative career, I have gone in and out of interests and passions. I’ve tried so many different things. Some I was successful in, others I wasn’t. Or, in some cases, I found that they weren’t for me. I will say that the one consistent art form that I feel I will never lose touch in (other than film, of course) is music. When I was 10, I started writing music, and it wasn’t until I reached age 14 where I started taking it a little more serious in regards to recording and putting it out there. There was a point in time when filmmaking was kind of on the back-burner because of how deep my love for making music was. Songwriting eventually became an emotional outlet for me, whereas every-now-and-then I would drop a track or a little EP on Soundcloud. Even today I find myself releasing a song sometimes. It was kind of an internal conflict for me because I was scared I was losing my passion for my first love; film. At one point, it almost became clear to me that I wasn’t a filmmaker. I was going to refer myself as just “an artist” because of how off-and-on I was about the craft. It was almost terrifying for me; it felt like I was losing myself in another medium.

When I turned 15, I founded the digital art platform and magazine, Cut x Sewn Magazine. This point in my life was a magnificent one. I came into contact with so many up-and-coming artists and fellow creatives like myself. The magazine itself also did well, attaining over 50,000 readers within the first six months. I had grown a team of over 20 writers and two editors from across the world. Over the years, I began to grow with a lot of these artists I met and grew plenty of fantastic relationships that I still have today. The magazine had grown so much, that we had a platform large enough to host and sponsor our first large-scale art convention in 2016, which featured over 30 artists of various mediums. The event had two stages where musicians performed, pop-up shops, art showcases, and areas for people to connect. The artist Goldlink made an appearance and enjoyed the event as well. The success and acclaim of the event led me to creating a clothing brand called SENSE, which I was head designer and creative director. I held a few pop up shops around the east coast, and sold clothes all around the world. I even sold my last collection at the Urban Outfitters in Georgetown in early 2017. Eventually, I stepped down in the summer of 2017 to focus on film once again. It was like I had an epiphany and came to realize that I was meant to be a filmmaker first and foremost. It was such a pivotal moment for me that I remember sitting in my room and crying, with the feeling that I’ve been doing the wrong things for too long. Months after that epiphany, my first feature film was in production.

As I previously mentioned, in 2018, I wrote a screenplay called “And Home We Came.” About a month after the screenplay won its first few awards, I was looking for funding to produce the film, so I created a campaign on IndieGoGo for it. I was gaining tons of support from friends and strangers alike. However, I noticed that I wasn’t nearing my goal, which was in the high thousands. However, it was brought to my attention that the campaign had been shared on a public forum called Fairfax Underground, which turned out was filled with racist haters. Underneath the post about my campaign, dozens of racist and offensive comments were made regarding me and my work. Left and right, anonymous users were bashing my name and creative effort, trying to bring me down. However, I started sharing the comments on social media to show how the world truly is. In the end, I was able to bring in over $2500 to my campaign in a single day.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the HÖMA Motion Pictures story. Tell us more about the business.
HÖMA Motion Pictures is an independent film production company that I founded with my best-friend, Ahab Mullick. The studio is home to a small — yet growing — group of young, award-winning and multi-talented filmmakers, each with their own unique, creative voice and an array of stories to tell.

At HÖMA, we create content. We specialize in narrative film; however, we also do work in music videos, documentaries, and other media. Everyone on our team is under 21 years old, but we have the experience and expertise of a group of 20-year auteurs. We pride ourselves in storytelling and quality.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I suppose it’s a combination of love, support, and hard work. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a “lucky” moment. I believe it’s the work, and the results follow based on what I put into whatever I’m working on.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
At the New York International Screenplay Awards in Manhattan, New York. Photo taken by Jamel Lewis.
A still from “A Spotlight” mini doc by Ahab Mullick.
Ryan Henry Knight and Ahab Mullick setting up a shot for Mumbo Jumbo.
On set with actor Cameron Fisher.

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