Thomas Ryan - making stuff you can watch
My Works
On this page you’ll be able to view an evolving selection of works I've contributed to under my own name. This section also features details on when and why they were created, the roles I played in the production of each piece, as well as the details of each film.
2025
Andrew is Under House Arrest
Andrew is Under House Arrest is an independent, short surreal thriller film that I created in 2025 with help from a small yet dedicated cast and crew.
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The film follows Andrew, a man who is under house arrest. He's not bothered though, he likes the isolation, he doesn't need to talk to anyone, and he sure doesn't want to go outside. One night however, a visitor arrives at the house, and Andrew begins to doubt just how good he thinks his situation is... but part of him isn't going to take no for an answer.
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The film was created for submission to the 2025 Blue Heeler Film Festival under the theme of "nurture". I conceived the film as a risky interpretation of that theme, opting to lean into the concepts of negative influence and co-dependency. What happens if the only influence you have is yourself, and what happens if that influence is bad? It's a very surreal story that's designed to be interpreted in several different ways, all down to how the viewer perceives their own susceptibility to influence and nurturement.
The film received an honourable mention at the 2025 Blue Heeler Film Festival and has also since been selected to screen at the One Eye Film Festival in Dubbo, and the Newcastle International Short Film Festival, both in November of 2025.​
2025
This Here Then Now
This Here Then Now is a project that was conducted by Arts Upper Hunter in 2024, in which three Upper Hunter regional museums were selected to work with resident artists. These artists and museums were Sophie Cox at Scone Museum, Helene Leane at Dungog Museum and Todd Fuller at Tocal Homestead.
I was approached by Arts Upper Hunter to create three short videos documenting each of the artists and their processes. Those videos were released in early 2025.
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The THTN project as a whole was subsequently nominated for an Imagine Award, presented by Museums & Galleries of NSW in late 2025, in which the videos played a role in the submission.
2024
The People of Tin City
The People of Tin City is a short documentary video that was produced by a small team of 3 as a part of CMNS2900 coursework in 2024, that I directed and edited.
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The documentary examines the unreal world of Tin City, a small settlement of off-the-grid shacks nestled in the Stockton Sand Dunes. While most documentation on Tin City focuses on the history of the location, we opted to angle our project more towards the unconventional stories of the people that lived there during the settlement's golden age.
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Our goal was to illustrate a picture of the community that is Tin City in the most poetic way possible, with the residents' stories flowing and weaving together. All manner of subjects were discussed, such as surviving the harsh weather, growing up there, building and recovering sunken huts, living without power, celebrations, etc.
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The documentary was highly commended at the University of Newcastle's 9th Annual Newbie Awards in late 2024. It later went on to be selected as a part of the Short+Sweet film festival's Sydney lineup in 2025, and as part of the Canberra Short Film Festival also in 2025.
2024
The Funny Man
The Funny Man is a surreal comedy short that I developed as a part of CMNS3999 coursework in 2024. The assignment required us to develop the short in 4 parts, each with separate criteria. These criteria included dialogue-free, inclusion of basic compositing, dialogue in ADR, and multi-camera.
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The film follows a popular author who has spent almost a decade working on his latest and final novel. As the book gets closer to seeing the light however, doubt begins to set in for Wyatt in the form of mysterious hallucinations mocking every minor inconvenience he comes to face.​
2023
Anamnesis
Anamnesis is a short sci-fi thriller film produced as my degree's final project in 2023, that I directed and edited.
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Anamnesis follows the character of Oliver, who wakes up in a room surrounded by people he doesn't know, with no memory of who he is. Oliver also has to deal with his own suspiciously conflicting thoughts, as well as an injured foot to boot. Clearly, something is wrong, further demonstrated by his supposed family who seem to be acting bizarrely. As Oliver is growing suspicious of them however, they're most definitely growing suspicious of him too.
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​Anamnesis was nominated for best sci-fi short, best student director (male) and best original screenplay at the February 2024 IndieX film festival in Los Angeles. ​​
2023
Hey Lenny!
Hey Lenny! is a music video developed by a small team of 6 in collaboration with local band, Hey Lenny. This video was created as a part of CMNS2040 coursework in 2023 over the course of a week, with every waking moment spent on production.
Hey Lenny! eventually went on to win the Best Music Video award at the 2023 Newbie Awards in Newcastle, Australia.​
2023
Out of This Town
Out of This Town is a music video developed by a small team of 6 in collaboration with local artist, Shyanne Irwin. This video was created as a part of CMNS2040 coursework in 2023 over the course of a week, with every waking moment spent on production.
2022
Spoons
Spoons is an absurdist comedy-mockumentary short produced for the secondary category of the 2022 Blue Heeler Film Fest. I co-wrote and edited the film, and also assisted with direction style and shooting.
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Spoons follows Jenna, head of marketing at Little Spoons Inc, which thanks to her, is currently at war with a rival spoon company. Jenna has been working from home for quite some time now, so her boss decides to send over a few other employees to check on her, to frankly disastrous results.
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Spoons later went on to win the secondary category of the 2022 Blue Heeler Film Festival.
2022
Terrace Tenpin Promo Suite
This is a series of 3 promotional video I created for Terrace Tenpin in Raymond Terrace as a part of CMNS1240 coursework in 2022.
One was created with the intent to be a fun, "viral" advertisement with completely freeform criteria. The other two were far more straightforward advertisements with talking head interviews, traditional advertising, etc.​
2021
5:15
5:15 is a short comedy film developed by a small team of 6 as a part of CIND1004 coursework. I edited the film, and also greatly assisted in the cinematography and direction. This was the first film project I made while I was at university, and also the first film project I ever made in a team.
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The film revolves around a man who is stuck in a time-loop in which he's supposed to be meeting his date at 5:15. Every loop, something stops him from doing so successfully, and he must figure out how to avoid each obstacle and make it there in time.
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5:15 later went on to win the University of Newcastle's inaugural Goldfish Film Fest in 2021.
2020
Dinner at the Dumpertons
Dinner at the Dumpertons is an absurdist comedy short film developed as my major project for coursework I undertook in 2020. The project was developed primarily using Adobe Character Animator, which is a piece of animation software I have since utilised heavily in future animated projects I've developed under different brands/names.
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Dinner at the Dumpertons follows a family of sentient trash as they attempt to have a refined, civil dinner. The omnipresent narrator of the film has different ideas however, as they're determined to ensure the Dumpertons follow every single rule, no matter how niche.