Daily Inspiration: Meet Ryan Pham

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Pham.

Hi Ryan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My name is Ryan Pham. I am a DP (Director of Photography) based out of Raleigh, North Carolina. I will be relocating by December over to the other side of the country. I’m moving out to Los Angeles to further pursue my career in filmmaking. I am born and raised in Raleigh, and I am also a first-generation American out of my family. When I was growing up, I have had it in mind to pursue a career in nursing.

Long story short, due to unforeseen circumstances throughout my life, I took a break from school and went on to pick up photography as a hobby and side hustle. Between working 2-3 jobs through my years growing up, I started to play around with the idea of pursuing photography as a career. It wasn’t practical, nor was it favored by my family. I ultimately made the jump, but I wasn’t in love with it. I slowly made the transition over to the world of video. I had no clue whatsoever as to how grand it really is. I dabbled a ton with the weddings that I had already been familiar with, the automotive scene, and the dance scene.

I had been doing it for a few years making small bits of income in order to get by before I had started landing opportunities with people on ACTUAL sets. Over these last two years, I’ve been able to learn and grow exponentially. Now I’m about to travel and move to the other side of the country to pursue something that I love to do.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It was not a smooth road at all. There were a lot of things that made this tough. The mentality of pursuing something like this was the hardest thing to get around to. Being raised in a family that isn’t from here had me in the mindset that doing something like the film was NOT practical (it really isn’t either to be honest). I was always expected to go back into school to continue Nursing. I stuck with this though. The network was tough too. If it wasn’t for pursuing this as a freelancer, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to the person that I am today. I’ve been able to grow. It’s forced me out of my shell in so many ways.

Especially socially – networking and openly working with new people on a consistent basis would’ve terrified younger me. Managing a business is a lot more than what most people would expect as well. If I didn’t love what I did, I would’ve quit so long ago. A big thing that was tough starting out was just feeling like an outlier. None of my close friends were on this path that I was on. I started to feel boxed in and alone in a lot of regards. I didn’t really have outlets starting out. I was so used to having a community of people that I could talk with about the process of things, but there ended up being a disconnect the farther I got.

So finding a new community of people was a struggle. Also finding myself along the way. In my opinion, your twenties are meant to really find yourself and build a solid foundation for the years to come. We are all so geared and pressured into having it all figured out by our twenties—having a family, kids, house, etc. I had to tell myself that that wasn’t it for me and that I was going to work through my twenties so I could be happier and enjoy my later years.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am typically a director of photography. I also work in other roles — Gaffer, Grip, Editor, Director, etc. It’s always easier to say filmmakers because then there’s a whole line of explaining that comes after. Director of Photography — the easiest way to generally explain it would be that they would typically work with a Director to bring the ideas/visions to life. They always help communicate everything that’s needed between all of the departments (Camera Dept., Lighting Dept., Art Dept., etc). There’s definitely a more long-winded answer, but it can get confusing at times since sometimes roles can get intertwined on smaller crews.

In regards to work, the thing I am most proud of is a music video I did for a close friend of mine, Marc Anthony Figueras, to his song “The One”. It was directed by our mutual friend Trent Toms. It was just a fun project. Marc actually didn’t know we were doing it together until we surprised him with a rough draft. This is cheesy, but otherwise- I’m proud of how far I’ve come with this stuff. To be able to keep pushing and growing in something that I am in love with doing is amazing. The fact that I’m able to make a living from it and will potentially be able to make enough to take care of family from it is just insane to me.

I don’t think I’m too much different from other people, to be honest. If anything, I’m extremely excited to continue down this path because being able to meet people from all walks of life and getting to learn about them and what they do is something that brings me so much happiness.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Genuinely love what you do. For lack of better words, don’t go into things half-assed. Walk into things with an open mind, patience, and good communication. Just having the love and the drive for film and being a decent human being I feel like has carried me a long way.

I make sure I’m not a pain to work with, but actually enjoyable. Having my priorities has also help keep me in line. The farther you go, the more people you meet, and with that – the chances you have to learn more and more expand. Always asking questions helps too. Most importantly get rid of your ego. There’s always going to be someone better or someone that knows something you don’t. Giving myself constant room to grow was crucial because getting better and growing will always be a goal.

Contact Info:

• Email: ryanphamfilms@gmail.com
• Website: ryanphamfilms.com
• Instagram: @ryaanpham
• Twitter: @ryaanpham
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RyanPhamFilms

Image Credits:
Sax Jared Cook & 36North Video & Photo.