| The Journey |

Ryan Kruger’s obsession with film started at the age of 14 when he acquired a JVC MovieVideo camcorder and feverishly filmed his friends and family in a series of “movies”. Exploring themes of criminality, wacky relationships, and action-driven plots, he slowly began to nurture his narrative style and soon found his passion in the art of storytelling. Bored to death with the mundane realities of high school Ryan graduated and jumped at the opportunity to obtain his acting diploma from The Guildhall School of Music & Drama. To fill his time he took on a personal project: a gritty reality-type show called GTV! For three years Kruger delved into the underbelly of the live music scene, filming with some of the world’s biggest rock bands. Bands like Juliet Lewis and the Licks, Misfists, Slipknot and Black Flag allowed him to venture into the unknown and the outcome was a sobering yet hilarious glimpse of the ridiculous life of a rock star

“I could never see myself doing anything other than what I’m doing right now”

Shifting his focus back to acting, Kruger landed a few small roles on shows like “Shameless” as well as feature films taking notes from veterans like academy award winner Danny Boyle on the set of “Millions”. His work has also been critiqued by Quentin Tarantino during his Death Proof tour. This was his first film school and he sponged all the information he could about life on set, the creative thought process and the dynamic between director and actor.

Hoping for bigger opportunities, Kruger headed to sunny South Africa and enrolled at Cape Town’s AFDA Film School where he ultimately received a bursary to complete his honors in Directing & Writing. Not being one to stand still, he quickly made his connections while studying and approached bands to direct their music videos.

Today, he is known as the top music video director in South Africa and has conceptualized and directed over 100 music videos for SA’s most prolific artists.
His talent has clearly not gone unnoticed. He’s won numerous awards over the years (both locally and internationally) including a SAMA (South African Music Award) for his work with globally acclaimed rock band, Prime Circle. He also managed to claim the top 3 spots in MTV Africa’s annual music video awards in 2013.

With his mind set on his first feature film, he has several scripts in development and exciting collaborations in the pipeline. Broadening his horizons to the commercial world, Kruger has spent the last year creating compelling content for global brands like Toyota. A true talent and a refreshing addition to the film industry, Kruger is definitely a standout young director eager to break the mold.

| Fried Barry |

Fried Barry follows the story of a drug-addled degenerate who, after yet another bender, gets abducted by aliens. Barry takes a backseat as his alien visitor assumes control of his body and takes it for a joyride through Cape Town. What follows is an onslaught of drugs, sex and violence as Barry’s alien tourist enters the weird and wonderful world of humankind.

The feature directorial debut from award-winning music video director Ryan Kruger and starring newcomer Gary Green, the genre pushing, acid-washed, sci-fi horror has been praised by critics and embraced by fans around the world.

Fried Barry world premiered at the 2020 Cinequest Film Festival and went on to screen at celebrated festivals such as the prestigious Sitges International Film Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival, Grimmfest, and Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival. So far the film has picked up over 25 awards around the world at some of the biggest genre film festivals. And released by AMC’s Shudder in 2021. Fried Barry has been nothing short of explosive earning cult status attaining “Certfied Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and achiveing viral fame in the US after hitting the hit TV show The Last Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs. Kruger is a rising star in the genre film. Fried Barry had over 6 nominations including Best film & Best director at the 16th South African film and television awards (SAFTAS).

| Street Trash |

2024 His 2nd film “STREET TRASH”  Starring Sean Cameron Michael and Joe Vaz, In the year 2050, global economic turmoil has destroyed the middle class in Cape Town, South Africa, which is now divided between the ultra-rich and the displaced. Ronald and a group of fellow houseless friends uncover a plot by the local government to ‘wash away’ the houseless population with a sinister chemical agent called ‘V.’ Now, they must risk everything to expose the truth and resist a society that’s determined to erase them. The film was shot on 35mm film set in Cape Town and was a loose sequel to the 1987 New York film with the same name. Street Trash had its world premier at Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Cinema in LA and its UK premier at the prestiges Prince Charles cinema in London. Then hitting The international film festival Rotterdam.

| Directing Style |

Sometimes dark, sometimes light – Kruger’s directing style is dynamic, fresh and specially focused on narratives: Whether it’s an interesting, yet straightforward story or a collection of compelling and more abstract visuals that portray a story. With an extensive background in acting for film, Kruger understands what it takes to get the desired performance and places special emphasis on characters and their levels of depth.

From a visual perspective, Kruger’s experimental flair has led to some striking compositions and his portfolio is a testament to his versatility: a visual chameleon with an ever clear idea dancing around in his head. Heavily influenced by the films of his childhood, Kruger’s style reminds of 80’s cinema in all of its various forms. He mentions Spielberg’s work as his first love in film and consequently finds himself fixated on interesting characters, real-feel production design and stories that transcend across cultures, ages, and gender.

Often placing extraordinary circumstances into real-life situations, Kruger finds great pleasure in contrasting big concepts with the rawness of human behavior and emotion while placing special emphasis on the aesthetic of his work. Effortlessly switching from gritty, edgy and dark to commercial and clean-cut, his strength lies within his adaptability and is constantly striving to perfect his craft by openly exploring different styles.

| Personal Projects |

As is true for any creative, the need to generate art of a personal nature is an inextinguishable fire. Kruger’s passion flourishes in the experimental field because of there are no limitations or apprehension from other parties. Anything goes. In collaboration with Kruger’s equally passionate creative team, He released “RIP” (Recovery in Progress) which was 8 years in the making a collection of experimental films, which later screened at film festivals across the globe.