GUEST BIO

RYAN CUNNINGHAM (she/her) is a neurodivergent queer writer/director and Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer in film, television, and theater, primarily in comedy. She has produced, directed, and/or developed over 70 projects, including 20 scripted comedy series, 8 feature films, 25 standup specials, and 6 Off-Broadway plays. She's the director & executive producer on the docuseries EXPECTING AMY (HBO Max) about Amy Schumer’s difficult pregnancy and her husband’s autism diagnosis, and the standup specials ILANA GLAZER: THE PLANET IS BURNING (Amazon), and CLUB CUMMING PRESENTS A QUEER COMEDY EXTRAVAGANZA! (Showtime), hosted by Alan Cumming, as well as the upcoming MUSLIM GIRLS DTF *discuss their faith and KELLY BACHMAN: PATRON SAINT specials. Her feature directorial debut, the comedy LONE WOLVES, had its New York premiere at Museum of the Moving Image, won 4 Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, 2 Best Actor and 2 Audience Awards in its festival run so far, and will be debuting on a major streamer in 2026. Included among the 20 scripted comedy series she’s produced are BROAD CITY, Emmy and Peabody-winner INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, SEARCH PARTY, THE LAST O.G., Emmy-nominee AT HOME WITH AMY SEDARIS, ZIWE, Emmy and Peabody-winner LOUIE, STRANGERS, THE SHIVERING TRUTH, Peabody-winner HORACE AND PETE, and Emmy-winner THE ELECTRIC COMPANY. In theater, Ryan directed Chanel Ali's RELATIVE STRANGER, presented by Sarah Cooper, which debuted its off-Broadway run in September 2025 to rave reviews and an extension. In 2023, she directed Sam Morrison’s critically acclaimed and award-nominated SUGAR DADDY for its extended off-Broadway run at Soho Playhouse in NYC and sold-out run in London at Soho Theatre and is producing its Off-West End run in 202 and Broadway run in 2027. Other off-Broadway projects include COMING OUT TO DEAD PEOPLE, THE POWER VESTED IN ME, GAY DEMONZ, and the upcoming EPIC. Over the last 4 years, Ryan has directed ten shows for the Edinburgh Fringe festival since 2023. She is currently directing a monthly run of the live show SAMANTHA BEE PRESENTS WITS END, a comedy trivia game show with guests including Eugene Mirman, David Cross, Jon Glaser, John Hodgman, Phoebe Robinson, Sam Morrison, Dylan Adler, H. Jon Benjamin, Wyatt Cenac, Bobcat Goldthwait, Martin Urbano, Hari Kondabolu, Doug Benson, and Samantha Bee at The Midnight Theater in NYC, NY Comedy Festival, and SXSW Comedy, and will be released as a podcast for Bill Burr’s All Things Comedy network in 2026. Ryan owns the development company Running Woman to promote women’s issues, LGBTQ+ stories, and neurodiversity in her work, with the goal of telling stories we haven’t heard before. She represented the TV projects THE FUGITIVE GAME, TRANSMANIA, and MARY AND THE STARVING ONES in Gotham Week, and currently has shows in development with FX network, Ilana Glazer’s Starrpix, Samantha Bee’s Swimsuit Competition, Brent Miller’s A House on Brame and Regina King’s Royal Ties. At Tribeca 2025, she was part of the Creators Market with QUEERDOS, an upcoming feature, and was Co-EP on WE ARE PAT, a feature comedy documentary that won a Jury Prize. Film producing credits include Rachel Israel's feature KEEP THE CHANGE, starring the first leading cast of actors on the autism spectrum and winner of Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca Film Festival and Dan Powell & Liz Rohrbaugh’s lesbian love story BECKS, winner of the LA Film Festival. The latest feature she executive produced is TRANSCENDENT, written and directed by Jeremy Redleaf and starring Helene York, Cat Cohen and Chris Gethard, planned for a 2027 release. She co-owns the NYC-based post house Running Man, established in 2009. She lives in Brooklyn with her 14-year-old autistic daughter. Ryan is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design’s Film/Animation/Video department and is on their Board of Trustees, as well as worked as adjunct professor for several years. She also teaches idea development and pitching, and runs writers workshops with Gold Comedy. Ryan recently gave a TEDx Talk about the importance of neurodivergent comedy.