short films

  • written, directed, and produced by Ryan Craver

    “Frank and funny, this expertly-crafted coming-of-age tale charts the turbulent relationship between a gay teenager and his Instagram-obsessed older sister, an explosive personality used to getting her way in their small Southern town.” -Indie Grits

    2018 New Orleans Film Festival

    2019 Palm Springs Int.l Shortfest*

    *Special Mention: Best Emerging Filmmaker

    2019 Indie Grits*

    *Honorable Mention: “Emerging Grit”

    2019 Newfest

    2019 SCAD Savannah Film Festival

    2019 QFest

links available upon request~

  • written, directed, and produced by Ryan Craver

    Leo, a shy eighth grader at the cusp of understanding their trans identity, pursues a crush on a boy bunkmate, but is plagued by a frog. Meanwhile, Leo's eager, gay teacher-in-training Brad tries to connect with his students, but oversteps boundaries in the eyes of a coworker. It is only in nature, among marshes and maritime forests, that Leo and Brad find an unspoken connection.

    Made possible with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the David Ross Fetter Foundation for Emerging Artists.

    2022 New Orleans Film Festival*

    *WINNER: Audience Award

    2023 Miami Film Festival

    2023 Atlanta Film Festival*

    *WINNER: Audience Award

    2023 New FilmMakers LA

    2023 Sidewalk Film Festival

    2023 Richmond Film Festival*

    *WINNER: Best Short Cinematography

    2023 Woodstock Film Festival*

    Special Mention: Best Student Film

    2023 Catalina Film Festival

    2023 Science New Wave Festival

    2023 Portland Film Festival

  • written by Donovan Tolledo and Rali Chaouni

    directed by Ryan Craver

    At the end of summer, 14-year-old KEVIN pierces his own lip as a last-ditch effort to win over a skater boy, who also happens to be his best friend. Kevin soon finds that his self-destructive plan may not be as infectious as he envisioned.

    Made possible with support from the Panavision New Filmmakers Program & Leone Family Film Fund.

    2022 Columbia University Film Festival*

    *Jury Selects

    *Audience Award

    *Nominee: National Board of Review Student Grant

    2022 Outfest Fusion

    2022 Micheaux Film Festival*

    *Nominee: Outstanding Editing

    *Nominee: Outstanding Student Film

screenplays/ in development

  • hour-long drama

    *in development

    A bratty Southern belle drags her younger gay brother along a misguided search for love, liberty, and a life bigger than their rural Appalachian town.

  • coming-of-age, drama, satire

    *supported by the TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund and the SFFILM Sloan Fellowship

    When a closeted, trans high school student’s experiments on sex-swapping tadpoles ignite an Evangelical backlash in the local news, he becomes the reluctant face of America’s battle between religious and science education.

  • half-hour comedy

    *researching/drafting

    A brutally irreverent, ahistorical rethinking of Moby-Dick's Ishmael, his gay marriage to Queequeg, and the types of things men get up to on long sperm whaling voyages.

  • surreal horror

    *in development

    The Christmas episode of a popular, family-friendly TV series about an Appalachian family living through the Great Depression is interrupted by a visit from Satan.

  • satirical horror anti-love story

    A small-town fitness instructor lowers his standards in men only to uncover the vast, dark underbelly of what it is to love someone: sacrifice.

  • horror

    In the not-too-distant future, a group of women set up camp in a dead mall to grow beautiful young men as if they are rare orchids.