About

Ryan Swen/孫天行/Sun Tianxing is a Los Angeles-based freelance film critic, a member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Douglas Edwards Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award Committee, a Juris Doctor candidate and Master of Arts in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California, and holds an undergraduate degree in cinema and media studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. He hosts and produces the podcast Catalyst and Witness and co-hosts the podcast 24 hours don’t make an ideology, and has written for Reverse Shot, Criterion, Film Comment, Hyperallergic, The Film Stage, Seattle Screen Scene, In Review Online, MUBI Notebook, and the BFI.

Resume

Ryan Swen
swenryan@gmail.com | rswen@usc.edu | taipeimansions.com
(949) 295-6453 | 530 S Catalina St, Apt 109, Los Angeles, CA 90020

FILM CRITIC

  • Masters degree in Cinema and Media Studies
  • Focused writer on all manner of topics related to film
  • Erudite yet readable and concise style
  • Strong ability to meet deadlines

RELATED EXPERIENCE

Freelance Critic, 2016-present

  • Frequently writes for at Taipei Mansions (personal site), Seattle Screen Scene (staff writer), and The Film Stage
  • Has contributed to Reverse Shot, Criterion, Film Comment, Hyperallergic, The Film Stage, Seattle Screen Scene, In Review Online, MUBI Notebook, and the BFI
  • Member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; member of the Douglas Edwards Experimental/Independent Film/Video Award Committee
  • Member of the International Cinephile Society
  • Former member of the Seattle Film Critics Society (2017-2019)

Podcaster, 2018-present

  • Host, producer, editor, and creator of Catalyst and Witness, a podcast dedicated to personal explorations of the New York Film Festival

Film Programmer, Volunteer, and Copy Writer, 2017-present

  • Volunteer at Acropolis Cinema
  • Publicity outreach to critics and cinephiles for the San Diego Asian Film Festival
  • Wrote program descriptions for Northwest Film Forum year-round programming
  • Assisted in programming and writing the descriptions for the experimental shorts section at the 2017 Local Sightings Film Festival at the Northwest Film Forum

Archivist, 2016-2019

  • Assistant archivist for the USC Warner Bros. Archive and intern at the USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive during the 2019 summer
  • Volunteer at Scarecrow Video for two years

Filmmaker, 2017-present

  • Writer, director, editor, and cinematographer of numerous short films
  • “Pictures at an Excavation” (2018; shot, edited, directed) in the experimental shorts official selection at the 2018 Local Sightings Film Festival
  • Editor of publicity video for the University of West Los Angeles

EDUCATION

  • MA in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California (2018-2020); teaching assistant for five CTCS classes during four semesters, including sole TA for CTCS 464: Memories on Film
  • BA in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle (2015-2018)

KEY SKILLS

  • Writing
  • Editing/Proofreading
  • Fact-checking

TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY

  • Windows & Mac OS
  • MS Office
  • HTML5