Ryan Blotnick
- Composer
- Music Department
- Sound Department
Film composer Ryan Blotnick has shaped his style alongside his brother's fast-paced, crowd-pleasing political documentaries. In The Hand that Feeds (2014), deli workers unite to fight abusive conditions with the help of the Occupy movement. Ryan's score balances underground elements (backwards guitar and ambient bass) with orchestral sounds to match the exciting pace and guerrilla feel of the film, which won the Audience Award at DOC NYC and Full Frame. In Knock Down the House (2019), four candidates across the country take on moneyed incumbents in the 2018 primary, culminating in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' unexpected win in the bronx. This score features two cellos, violin, clarinet, guitar, keys, piano and synthscapes to shape an indie sound that ranges from intense drama to deep melancholy. It premiered in 2019 at Sundance to rave reviews and won the Audience and Festival Favorite awards.
Ryan studied jazz guitar at William Paterson University and the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Denmark, where he earned a Masters in Music Performance. Upon returning to New York he took up studies in Counterpoint and Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony with Manhattan School of Music professor Paul Caputo. He counts being able to understand melody and harmony from a number of different angles as one of his key strengths as a film composer and music producer.
As a guitarist, his playing has been praised by the New York Times, Time Out New York and guitarist John Abercrombie. His latest quartet release Kush combines ambient and world influences, creating a "free-floating exotic realm washing over the listener (Elliott Simon)." He lives in downeast Maine, next to Acadia National Park, and travels frequently to New York and Europe to perform and record.
Ryan studied jazz guitar at William Paterson University and the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Denmark, where he earned a Masters in Music Performance. Upon returning to New York he took up studies in Counterpoint and Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony with Manhattan School of Music professor Paul Caputo. He counts being able to understand melody and harmony from a number of different angles as one of his key strengths as a film composer and music producer.
As a guitarist, his playing has been praised by the New York Times, Time Out New York and guitarist John Abercrombie. His latest quartet release Kush combines ambient and world influences, creating a "free-floating exotic realm washing over the listener (Elliott Simon)." He lives in downeast Maine, next to Acadia National Park, and travels frequently to New York and Europe to perform and record.