Psychicflyingmonkey Productions

When you hire us, we provide high-quality, collaborative video production. We do everything in our power to achieve your vision and help you succeed. We are extremely prompt and reliable, and we deliver edits on or before any deadlines.

Owner of Psychicflyingmonkey Productions, Jason Ryan is a cinematographer and director based in Arizona.

The Journey

Jason grew up riding BMX freestyle in the blustery White Mountains of eastern Arizona. He joined the US Navy after high school, and after four years of sailing around the world he began pursuing a professional career in BMX back in the US. Jason eventually became a regional pro, and while working his way up the ranks he watched BMX videos incessantly and was heavily influenced by them. Before long he decided to self-finance and produce his own full-length action sports video featuring the Arizona BMX scene. His first full-length BMX film The Carnie and Trailer Trash Show was distributed throughout the U.S.

Shooting BMX films whet Jason’s appetite to go deeper into filmmaking so he began attending the Film School at Scottsdale Community College, focusing on cinematography, film production and still photography. While at SCC he was mentored by 2-time MTV Video Music Award Winner Ryan Smith in music video and commercial film production. Also while in school Jason directed two music videos for country music artist Sarah Darling and wrote and directed photography on a music video for the band Ember.

Awards and Distribution

Jason has since held the roles of director and cinematographer on many music videos, action sports films and commercials, all with his dynamic signature style. In 2009 Jason’s music video for Sarah Darling’s “Whenever it Rains” reached #2 on CMT’s Hot 20 Music Video Countdown. In 2011 his short BMX film, “Solo” won Best Short Film at the world’s largest action sports film festival, X-Dance. He was nominated for a Best Cinematography award from the International Academy of Web Television in 2013 for his work on the web series Western X. He had his first theatrical run in 2022 with The Prototype, a sci-fi feature on which he directed photography on the western segment. Jason’s films have been distributed in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and films on which he’s directed and/or directed photography have screened at over 150 film festivals around the world. Jason has directed photography, operated camera, and/or directed for shows that aired on TBS, MTV, PBS, FOOD, OXYGEN, NBCSN, CNBC, SPIKE, OLN, FSN, GAC, GOLF, FUEL and (link hidden). His clients include Atlantic Records, VSR Music Group/EMI CMG Music Distribution, Rockshrimp Productions, Blare Media, Black River Music Group, Lucid Potato and Club Tattoo.

Media

Jason’s work as cinematographer and director on the music video for “Fishing for Love” received a full page of coverage in British Cinematographer’s Focus On: Lenses guide which shipped alongside the May/June 2023 issue of British Cinematographer, the official magazine of the British Society of Cinematographers.

Cinematographer

Jason has directed photography on feature and short films, music videos, commercials, pieces for television, promos and documentaries. The main goal in his cinematography is to collaborate with the director to develop a look, compose shots and move the camera in a way that will best inform the subject material. “While the technical aspect of cinematography is very important, the artistic aspect is even more important,” says Jason. “The mark of a true professional is consistency, and my work is consistently artistic and high quality.” He combines his knowledge of art history, life experience, observance of light in nature, many thousands of hours of shooting film, 4K & HD video and stills, study of the work and methods of the world’s best cinematographers and his emotional response to what he’s shooting to produce a strong, original visual voice.

Director

As a director, Jason is constantly striving to use talent, locations, production design, lighting, composition and camera movement to produce original, cinematic pieces. An actor’s director, Jason creates a comfortable atmosphere on his sets in which creativity can thrive, and the cast and crew can fully express themselves in their work.

Music

As a lifetime lover of music, Jason has shot live bands and music videos at every opportunity he gets. A few of the bands he has shot live include Rock &Roll Hall of Famers Queen + Adam Lambert, Grammy Award-Winning band Train, 10-Time Grammy-Nominated artist Tanya Tucker, Barenaked Ladies, Cee-Lo Green, Jordin Sparks, Junior Prom, Churchill and Vicci Martinez. Jason is also an avid professional still photographer, having applied his soulful lighting skills to shoot stills of live music, fashion, candids, lifestyle and action sports.

BMX

Still an avid BMX rider, Jason now rides purely as a creative outlet and for exercise. He credits BMX and especially the old school BMX culture for his love of originality and creativity.