Bryan Powers

Film was Bryan's babysitter. His father managed several small-town Ohio movie theaters and Bryan grew up watching (and re-watching) whatever was playing. The movie theatre was his second home and the movies, his playmates. By the time Bryan was in his teens, his dad had become a film critic. Bryan's debates with his father over films challenged his understanding of cinema and instilled in Bryan an appreciation for film as not just a form of entertainment, but as a form of art. Bryan originally studied acting and graduated from a performing arts high school, before stumbling into a successful career in retail visual display and merchandising, which initiated his relocation to New York City in 1995. However, Bryan's love for cinema never diminished. Returning to college to study film, Bryan was awarded a scholarship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2012 and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Hunter College in 2014 with a BA in Film. Graduating from the MFA film program at City College of New York in 2016, Bryan has worked for Tribeca Film Institute, DCTV, and Cineflix Productions. Viewing movies as a powerful mode of communication, unparalleled in their ability to intellectually and emotionally affect an audience, Bryan aspires to produce films that enable viewers to not only gain some understanding of themselves and the world around them, but to provoke their empathy and to awaken their emotions. For Bryan, cinema is not only a reflection of humanity, but can be a therapeutic tool with the ability to examine issues and to stimulate change at individual and societal levels.