‘So many opportunities out there for young people to dive into…’ Little Ryan’s Bristol

14/04/2014
Little Ryan

Little Ryan chills in Bristol

Bristol is a chilled place compared to places like London, in my opinion anyway. Here, in Bristol, everyone tends to get on with each other and are quite friendly, especially when you’re at a festival on a hot summers day…not that England tends to have great hot summers days, more rainy days… Bristol is also great for commuting and networking.

I grew up in Easton and later moved to St George because my mum thought it was too rough, and although St George is a nice quite place, I would love to go back to Easton as the community is more diverse, interactive and exciting.

It’s great coming from Easton because there are so many people around you with raw talent and people wanting to explore/express themselves through making music, videos or anything media-related. I am an aspiring filmmaker so I feel like this creative environment is a huge source of inspiration for me. Bristol is creative in so many different aspects, like art, film-making, photography, music and many more.

There are so many opportunities out there for young people to dive into. For example, channels like South Blessed and Rebel Production who have gone out of their way to set up a media channel as a opportunity for other young people in the community to express themselves via video. For example, South Blessed, Rebel Production. I’ve been involved myself, doing TheLittleRyanShow getting other artists involved with what I do but in a comedic way to promote themselves. I do it so I can make people laugh, unite Bristol talent and prove to young people that it is okay to work together and collaborate with someone in order to create something great.

TheLittleRyanShow is about a young urban short male who goes by the name ‘Little Ryan’. Little Ryan finds himself in trouble all the time with people wanting to jack his iPod and Chewits. It’s filmed all over Bristol and it’s a nice feeling for Bristol viewers to know the areas that are used.

I was influenced by the show ‘The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody’, because it appealed to children, and it did comedy in a very silly way. I am also influenced by ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ because it’s a black show with a lot of black references but the show manages to appeal to a mainstream audience. I found this really interesting, doing an urban (ghetto) comedy show. I wanted to make it friendly and accessible to all types of people.

Here is a photo of a group of young talented people from different backgrounds, who have come together to make things happen for other young people (Bristol Talent Lab):

Bristol Talent Lab

The Talent Lab was a great experience because a diverse group of people got together and worked together.

At the end of the day, if you are media creative, Bristol is a positive, energetic place to be and it has great opportunities for young people. The point I’m trying to make is that, “Working as a team is vital in order to achieve something great” – Ryan Francis