Ryan King

Ryan King grew up in Austin, TX, and now lives in the Hudson Valley. He writes film, fiction, and plays. As a playwright, he’s been a member of the Ars Nova Playgroup, the Primary Stages Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, the Working Farm @ SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group. His plays have been developed by Cape Cod Theatre Project (twice), Naked Angels, Rattlestick Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova, Colt Coeur, Primary Stages, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Tofte Lake Emerging Artists Program, Theater of NOTE, and Ground Up Productions. His short play Antares Returning was nominated for Best Short Script by the NY Innovative Theatre Awards.

As a screenwriter, he wrote the screenplay for Black Flies, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023...

Ryan King grew up in Austin, TX, and now lives in the Hudson Valley. He writes film, fiction, and plays. As a playwright, he’s been a member of the Ars Nova Playgroup, the Primary Stages Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group, the Working Farm @ SPACE on Ryder Farm, and the Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group. His plays have been developed by Cape Cod Theatre Project (twice), Naked Angels, Rattlestick Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova, Colt Coeur, Primary Stages, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Tofte Lake Emerging Artists Program, Theater of NOTE, and Ground Up Productions. His short play Antares Returning was nominated for Best Short Script by the NY Innovative Theatre Awards.

As a screenwriter, he wrote the screenplay for Black Flies, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, starring Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan, after being selected for the Black List of Hollywood’s favorite unproduced screenplays. It was recently released as Asphalt City. He also wrote The Tutor, which peaked at #3 on Netflix’s Most Popular Movies list.

Ryan’s short fiction has been published or is forthcoming in Mount Hope Magazine and Jabberwock Review. He was an honorable mention for the 2025 Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Competition, as well as a finalist for The Cincinnati Review’s Schiff Award and Craft Magazine’s Short Fiction Prize.

As an actor, he has appeared regionally and Off-Broadway at theaters including the Atlantic Theater Company, Clubbed Thumb, Second Stage, PS 122, HERE Arts Center, Barrington Stage, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Studio Theater, and the Huntington Theater. Education: Yale School of Drama and the University of Texas at Austin.

Scripts

Cities Used the Be Here (A Bunch of Fucking Punks)

by Ryan King

Synopsis

Their picnic was interrupted by dead blackbirds falling from the sky. Now, Alan and Eva are barricaded with some crusty punk rockers in a health food store famous for its 72 flavors of granola. When an audition notice for a drummer floats into the store, Eva starts to wonder if she maybe needs more. But going to the audition would mean braving the roving gangs in Tent City. It’s time to decide – is just...

Their picnic was interrupted by dead blackbirds falling from the sky. Now, Alan and Eva are barricaded with some crusty punk rockers in a health food store famous for its 72 flavors of granola. When an audition notice for a drummer floats into the store, Eva starts to wonder if she maybe needs more. But going to the audition would mean braving the roving gangs in Tent City. It’s time to decide – is just surviving enough?

SeaFarm

by Ryan King

Synopsis

There’s trouble at SeaFarm. The employees are getting sick, the dolphins are acting funny, and the star orca just committed suicide in front of a paying crowd. Kate, a famous trainer, finds herself sucked into the web of an eco-terrorists’ plot. Will she choose to save the whales or herself?

There’s trouble at SeaFarm. The employees are getting sick, the dolphins are acting funny, and the star orca just committed suicide in front of a paying crowd. Kate, a famous trainer, finds herself sucked into the web of an eco-terrorists’ plot. Will she choose to save the whales or herself?

Burying Augustus

by Ryan King

Synopsis

Ricky just found his dog dead in the desert. He wants to bury her back in his old hometown, where they spent their happy youths together. But two girls he works with at the Sonic Drive-Thru are looking for a final night of adventure before they graduate, and they have some plans of their own. As earthquakes rock the Texas terrain and a destructive breed of ants eats trailers piece by piece, what was supposed...

Ricky just found his dog dead in the desert. He wants to bury her back in his old hometown, where they spent their happy youths together. But two girls he works with at the Sonic Drive-Thru are looking for a final night of adventure before they graduate, and they have some plans of their own. As earthquakes rock the Texas terrain and a destructive breed of ants eats trailers piece by piece, what was supposed to be a simple errand to bury an old friend ends up being one of the weirdest and darkest nights of Ricky's life.

Sometimes It's Dirt, Sometimes It's Bones

by Ryan King

Synopsis

Granny Vipperman just passed away. She lies in a coffin downstairs. Lawmen are coming to repossess the house, but Shade isn’t having it. She’s gotten rid of one, but they just keep coming. When her long lost sister comes back just to pay her respects, she ends up getting pulled into the bloody story. Shotguns are involved.

Granny Vipperman just passed away. She lies in a coffin downstairs. Lawmen are coming to repossess the house, but Shade isn’t having it. She’s gotten rid of one, but they just keep coming. When her long lost sister comes back just to pay her respects, she ends up getting pulled into the bloody story. Shotguns are involved.

Antares Returning

by Ryan King

Synopsis

The Spaceship Antares is returning home and a space fling must come to an end...

The Spaceship Antares is returning home and a space fling must come to an end...

Gigantic F***ing Worms

by Ryan King

Synopsis

They’re making a movie about gigantic worms. Synopsis: A small town in Oklahoma gets attacked and carnage ensues. It’s basically a remake of 1990’s Tremors with Kevin Bacon, but no one is admitting that.

On the first day of shooting, tornadoes hit the Midwest, and Oklahoma bears the brunt. Star actress Annie May Wincott goes missing and production is stopped until she or a replacement can be found. With...

They’re making a movie about gigantic worms. Synopsis: A small town in Oklahoma gets attacked and carnage ensues. It’s basically a remake of 1990’s Tremors with Kevin Bacon, but no one is admitting that.

On the first day of shooting, tornadoes hit the Midwest, and Oklahoma bears the brunt. Star actress Annie May Wincott goes missing and production is stopped until she or a replacement can be found. With Wincott gone, the producers get nervous, the budget is slashed, and the movie’s future becomes uncertain. Shooting must go on, but with the special effects budget cut down to practically nothing, creating authentic-seeming terrifying worms becomes impossible. Eventually, the team resorts to some desperate measures, including importing a worm-like monster recently discovered in Canada. The monster is an amazing actor, but soon after he arrives, another actor goes missing. He was last seen going into the monster’s trailer. Is it worth the price?

Loveshack in '87

by Ryan King

Synopsis

Times Square, 1987. The end of the sordid heyday of the area. Curtis finds himself working at a porn store. Amidst the regulars and fellow employees, Curtis connects with some troubled others. These friendships open doors that change the course of Curtis' life. As smut transforms into Disney, all must confront what has been altered.

Times Square, 1987. The end of the sordid heyday of the area. Curtis finds himself working at a porn store. Amidst the regulars and fellow employees, Curtis connects with some troubled others. These friendships open doors that change the course of Curtis' life. As smut transforms into Disney, all must confront what has been altered.

Always On

by Ryan King

Synopsis

Sarah was just looking for a room. But when she answers an ad for an apartment at the edge of the city, she falls in with a youthful commune that's committed to living in a new way.

Sarah was just looking for a room. But when she answers an ad for an apartment at the edge of the city, she falls in with a youthful commune that's committed to living in a new way.

Later Hour

by Ryan King

Synopsis

Shane returns home to Kentucky for the first time in twenty years, his film career and his life in pieces,
to find this brother is not welcoming him with open arms. Two brothers try to put things back together in the wake of a tragedy, while someone stands between them.

Shane returns home to Kentucky for the first time in twenty years, his film career and his life in pieces,
to find this brother is not welcoming him with open arms. Two brothers try to put things back together in the wake of a tragedy, while someone stands between them.