Tanya Ryno

Last updated
Tanya Ryno
Tanya Ryno.jpg
Tanya Ryno
Born
Tanya Lynn Grondin

(1970-05-19) May 19, 1970 (age 54)
Occupations
  • Producer
  • Businesswoman
Years active1992-present
Spouse
Jim Ryno
​
(m. 1996)​
Children2
Website www.iron-house.co

Tanya Ryno is an American television producer [1] and businesswoman. She was Saturday Night Live 's film segment producer/head of production during the 1990s and produced many of the commercial parodies for which the show is noted along with the animated TV Funhouse segments. Ryno was one of very few women producing comedy sketches and animation shorts in the 1990s,[ citation needed ] with the organization Women in Animation originating several years after her career began. She is now the founder of a luxury home gym design and wellness firm that has been featured in Architectural Digest [2] , Forbes [3] , and House Beautiful Magazine [4]

Contents

Early life

Ryno was born in Fort Lee (Virginia), at the Kenner Army Health Clinic, and is the daughter of Stephen Wayne Grondin and Donna Ruth Kitchen. Shortly after her birth, her father was transferred to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, the NATO headquarters in Belgium where they lived until 1972. From there her family moved to Bangor, Maine, where her parents were from. The next several years, Tanya's family would move to a new school district, almost annually, until she was a teenager where her parents settled in Hampden, Maine, so that she could attend all four years at Hampden Academy.

Tanya was an only child, until her parents divorced. She now has one half-brother, Wyatt, and three step-sisters. After high-school, she moved to Florida to attend The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale before transferring to the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Career

Early career

While attending college in Florida, Ryno began her career as a photographer and editor for a small publication in South Beach, Miami called Talent Times Magazine. When she transferred to the School of Visual Arts, in NYC, she continued as a photographer's assistant for several high profile fashion photographers.

Saturday Night Live

In the early 1990s, Tanya started working at Saturday Night Live. And in addition to the commercial parodies, Tanya was a producer for Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse series, including the award-winning Ambiguously Gay Duo, which was voiced by Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert, The X-Presidents, and Fun with Real Audio. She even produced the GoLords (Stop Motion) Puppet series written by Andrew Steele, which was short lived, but had a cult-like following. Tanya was also a producer for several prime time specials including The Best of Chris Farley compilation and The Best of Phil Hartman . The commercial parodies, she's best known for include: AM Ale, featuring David Koechner, Big Brawn Feminine Napkins, featuring Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon, Caribbean Essence Bath Oil, featuring Tracy Morgan and Cheri Oteri, Cookie Dough Sport, featuring Will Ferrell, and Martha Stewart's Topless Christmas Special., [5] featuring Ana Gasteyer.

Tanya's most controversial segments were: One TV Funhouse segment, written by Robert Smigel that's claim to fame is that it only aired once. On the March 14, 1998 episode, featuring Julianne Moore and The Backstreet Boys. The segment titled "Conspiracy Theory Rock" was banned by Lorne Michaels immediately after it aired. [6] [7] The other controversial segment Tanya was a producer on involved the Heaven's Gate Cult and mass suicide, where all the members were found wearing the same pair of Nike sneakers. Within days of the event, Saturday Night Live aired a satirical commercial parody that incorporated some of the actual news footage of the dead members, from their legs down, wearing Nike shoes. The tagline was: "Keds. Worn by level-headed Christians." [8] [9]

Other film and video work

Ryno was a producer on New York at the Movies for A&E. A documentary hosted by Meryl Streep that included over 14 film legends (including: Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, Spike Lee, Nora Ephron, Edward Burns, and John Turturro) giving their real-life experiences of making movies in New York City. With the tagline of "You can't fake New York".

Ryno also produced Coney Island Baby, [10] an award-winning romantic comedy that takes place in Sligo, Ireland and made its premiere television broadcast on the Sundance Channel. It was direct by Amy Hobby who won best first time director [11] for the film.

Throughout those years, she also worked freelance with the ESPY's, the American Music Awards, and several commercial productions including Levi Strauss & Co., American Express, Toys R Us, microsoft, and Lincoln. She produced and directed a segment of a behind-the-music piece for a collaboration [12] [13] between Xbox 360 and 343 Industries featuring Soulja Boy, Xzibit, DJ Skee, Prodigy from Mobb Deep, and T-Boz aka Tionne Watkins all discussing the special relationship between music and video games while featuring the newest Halo franchise to be released that year, Halo4.

For Funny or Die Tanya, produced, co-wrote and co-directed with Motion Family the comedy film short "Big Tweet" featuring, Brandon T Jackson, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, DJ Skee and Jason Beghe.

She produced a couple music videos worth noting, in 2011 Tanya produced and directed a raw indie style music video [14] for blues dynamo Gina Sicilia's hit "Addicted" and in 2012 she produced "Rap'n'Rolla" for the popular Russian Rap Artist, Alexander Stepanov, aka ST, directed by Motion Family. [15] [16]

Ryno also ventured into publishing and created the New Jersey Production Guide, claiming to be the first comprehensive resource for film production, commercial productions, and television production in the state of New Jersey. She published this 200 page guide in both 1998 and 2000. [17]

Selected filmography

Also see:

Awards

YearResultAwardCategoryNominated Work
2011WonInspiring Filmmaker AwardDetroit Trinity Film FestivalBig Tweet
2005WonBest First Time DirectorNewport Int. Film FestivalConey Island Baby
1998Nom Annie Award International Animated Film AssociationTitey - TV Funhouse

Publications

Related Research Articles

<i>The Ambiguously Gay Duo</i> American TV series or program

The Ambiguously Gay Duo is an American animated comedy sketch that debuted on The Dana Carvey Show before moving to its permanent home on Saturday Night Live. It is created and produced by Robert Smigel and J. J. Sedelmaier as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series of sketches. It follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, respectively, two superheroes whose sexual orientation is a matter of dispute, and a cavalcade of characters preoccupied with the question.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Smigel</span> American comedian, writer, puppeteer and actor

Robert Smigel is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his Saturday Night Live "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. He also co-wrote the first two Hotel Transylvania films, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and Leo, all starring Adam Sandler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triumph the Insult Comic Dog</span> Puppet character best known for mocking celebrities

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet character created, puppeteered, and voiced by actor/comedian/director Robert Smigel. As his name indicates, Triumph's comedic style is almost exclusively insult comedy. A Montenegrin Mountain Hound, Triumph often is seen with a cigar in his mouth, which usually falls out of it when he starts talking. He first appeared in 1997 on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and also appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien from time to time, as well as the short-lived TV Funhouse, TBS's Conan, Adult Swim's The Jack and Triumph Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Daily Show. Smigel and Triumph have been ejected from several events for Triumph's antics, including the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the Honolulu line for auditions for American Idol, and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dino Stamatopoulos</span> American actor (born 1964)

KonstantinosPolluxAlexandros "Dino" Stamatopoulos is an American writer, producer, and actor. He has worked on TV programs such as Mr. Show, TV Funhouse, Mad TV, The Dana Carvey Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He has also created multiple animated TV shows such as Moral Orel, Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, and High School USA!. As an actor, he is best known for his recurring role as the character Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne on the NBC comedy series Community, on which he also worked as a producer, a consulting writer, and wrote two animated episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ana Gasteyer</span> American actress and comedian (born 1967)

Ana Gasteyer is an American actress, comedian and singer. She is most notable for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's Suburgatory, TBS's People of Earth, NBC's American Auto, and the film Mean Girls.

<i>The Archie Show</i> 1968 American TV series or program

The Archie Show is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show aired Saturday mornings on CBS from September 1968 to 1969. The show featured the main characters in the Archie series, including Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Reggie Mantle, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge.

Saturday TV Funhouse is a segment on NBC's Saturday Night Live featuring cartoons created by SNL writer Robert Smigel. 101 "TV Funhouse" segments aired on SNL between 1996 and 2008, with one further segment airing in 2011. It also spawned a short-lived spinoff series, TV Funhouse, that aired on Comedy Central.

"Bill Swerski's Superfans" was a recurring sketch about Chicago sports fans on the American sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live. It was a prominent feature from 1991 to 1992, and its characters have made various other appearances since its inception. The sketch is notable as a media portrayal of the Inland North dialect of American English that predominates in Chicago, most famously through the distinctive pronunciation of the phrase "Da Bears".

<i>Shazzan</i> American animated television series

Shazzan is an American animated television series created by Alex Toth and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired on Saturday mornings on CBS from September 9, 1967, to January 20, 1968, and continued in reruns until September 6, 1969. The series follows the adventures of two teenage siblings, Chuck and Nancy, traveling around a mystical Arabian world, mounted on Kaboobie the flying camel. During their journey they face several dangers, but they are aided by Shazzan, a genie with magical powers. 18 half-hour episodes were produced, made up of two 11-minute segments.

Coney Island Baby is a 2003 comedy-drama in which film producer Amy Hobby made her directorial debut. Karl Geary wrote the film and Tanya Ryno was the film's producer. The music was composed by Ryan Shore. The film was shot in Sligo, Ireland, which is known locally as "Coney Island".

<i>The Dana Carvey Show</i> 1996 American TV series or program

The Dana Carvey Show is an American surreal sketch comedy television show that aired on ABC during the spring of 1996. Dana Carvey was the host and principal player on the show while Louis C.K. served as head writer.

The X-Presidents is an NBC/Saturday Night LiveSaturday TV Funhouse cartoon created by Robert Smigel and animated by J. J. Sedelmaier Productions.

<i>Saturday Night Live</i> season 22 Season of television series

The twenty-second season of Saturday Night Live, an American sketch comedy series, originally aired in the United States on NBC between September 28, 1996, and May 17, 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. J. Sedelmaier</span> American animator

J. J. Sedelmaier is an American animator, illustrator, designer, author and film director/producer, known for co-creating the "Saturday TV Funhouse" segment—including The Ambiguously Gay Duo and The X-Presidents—on the TV series Saturday Night Live; as well as the Tek Jansen series on The Colbert Report, the interstitial cartoons seen in the USA TV series Psych, and over 500 other TV and advertising projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chel White</span> American film director

Chel White is an American film director, composer, screenwriter and visual effects artist. In his independent films and music videos, White is known for his stylized, often experimental use of images, unusual animation and narratives depicting an outsider's perspective. He often adopts darkly humorous and poetic sensibilities to explore topics of love, obsession and alienation; with dreams and the subconscious being his greatest influences. He describes his own work as “stories and images that reside on the brink of dreams, or linger on the periphery of distorted memories.” A Rockefeller Fellow, Chel White has made three films based on the work of Peabody Award-winning writer and radio personality Joe Frank.

BENT IMAGE LAB is a production company and animation studio specializing in story development, television, commercials, visual effects, music videos, short films, experimental techniques and tech development in augmented reality (AR). Located in Portland, Oregon, the company was founded in 2002 by partners David Daniels, Ray Di Carlo, and Chel White.

Samantha Scharff is an American television producer and comedy writer. She is most recognized for her work producing Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse" cartoons on NBC's “Saturday Night Live”. Scharff also produced the hour and a half special The Best Of Saturday TV Funhouse which aired during the SNL time slot and received critical acclaim, as well as the DVD title for Universal Home Video.

Matt Alonzo is an American director, video editor and filmmaker.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 28, 1996, and May 17, 1997, the twenty-second season of SNL.

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 27, 1997, and May 9, 1998, the twenty-third season of SNL.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.