Comedy is one of Hollywood’s most popular genres and also the most challenging to do well. Former MGM Senior Vice President of Production Luke Ryan will begin this workshop with a comprehensive look at the financials of the comedy genre from a studio perspective and then cover story and character design, setup/payoff relationships, runners and set pieces, the different styles of comedy, and over 20 techniques that can be used in designing funny beats and sequences.

Luke Ryan is currently the Executive Vice President of Production at Disruption Entertainment, which just signed a new first-look deal at Paramount Pictures. Throughout his ten-year career in Hollywood, Luke Ryan has worked as a screenwriter, producer, and studio executive with tenures at New Line Cinema, MTV Films, and most recently as Senior Vice President of Production at MGM.  In a recent article celebrating the Five Stupidest Movie Titles of All Time, he was proud to have been the executive behind two of them: “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” and “Hot Tub Time Machine.”