Ryan Little (born 28 March 1971) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

film director, cinematographer and producer. He is perhaps best known for his 2003 film ''

Saints and Soldiers ''Saints and Soldiers'' is a 2003 war drama film directed by Ryan Little and produced by Little and Adam Abel. It is loosely based on events that took place after the Malmedy massacre during the Battle of the Bulge. The film stars Corbin Allred, ...

.'' His work has a broad range of

genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

including

war films War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war f ...

and children's subjects. Little was born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada and graduated from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

in 1999. He has produced six films, directed eleven and written one.

Early life

Born in Vancouver, Little always had an aspiration for making film. Growing up, his father made 8 mm films and was always eager to show them off to him. With this, a passion for film began and Little knew that when he grew up he wanted to make films. It took Little three tries to get into

and two more applications for an acceptance into the film program. Little is a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

. While at BYU, he made over twenty short films.

Professional career

The idea for his first professional film ''Saints and Soldiers'' was inspired by his religion professor at Brigham Young, Dennis A. Wright. Wright was the coauthor of a book '' Saints at War'', and he shared some stories with Little that he wished could have been in the book but had to be left out. Little was able to contact the

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

that Wright told him about and with their help, he wrote the story of ''Saints and Soldiers''. The film, which takes place during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, is about three soldiers who escape during the

Malmedy massacre The Malmedy massacre was a German war crime committed by soldiers of the on 17 December 1944, at the Baugnez crossroads near the city of Malmedy, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). Soldiers of sum ...

."Ryan Little." ''Famous Mormons RSS''. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. One key element found in most of Little's work is the portraying of religious people as not completely perfect and

secular people These are articles that list people of a particular religious or political belief or other worldview. Lists of people by political belief * List of Christian leftists * List of social democrats * List of neoconservatives ; * List of anarchists ...

as not completely

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

. For example, in ''Saints and Soldiers'' some

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

characters were depicted as good people even though they were

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. Some of Little's other work includes the

ABC Family Channel ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

original comedy '' Everything You Want'', ''

Forever Strong ''Forever Strong'' is a 2008 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Little, written by David Pliler and released on September 26, 2008. The film stars Sean Faris, Gary Cole, Neal McDonough, Sean Astin, Penn Badgley and Arielle Kebbel. The f ...

'' (a film about the Highland Rugby Team), ''

Age of the Dragons ''Age of the Dragons'' is a 2011 fantasy film directed by Ryan Little and starring Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones. A fantasy-themed reimagining of Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel, ''Moby Dick'', it was released in the United Kingdom on March 4, ...

,'' and the

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

pilot ''Blank Slate.'' Little's ''Saints and Soldiers'' was filmed around the

Sundance ski resort Sundance Resort, also known as Sundance Mountain Resort, is a ski resort located northeast of Provo, Utah. It includes more than on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Alpine skiing began on the site in 1944. Actor Robert ...

. It was entered into seventeen film festivals and won several awards. Little is one of three executive producers of the BYUtv production extinct along with

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

and

Aaron Johnston Aaron Johnston is an American author, comics writer, and film producer. Johnston was an associate producer on the movie ''Ender's Game'', including a cameo appearance as an International Fleet officer. He co-authored with Orson Scott Card the Fi ...

. He is also the director of photography.

Personal life

Little is married to Lynnita Little and has two sons.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Directing

*''The Last Good War'' (1999) * ''Out of Step'' (2002) *''Freedom on the Water'' (2002 short) *''

'' (2003) *'' Everything You Want'' (2005) (TV) *'' Outlaw Trail: The Treasure of Butch Cassidy'' (2006) *''

House of Fears ''House of Fears'' is a 2007 American horror film, directed by Ryan Little. It stars Corri English, Sandra McCoy, Michael J. Pagan, Corey Sevier and Alice Greczyn. The film was released Direct-to-DVD on April 27, 2009 in the UK. The DVD release ...

'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) *''

'' (2011) *'' Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed'' (2012) *'' Saints and Soldiers: The Void'' (2014) *''

War Pigs "War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album ''Paranoid'' (1970). Overview The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", ...

'' (2015) *''

Extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

'' (2017)

Producing

*''The Last Good War'' (1999) (producer) *''The Wrong Brother'' (2000) (producer) *''

'' (2003) (producer) *'' Outlaw Trail: The Treasure of Butch Cassidy'' (2006) (producer) *''

'' (2007) (executive producer) *''

'' (2008) (producer) *'' Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed'' (2012) *'' Saints and Soldiers: The Void'' (2014)

Cinematography

*''

The Singles Ward The Singles Ward franchise includes the original film, ''The Singles Ward'' from 2002 and the 2007 sequel, ''The Singles 2nd Ward'', both directed and written by Kurt Hale and John Moyer. The Singles Ward ''The Singles Ward'' is a 2002 romantic ...

'' (2002) *''Freedom on the Water'' (2002) *'' The RM'' (2003) *''

'' (2003) *''

The Home Teachers ''The Home Teachers'' is a 2004 comedy film written by John Moyer and directed by Kurt Hale. ''The Home Teachers'' is a comedy distributed by Halestorm Entertainment and intended for LDS audiences, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latte ...

'' (2004) *'' Believe'' (2007) *''Blank Slate'' (2008) (TV) *'' Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed'' (2012) *'' Saints and Soldiers: The Void'' (2014)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Ryan Living people 1971 births American film directors American cinematographers American film producers Film directors from Vancouver Latter Day Saint artists