GUYANESE award-winning producer and director Ryan Singh, who has spent most of his life in Canada, is happy that he decided to invest in a trip back to his homeland this month in a bid to pass on whatever skills and talents he could.

Singh, son of local poet, writer and producer Leon Saul, landed in Guyana earlier this month and has been able to successfully host two workshops for the benefit those interested in the local acting fraternity, and even for those who would have already made their mark here.

Singh, 41, was born and raised in New Amsterdam, Berbice, and was about 16 years old when he left the country to pursue his dreams. Having spent some 25 years in the film-making industry- 10 professionally – he always wanted to come back and help with capacity building in the local industry.

Speaking with this publication on Saturday, Singh said since arriving in Guyana, he has been enjoying a new-found respect for the country’s cultural treasures and its natural resources. “There are so much [sic] rich raw materials, that, if processed, can showcase our country and talents as a beacon onto the world,” he observed.

Singh has had the opportunity, through the Volunteer Youth Corps, to work with dozens of youths recently as they camped and shared a three-day retreat on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

His New Amsterdam workshop, which was held at the Frasers House in Corentyne, was an especially “spectacular” experience for him. “Participants were exposed to the process of storytelling. Using the estate’s quintessential 102-window house as a backdrop…participants captured both photographic and audio-visual images as they began the process of documenting the estate. The afternoon evolved from reading and dissecting individual stories to adapting one of the stories for an impromptu short-film shoot,” he explained.

NO REGRETS
Notably, Singh has invested his own money into these workshops, and doesn’t for one moment, regret doing so. “This has been a necessary investment that could no longer be diverted. For several years, I have been trying to return to Guyana to begin this work. Guyana…has begun to actively promote shooting here with such attractions as the Rupununi Rodeo, our falls, savannahs, rainforests and other beautiful sceneries. But locale alone is not enough. That is the reason I have seen it as an opportunity to directly invest in helping to build the local capacity,” Singh expressed.

He has been working with other Caribbean countries over the years including Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, Martinique, and others; he now hopes to be able to contribute to helping Guyanese artists.

Meanwhile, Singh’s first plays, ‘Zenrick and Cleopatra’ and ‘Asylum Wedding,’ were both written and directed by his high school teacher, now prominent New York attorney, Vivian Williams. He eventually pressed on to making award-winning documentaries and short films, while acting in major productions.

Singh has worked as an actor on ‘Downsizing’ and was the behind-the-scenes videographer on ‘The Breadwinner’ (Nominated for one Golden Globe, six Canadian Screen Awards, and a bevy of Annie Awards).

He has also been a producer on Rasta: A Soul’s Journey (2011), Housekeeping, IRL: The Series (2016) (TV show and Web Series), Fried Bakes and Dumplings (2014), Mom (2013), Graffiti Alley (2016) and The Black Experience Project Report (2017). He directed Mom, Fried Bakes and Dumplings and Graffiti Alley.

Apart from being behind the scenes, Singh has also acted in ‘Conduct Unbecoming’ directed by Sidney Furie, ‘11 Blocks’ that was co-directed by Matthew Bennett and Sasha Moric and ‘Mr. Crab’ that was directed by Faisal Lutchmedial.

In `The Breadwinner’, produced by Angelina Jolie, Singh worked as a videographer, capturing the actors as they voiced their performances. The footage was then used to add to the visual animation developed for each character as they tell the story of a young girl who must become a boy to feed her family in war-torn Afghanistan.

On stage, through his company ‘Ryan Singh Enterprises’, he has produced and performed in more than eight stage productions, including, “For Better…For Worse,” “Make Love, Not War,” “Fools in Love,” “Curse of Ham,” “Sweet, Sweet Karaila,” and “Sex, Relationships and Sometimes…Love.”

He was the ‘Best Documentary under 40 Minutes’ Winner for ‘Mom’ at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival CTIFF 2013; and winner of the ‘Audience Choice Awards’ for ‘Fried Bakes and Dumplings’ Greater August Town Film Festival GATFFEST 2016, in Jamaica.