Edward Ryan is the founder and CEO of TENAX Media, a new private equity backed entity that acquires international film and TV distribution rights.
Prior to TENAX, Mr. Ryan was the Senior Vice President of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Paramount Pictures International, based in London. In addition to supervising theatrical distribution, he ran the studio’s EMEA film acquisition strategy, both English and local language. He successfully directed office restructuring in mature markets such as UK, France, and Spain. Finally, he co-managed the UIP distribution joint venture, including transformation projects in the key emerging markets of Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
For the seven years ending in 2009, Mr. Ryan ran the Research and Analysis Group at the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills, focused on the areas of film and TV economics. He worked with key corporate clients such as Hasbro, using entertainment as the vehicle to extend the value of their intellectual property. In one example, this culminated in WMA negotiating a groundbreaking deal for Hasbro to launch a children’s cable channel in a JV with Discovery Communications. He also authored “white papers” on subjects as varied as mobile content distribution and motion picture distribution, for investor clients.
In the years prior to WMA, Mr. Ryan ran film buying as part of the team that launched Cinemark Theaters in Brasil, now the country’s largest exhibitor. He began his career in theatrical distribution at Twentieth Century Fox International in 1995, with stints in Los Angeles, Mexico City and São Paulo.
He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.