‘Grace and Danger’, Detroit Techno and Disney Hits: The Work That Made Ryan Heiferman

Ryan Heiferman is a New York-based film, music video, experiential, and commercial executive producer who has produced pioneering and award-winning work over his 25-year career.

He is co-founder and managing partner of Good Company, one of the industry’s most forward-thinking production studios across live action, experiential, and post production content. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Good Company’s productions under Ryan’s leadership include Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour (2023), Beyonce’s Peabody Award-winning ‘Lemonade’ (2016), and Oculus Quest’s ADC and Webby Award-winning Billie Eilish/’Beat Saber’ ‘Beat As One’ campaign (2021).

Prior to Good Company, Ryan was an accomplished sound designer and mix engineer for over a decade, collaborating with top artists, directors, brands, and networks around the globe. He remains an industry speaker and university lecturer on innovative storytelling and creative production.

LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…

Ryan> Wendy’s 'Where’s the Beef'.

That lady was just funny and I love that dry humour.

Also The Hair Club for Men “I'm not only the president, I’m also a client”

Yes - 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'. It was the first music video that really sunk in for me.

Just loved how that guy turned into an eagle after flying off the building.

LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…

Ryan> I started out pre-med in college but stumbled upon the Detroit techno scene and was fortunate to take an amazing class, The Art of Film which led me on this path.

LBB> The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem etc) that I keep revisiting…

Ryan> Lately it’s John Martyn’s album 'Grace and Danger' which came out in 1980 and I’ve just recently discovered thanks to Fred Again.

LBB> My first professional project…

Ryan> Handing out flyers for a pizza place in seventh grade. Our payment was pizza.

LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…

Ryan> Thankfully nothing comes to mind!

LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous...

Ryan> MEGAFORCE’s Burberry campaign.

LBB> The creative project that changed my career…

Ryan> The first major accomplishment was being the lead mix engineer on the hit Disney television series, 'Little Einsteins'.

LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…

Ryan> It’s impossible to name just one project, here are a few in chronological order:

'Cruel Summer', our seven-screen immersive film for Kanye West we did in our first year.

Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ and Formation World Tour.

Air Jordan’s Anti-Gravity shoe launch featuring Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook.

NERD’s 2017 Album Cycle – ComplexCon event, music videos, live performances.

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour visual content.

Meta’s Oculus ‘Beat Saber’ trailer.

Balenciaga 2024 Paris fashion show.

Alexander Wang’s 2024 film and installation.

LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…

Ryan> I deleted that from my memory!

LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…

Ryan> A top secret project that’s coming out soon, which is some of the coolest work we’ve done in the immersive storytelling space.