Chronicling Film History, One Year at a Time.
What is Ryan’s Film Almanac?
Remember thumbing through fat reference books, like the World Almanac, discovering amazing facts, and feeling like you had history at your fingertips?
I still buy almanacs because they provide browsable context that helps me discover, understand and appreciate history quicker than most other resources can.
Ryan’s Film Almanac is my attempt to bring that experience to movie lovers.
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.
The Mission
To create a fun, year-by-year chronicle of cinema history, spanning from the 19th century to the present day. But instead of writing it in secret for five years, I am writing it here, in public.
This is a living almanac.
Once all chapters are completed, the end goal is to publish physical copies that can be enjoyed as browsable, armchair companions.
What You Get
As a subscriber, you are watching the book being built in real-time.
The Years: Deep dives into specific years (e.g., 1959: The Year Hollywood Exploded), covering the movies, technology, art, and trends of the times. The years will be randomized to keep things fresh and interesting.
The Lists: Curated rankings of Noir, Horror, Westerns, and Screwball Comedies, backed by research rather than algorithms.
The Cinephile Life: Celebrating the obsession beyond the screen—from physical media appreciation and essential film book recommendations to TCM deep dives and monthly watch diaries.
And MORE: I’ll be mixing in plenty of nerdy film fun, including watch challenges, Oscar analysis, current industry news, and interviews.
Who Am I?
I’m Kevin Ryan. By day, I’m an assistant television editor (currently at Jimmy Kimmel Live!) with over 20 years and 2500 television episodes of experience in Hollywood. By night, I am a husband, father, and film obsessive who watches over 400 movies a year.
I am building this for the cinephiles, the stats nerds, and anyone who enjoys deeper context for the films they watch.
Join the Archive
Subscribe to get new chapters delivered to your inbox. It’s free to read while I build the archive.
See you at the movies!
