Ryan McHenry (13 December 1987 – 2 May 2015) was a Scottish film director best known for the film ''Zombie Musical'' in which he received a nomination for the Best Director accolade at the

2011 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards The 2011 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards were held on 24 March 2011 at the Glasgow Film Theatre. Presented by BAFTA Scotland, the accolades honour the best upcoming talent in the field of film and television in Scotland. The Nominees ...

. ''Zombie Musical'' would be adapted by McHenry and Alan McDonald into the 2017 feature film ''

Anna and the Apocalypse ''Anna and the Apocalypse'' is a 2017 British Christmas zombie musical film directed by John McPhail from a screenplay by Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry, based on McHenry's 2010 BAFTA nominated short ''Zombie Musical''. It stars an ensemble ca ...

'', which would ultimately be released after McHenry's death.

Life and career

Ryan McHenry was born in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In 2011 he wrote and directed the film ''Zombie Musical''. The film, which was a joint adventure between Haphazard Media and Black Camel Pictures tells the story of Anna who starts at a new school in a small Scottish town. She is forced to deal with a zombie outbreak set to catchy songs. The film was a critical success and earned McHenry a nomination at the

. In 2013, McHenry created the video series ''Ryan Gosling Won't Eat His Cereal''. The series which started on

Vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

centred on a gimmick where McHenry attempted to feed cereal to a shot of

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...

on screen. Just before the spoon reached his mouth the actor would turn away as if he was rejecting the food. The videos became an internet sensation and McHenry went from having 8 followers to over 200,000 on his channel. The series also attracted attention from Entertainment Online and the Huffington Post. Gosling acknowledged the video series in April 2015, tweeting "I actually love cereal." In late 2013, McHenry started experiencing a painful lump in his leg and consulted a doctor who diagnosed it as

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchyme, mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) and that exhi ...

that had spread to his lungs. He announced the news on his Twitter page with an upbeat spin saying During his chemotherapy sessions, McHenry continued to tweet and often turned to his followers for support and inspiration. On one occasion he called upon his followers to photoshop a selfie he had taken on his hospital bed. He was overwhelmed by the creative response of his followers.

Death

After initial signs that McHenry had beaten cancer, he returned to work in July 2014 after a long course of chemotherapy. The cancer returned, and he died on 2 May 2015. Two days before his death he had tweeted, in his typical deadpan humour: Upon the news of his death, Vine tweeted their own tribute to McHenry saying: On 5 May, Gosling created his own Vine channel to post a tribute to McHenry. The clip showed Gosling pouring a bowl of cereal, saluting the camera with his spoon then proceeding to eat the cereal.

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

*
Ryan McHenry Vine ChannelRyan Gosling Vine Tribute to McHenry
{{DEFAULTSORT:McHenry, Ryan 1987 births 2015 deaths Deaths from cancer in Scotland Scottish film directors Scottish male screenwriters Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art People from Dumfries British Vine (service) celebrities Shorty Award winners Scottish Internet celebrities