Like many good things in life for Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett, their Onslaught journey began over cocktails with a cool filmmaker.
In this case, it was margaritas at Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks, where they met director Adam Wingard and his writing partner Simon Barrett. Wingard was coming off a pair of big budget Godzilla movies, and he wanted to go back to his scrappy roots. He had dreams of making a throwback movie akin to John Carpenter films like Assault on Precinct 13 or The Fog.
Ryder and Swett knew this was something they could embrace — a down and dirty movie that would ultimately shoot in the freezing cold nights of New Mexico.
They had the type of conversations they always have with a filmmaker early on. “What are your non-starters? Is it a price point? Is it shooting on film? Is it the amount of days that you think that you need?,’” recalls Swett.
The package ended at A24, and afforded Wingard the power of final cut for the first time in his career.
Onslaught is just one of multiple director-driven projects they’ve had this year, including Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters for Neon and Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood for A24 (that meeting was whiskey and cigars), as well as Ol Parker’s Netflix rom-com Office Romance, starring Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein.
It’s an eclectic mix for the duo, who run Ryder Picture Company together. In an era of chaos in the marketplace, they believe they can operate within the cracks, finding opportunities to get things made.
“We’re agnostic as it comes to genre. We’re agnostic as it comes to platform, whether it be studio or streamer or independent. It truly is trying to discern what would be the best version of the film and who would look after it the best,” says Ryder.
Ryder formed Ryder Picture Company in 2021, with Swett joining as his partner not long after. But now they are renaming the company to acknowledge it has evolved beyond a founder-led banner. It took a year and a half of brainstorming to find a name that would both clear legal and fit the philosophy for the company, which has a half dozen employees.
Then, inspiration struck — with an assist from a drink, naturally.
“We were having dinner with somebody. A martini was given to me,” recalls Ryder. He wasn’t sure if another martini was a good idea, but recalls thinking, “I will embrace it.” Embrace had a nice ring to it. And the name cleared legal. “It kind meets the philosophy of what we are. We can embrace the chaos and we can embrace the process,” says Ryder.
Before Embrace, Ryder was best known as the veteran producer and founding member of FilmNation Entertainment who worked on early Christopher Nolan movies Memento and The Prestige, and who earned a best picture Oscar nomination for Denis Vellineuve’s Arrival.
Swett fell into Ryder’s orbit as his assistant during the Arrival era, helping him on that movie as well as The Founder, about McDonald’s magnate Ray Krok. He quickly moved onward, working as an exec for Lord Miller during the highs of The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and the craziness of Solo: A Star Wars Story, then at Mythos Studios, the venture that was then run by Marvel Studios founder David Maisel and super manager Scooter Braun. All along, Ryder kept in touch, transitioning from mentor to friend, until he asked the younger producer to join his company.
Deadpool director Tim Miller is a longtime associate of both men, and once tried to hire Swett for his own company. He says one of Ryder’s superpowers is connecting people. Case in point: Miller wanted Rebecca Ferguson for Best Served Cold, a movie they once developed at MGM. Ryder picked up the phone and called her, and she ultimately signed on.
“Aaron just knows everybody, and everybody likes him. So, when he brings something to them, they take it seriously,” says Miller, who adds, “I just saw the value of the relationships, and of having a producer that people actually wanted to pick up the phone when he called.”
They are now in post on Miller’s big budget time loop movie Shiver, starring Keanu Reeves and which Warner Bros. will release next year. The filmmaker has been honing it with friends and family screenings recently, and credits Ryder and Swett with helping handle the Hollywood politics of the production so he can focus on the filmmaking.
When Ryder and Swett read a script like Shiver, they dissect the different versions that could be made of the movie, and break it down for the filmmaker.
“Here’s the studio version, here’s the streaming version, here’s the pre-sales version,” says Swett. “You can tell any story for any price. You can The Odyssey for $1 million, or you can make The Odyssey for $150 million.”
Shiver presented a number of challenges, including the logistics of shooting 45 days in a massive water tank in the Dominican Republic. (The mysterious film involves Keanu Reeves vs. sharks, hence all the water.)
Miller self-notes he did not direct his first movie until he was 50, so he appreciates producers who have worked with a lot of directors. “Aaron could go, ‘Well, Chris Nolan did it this way, or ‘Denis Villeneuve did it that way,’” says Miller.
Coming up, they are also in post on Mother’s Helper, an erotic thriller starring Shailene Woodley and directed by Bridget Moloney.
Says Ryder of juggling their stable of filmmakers: “It’s not always the same. You’re a different partner to the directors, you’re a different partner to the studios. That’s kind of cool. Because there’s no one set way of doing these things, especially now.”
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