Photo by A.J. Marson
Ian’s first feature-length film as writer-director is the modern cautionary tale The Way We Speak starring 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards nominee Patrick Fabian—widely known for playing tragic lawyer Howard Hamlin across six seasons of AMC’s hit series Better Call Saul. The Way We Speak had its world premiere at the 33rd Florida Film Festival in April—as one of 10 narrative features selected for their American Independent Competition. Deadline had the exclusive premiere of the film’s trailer.
Ian created the satirical web series White Action News (2020) and wrote and directed three award-winning short films: Pinwheel Horizon (2023), The Devil Needs a Fix (2017), and From the Sky (2014).
Set on a distant planet, Pinwheel Horizon is a minimalist fantasy about three elite warriors approaching their final confrontation—and a film where “story wins out,” says Film Threat. Pinwheel Horizon is currently playing film festivals and is repped by Festival Formula. American Cinematheque called Ian’s second short The Devil Needs a Fix “deliciously intriguing…a sophisticated dark comedy with an edge,” and Cinephilia & Beyond described Ian’s debut—the Arabic-language thriller From the Sky—as “an amazing and pioneering short film.”
Ian also published interviews ranging from Actor Terence Stamp to New York Times’ Journalist & Historian Sam Tanenhaus.
A Seattle native, Ian studied filmmaking at the Seattle Film Institute and storytelling under Brian McDonald (Invisible Ink); his influences include Martin Scorsese, Bennett Miller, Werner Herzog, Alexander Payne, J.C. Chandor, Debra Granik, David Mamet, Nicole Holofcener, Laura Poitras, and Joachim Trier.
