Sunday, January 30, 2011
By Elise Franco
efranco@vindy.com
CANFIELD
What began as a high school hobby became a career that would lead Ryan Fill from the suburb of Canfield to the set of an Emmy Award-winning television series.
Fill, 29, of North Hollywood, Calif., works as a film editor for the ABC comedy “Modern Family.”
But the Mahoning Valley native has remained humble and easily remembers the videos he shot and edited at Canfield High School — the videos that put him on the path to where he is now.
“I made many weird and goofy videos for class projects,” he said. “I found I really liked making short films, even if they weren’t so good.”
After graduating in 2000, Fill attended Wright State University for two years, majoring in film production. When he wasn’t in class, Fill said he worked full time at Home Depot for some extra cash.
“[The job was] to pay for film stock and developing costs for the 16 millimeter black and white films that my friends and I made,” he said. “I spent all my time in a basement editing room whenever I wasn’t working or didn’t have class.”
Fill’s mother, Kristy Fill, of Fawn Drive in Canfield, said his son always took interest in film.
“If watching thousands of movies counts, then yes, he was always interested,” she said.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.