Evan Silver and Ryan Ennis have founded Reform School, an LA and NY-based film production studio that uses humor and storytelling to shock, delight and impact culture. Silver and Ennis have collaborated over the past decade to produce award-winning ads, Super Bowl spots, branded content, TV sketches, and music videos.
The founders point to Reform School’s fresh, modern, creatively driven approach to production. “We are a filmmaker-led studio founded to solve today’s evolving production needs while responding to cultural shifts happening in our world.” They each believe a clever message delivered with a laugh can defuse even the most topical subjects and create real change.
“The established production company model over the past ten, or even two years, feels very anachronistic in 2022. We responded by revamping the production process to be more agile, collaborative, diverse, and intimate. This allows us to customize our approach on each project and ensure our clients get everything they want despite any limitations,” says Ennis.
“By starting our company from scratch, we were determined to make the production process more creative and fun for our directors, agencies, and clients. Being a boutique, filmmaker-led shop allows us the freedom to take risks on those edgier, yet coveted, creative projects that have a real impact on our culture,” added Silver.
Reform School has been busy producing projects for Amazon, Fage Greek Yogurt, MTV, and Meijer supermarkets in the past few months. Their upcoming work includes a high-profile TV campaign for the cult wine brand 19 Crimes.
Silver, founder and director, has had an illustrious career directing Super Bowl commercials, TV sketches, music videos, and pro-social causes. He’s worked with prestigious clients including Nike, Audi, MTV, FunnyorDie, HBO, Burger King, Mint Mobile, Xbox, ESPN, and The Daily Show. Silver recently won two 2021 Entertainment Clios: a Silver for a VH1 spot starring Martha Stewart and a Bronze for Hulu starring the cast of Jumanji. His work has earned him Emmys, Cannes Lions, AICP, One Show, Webbys, GLAAD, and other industry accolades.
Ennis, founder and executive producer, has 17 years of freelance experience in commercial and film production during which he’s produced projects for top ad agencies Droga5, Mother, Deutsch LA, and 72andSunny. Having risen through the ranks of the LA film community, he learned every facet of production hands on, and he uses that knowledge to solve any creative challenge and deliver a creative vision as promised. As a proud member of the Choctaw Nation, a Native American tribe originally occupying the Southeastern United States, Ennis is passionate about advancing Native American and Indigenous representation in commercial and film production.
Reform School’s diverse roster of talent includes a mix of well-known and hot-up-coming filmmakers from the worlds of advertising, comedy, television, and social media—Silver, Dax Martinez-Vargas, Julie, and Heath Cullens. Each director offers a different shade of comedy delivered in a unique visual style.
“We are purposely keeping our roster of directors tight, well-defined, and sought after. The industry isn’t in need of another hugely rostered company that is trying to be everything to everyone at the same time,” says Ennis.
