Writer and director, Hildegard graduated from the Central Film School with a distinction in Practical Filmmaking. Her graduation film “The 25th Annual, St Wallace on Sea, Morris Dancing Festival” was selected for the Cannes Film Festival short film corner.
Hildegard has collaborated with Eva O’Connor through their theatre company Sunday’s Child since 2013 on a number of Award winning productions, as a director for My Name is Saoirse, Overshadowed and Mustard, and as a co-writer and director on Afloat, The Friday Night Effect and most recently Chicken.
Chicken won a Lustrum Award at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023 and performed at the Traverse, the Lyric Belfast and Dublin Fringe Festival in 2024. Chicken won Pick of the Fringe at Adelaide Fringe 2025, and it had its London premiere at Jermyn Street Theatre at the beginning of May 2025.
The Friday Night Effect debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 and Eva and Hildegard have co-written the first two episodes of a TV adaptation for Four Quadrant Films/RTE.
Hildegard directed the theatre production of Mustard by Eva, and the TV adaptation for RTE’s Storyland. She also co-wrote and directed the 8 x 10’ television adaptation of Overshadowed for Rollem Productions/BBC which was nominated for a Rose d’Or Award.
Eva and Hildegard have a number of original developments at treatment stage with Indies.
More recently, Hildegard has directed two short films. Bad Person was selected for the 2024 round of Focus Shorts, Screen Ireland’s flagship short film scheme. Dance Me Clean was produced by Eva as part of The Actor as Creator Scheme with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Bow Street Academy and will be screening at Fastnet Film Festival 2025.
Hildegard’s other directing credits include: The Dumping Ground, Still So Awkward and Dodger (co-directed) for CBBC and two episodes of Casualty for BBC1.
In 2018 Hildegard was named as one of Broadcast’s Hot Shots, which celebrated the outstanding work of women under 30 making waves in the TV industry.
Hildegard Ryan is represented by Frances Arnold