Meet Ryan Murtha

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ryan Murtha. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ryan below.

Ryan, thrilled to have you on the platform as I think our readers can really benefit from your insights and experiences. In particular, we’d love to hear about how you think about burnout, avoiding or overcoming burnout, etc.

I’ve worn a lot of hats, Navy officer, filmmaker, and now creative director, marketing director, and producer for The Dinner Detective, so burnout is something I’ve had to manage intentionally.

One of the biggest tools I use is breaking everything down into micro-tasks. In the Navy, you do not just deploy. You prepare piece by piece with training evolutions, checklists, and briefs. I apply that same mindset to creative work. Instead of “produce a show” or “launch a marketing campaign,” it becomes: send one email, finalize one prop, rehearse one scene, confirm one actor, post one piece of content. Small, executable actions prevent things from feeling overwhelming.

That is especially true with Dinner Detective. A live interactive show has a lot of moving parts. If I think about the entire production at once, it can feel heavy. If I focus on the next simple action, momentum builds quickly.

I also focus on the end result and the reward instead of the challenge in front of me. Whether it was earning my degree at the United States Naval Academy, completing my M.F.A. at Chapman University, or watching a packed Dinner Detective audience fully engaged in the experience, I keep my eyes on the mission. The long nights, rewrites, and logistics are temporary. The premiere, the applause, and the impact last longer.

For me, burnout is not something you eliminate. It is something you outmaneuver with structure, perspective, and purpose.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a Navy veteran, filmmaker, and live experience producer. Professionally, I split my time between storytelling on screen and producing immersive entertainment experiences as the Creative Director and Director of Marketing for The Dinner Detective.

What I do really comes down to one thing: I create stories that put the audience inside the experience.

On the film side, I write and direct narrative films, music videos, and proof of concepts. My work has screened at festivals such as the Pasadena International Film Festival and the Phoenix Film Festival. I am drawn to grounded, character-driven stories, often inspired by real events or true crime. My military background shapes how I approach storytelling. I think in terms of stakes, leadership, and human decision-making under pressure.

On the live entertainment side, The Dinner Detective is one of the most exciting things I have ever been part of. It is an interactive true crime murder mystery show where the actors are hidden in the audience and anyone could be part of the story. What makes it special is that it is not just theater you watch. It is theater you experience. Guests become suspects, interrogators, and detectives. Every show is different because the audience changes the energy in the room.

What excites me most is building something that blends structure with spontaneity. My Navy career trained me to value preparation, clarity, and leadership. Improv and filmmaking taught me to embrace unpredictability. When those two worlds meet, that is where the magic happens.

As for what is new, I am focused on expanding the brand experience beyond just the live show. That includes developing new concepts, enhancing marketing through stronger visual storytelling, and building out creative projects that merge film and immersive theater. I am also continuing to direct new short films and develop larger proof-of-concept projects for future features.

At the core of my brand is this idea: stories should not just be consumed. They should be lived. Whether it is on a screen, on a stage, or in a dining room full of unsuspecting guests, my goal is always the same. Create an experience people remember.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, the three most impactful qualities in my journey have been creativity, resilience, and passion.

Creativity
Creativity has been the bridge between my military career and the arts. Whether I was producing short documentaries about Navy training or leading immersive productions at The Dinner Detective, creativity allowed me to see possibilities instead of limitations. It is not just about artistic talent. It is about problem solving. Every challenge is a design opportunity.

Resilience
Resilience was forged early at the United States Naval Academy and strengthened throughout active duty. Long hours, high standards, real consequences. Later, in film school at Chapman University, resilience meant taking feedback, rewriting, failing forward, and continuing anyway. In both the military and the arts, rejection and setbacks are part of the process. The difference maker is whether you keep moving.

Passion
Passion is the fuel. It is what keeps you going when the external rewards are not immediate. Film festivals, premieres, full audiences, those are highlights. But most of the journey is quiet work. Passion sustains you through the unglamorous middle.

For anyone early in their journey, I would offer this framework:

Find your North Star. That is your long term vision. It should be clear enough to guide you but big enough to grow into.

Develop a compass. Your compass is your values and standards. It keeps you aligned when opportunities, distractions, or setbacks try to pull you off course.

And protect your catalyst. That is your fuel. For some, it is curiosity. For others, competition, service, or storytelling. Know what energizes you and intentionally feed it.

You do not need to have everything figured out. You just need direction, alignment, and momentum. The rest is built step by step.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was model the standard instead of just talking about it.

They were hardworking in a quiet, consistent way. There was never drama around effort. You showed up. You followed through. You finished what you started. Watching that shaped how I approached everything from the United States Naval Academy to active duty and now my work in film and live production with The Dinner Detective. Work ethic was not optional. It was normal.

They were also loving, but in a way that built strength, not dependency. I always knew I had support, but I was expected to stand on my own two feet. That balance gave me confidence. It allowed me to take risks creatively because I had a strong foundation underneath me.

And maybe most importantly, they emphasized growth. There was always an understanding that you could improve, learn something new, and evolve. That mindset made transitions feel possible. From the military to filmmaking, from officer to artist, growth was not a threat to identity. It was part of it.

Hard work, love, and growth were not speeches in our house. They were daily habits. That example shaped everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thedinnerdetective.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/dinnerdetective instagram.com/ryanpmurtha
• Facebook: facebook.com/dinnerdetective facebook.com/ryanpmurtha
• Youtube: youtube.com/@TheDinnerDetective youtube.com/ryanpmurtha
• Other: [email protected]