Smith Club of San Francisco
and Marin
Alumnae Profiles
Anna Ryan Hansen AC '90
Spring 2004
Profile By Sarah Cross Mills '66
Part I
The setting is upstate New York, summer of 2002, hot and humid. You’re in full production mode on your first independent feature film, called “Carry Me Home,” managing everything within the $1 million contract with Showtime Networks, Inc. You’ll either deliver the film or pay out of your own pocket. The dailies are coming back from New York City, you’re sure you have the makings of a good film, but there’s the constant stress of priorities shifting minute-by-minute so you stay within budget. And you’re in the second trimester of pregnancy. Into the frenzy of all this comes your most devoted supporter, your husband, who uses vacation time from his job in San Francisco to be with you and your two year-old child.
Anna Ryan Hansen, AC ‘90, co-produced “Carry Me Home,” which premiered at the Nantucket Film Festival in June 2003. I first spoke with her only days before the festival. Our connection was made after a chance meeting with her husband in a San Francisco parking garage. One evening, my husband and I were losing hope as we reached the rooftop level of a busy Marina district parking facility. Another car needing a space was right behind us when we noticed taillights suddenly glow red. We took that spot, feeling very lucky, while the driver behind us maneuvered to head back down. Just as he turned onto the ramp, we both noticed the Smith sticker on his car. Moments later he joined us in the stairwell, so of course we asked about the sticker. He told us that his wife owed so much to the Ada Comstock program, that the opportunity to get her degree had immeasurably changed her life. When I mentioned I’d like to interview her, he assured me she’d have an interesting story to tell.
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Part II: Growing up and finding Smith
Anna grew up in San Diego, the middle of five children in an Irish family. Already interested in dance when she finished high school, Anna ricocheted between college and dancing jobs in the early 80’s until she suddenly decided she wanted to become an actress. She set her sights high and applied to New York’s Stella Adler Conservatory, where she spent two years. Adler herself was still teaching, and Anna was so struck by this vibrant, worldly woman’s experiences, she took stock of her own life; now that she was more focused and stable, she realized it was time to complete her education. She came across a Smith catalogue in the New York Public Library and was impressed by the Ada Comstock program. Anna will never know whether Adler’s recommendation for her admission as an Ada and the coincidence of the great teacher’s being awarded a Smith honorary degree the same year helped determine her being accepted.
It may seem surprising that her major was Economics, but Anna saw a congruence between studying a character’s motivations and exploring how people behave in a financial context in society. She performed in a play at UMass and did some dancing at Smith, but Wall Street claimed her for three years after she received her degree. Anna was able to bridge her need to be creative with her work in finance, and yet, she recognized a driving ambition to live a much more interesting life than what she’d seen growing up. The possibilities in Hollywood for getting involved in films, television and theater drew her back to the West coast, where she worked with the returned to New York because of its stronger independent film community. She worked at Morgan Stanley as Vice President in the Institutional Equity Division where she met her husband, and in 1999, they founded Saturday Pictures, Inc., their own feature film, television and theater production company. As President of Saturday Pictures, Anna co-produced “Carry Me Home.” This film was the first in Showtime’s program to fund independent movies. Anna expects the film will appear on Showtime’s schedule sometime this year, and a distributor is interested in placing it in theaters.
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Part III: Founding Saturday Pictures, Inc.
When Anna was at the Stella Adler Conservatory, her father gave her a volume of the collected plays of Eugene O’Neill. Deeply impressed by O’Neill’s writing, she says he’s her favorite playwright. In 2002, Anna signed on as Associate Producer of O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” and experienced the closing of a circle when she took her father to the opening performance. The production won three Tony Awards during its sensational Broadway run in 2002-2003, for Best Revival of a Play, and for Best Performances by a Leading Actress (Vanessa Redgrave) and Actor (Brian Dennehy). It was a Smith friend, Lisa Vioni ’90, who also worked on Wall Street (and later left to pursue acting) who facilitated Anna’s partnership in this project.
Ibsen has been another favored playwright since her days at the Adler Conservatory. She believes the issues Ibsen addresses are still relevant to women. In general, scripts with a strong female voice appeal to Anna; she feels there are not enough female issues covered in film. If she could produce anything, she’d love to do a film of “A Doll’s House” updated to contemporary times. She’s interested in a film script already written for this play, but she doesn’t yet have the rights to it. For now, she thinks the next film she’ll make is called “Kiss Me Once.” The pre-production work is extensive, but she can still be with her two young children and stay involved. Leaving the business entirely, then trying to re-enter would be very difficult, she thinks.
The stated goal of Saturday Pictures, Inc. is “to be involved in projects that have a relevance to our world and communicate an idea about our humanity.” Anna says she’s most interested in the universality of relationships, especially family relationships and the challenges of dysfunction and addiction that many families face. She strongly believes that writers, actors and producers must communicate a point of view and not just be entertaining. She’s always networking and reading numerous scripts. Anna’s also pursuing the idea of creating a film and theater fund with her friend Lisa Vioni. This would enable direct investment in films and theater and immediately provide money that otherwise requires extensive time devoted to fund-raising. With several successful ventures behind her, we can expect to see her name on the big screen or in a Playbill soon – watch for it!
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