Rylee Jean Ebsen is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and Webby and Telly Award–winning director known for her cinematic storytelling, sharp comedic timing, and visually rich, character-driven worlds.
She has directed campaigns for Disney, Google, Dove, Kellogg’s, and ESPN, collaborating with top agencies including Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, and Maximum Effort. A former creative executive at Snapchat, Rylee helped define the platform’s early creative identity—directing campaigns that fueled its growth from 1 million to 190 million daily active users and guiding its visual storytelling through the company’s IPO.
Her short film Boomerang, starring Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), premiered with Short of the Week and earned multiple festival awards, including “Best Film” at Just for Laughs and Best Director at Chicago Women’s Comedy Film Festival. A graduate of the Directors Guild of America’s Television Director Development Initiative, Rylee is currently developing two feature films, a buddy comedy and a romcom.
Storytelling runs in her blood — she’s the granddaughter of Hollywood icon Buddy Ebsen and comedy legend Stan Freberg. A NYU Tisch film & tv and Groundlings alum, Rylee honed her craft in character, improv, and sketch — shaping the voice that defines her work today: cinematic, humorous, relatable, and heartfelt.