Ryan Hendricks, PhD

Media Psychologist. Strategist. Executive Advisor.

I’m Dr. Ryan Hendricks, a media psychologist and applied researcher with over two decades of experience working across media and entertainment, technology, and complex organizational environments. My work focuses on how people make meaning, form trust, and exercise judgment as media systems evolve, advising leaders and institutions on how to navigate change without degrading decision-making or culture.

My career has unfolded at the intersection of creative content production, emerging media, large-scale facilitation and governance—spanning broadcast television, immersive, standards bodies, and research-driven initiatives, with a background in hands-on content production and program leadership. My perspective is shaped by long experience observing how well-intentioned systems fail at the human level rather than the technical one.

I’m interested less in what technology can do, and more in what it does to people and culture over time. This perspective is increasingly relevant as organizations confront rapid technological change without clear models for its human impact.

Background

I hold a PhD in Media Psychology, with research spanning public-interest media, organizational decision-making, and the human factors shaping how immersive, interactive media technologies—such as extended reality (XR) and virtual production—are understood and integrated within contemporary media production cultures and institutions. I bring over two decades of experience across sports broadcast television, branded entertainment, documentary, scripted formats, and immersive media, including work with Meta (Facebook) Video Productions, NBCUniversal, PBS, MTV, to name a few.My experience includes leadership and facilitation of the industry’s first cross-sector think tank focused on Virtual Production best practices and standards, developed through the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) as part of its Rapid Industry Solutions, On-Set Virtual Production (RIS-OSVP) program.Across these roles, I have worked at the intersection of research, technology, and organizational decision-making, translating complex technical and human factors into shared understanding and actionable direction.

What I Do

I work with organizations to examine the psychological and organizational dynamics that shape how people make sense of, respond to, and live with technological change.This includes research synthesis, executive briefings, systems analysis, and advisory support focused on perception, sense-making, and long-term organizational resilience. Engagements are selective and typically short-term or fractional.

Sense-Making & Framing

Helping organizations clarify complex media and technology issues before decisions are made.

Research Synthesis

Translating research, standards work, and lived experience into accessible insight for leaders.

Facilitation & Alignment

Supporting cross-disciplinary groups in reaching shared understanding and direction.

Advisory Support

Providing short-term or fractional guidance during periods of technological or organizational change.

Who I Work With

  • Media & Technology Organizations
    Supporting organizations navigating AI, large-format, immersive, and emerging production pipelines as they assess human, cultural, and organizational impact.

  • Think Tanks & Applied Research Institutes
    Contributing research synthesis, framing, and facilitation to interdisciplinary teams working at the intersection of media, technology, and society.

  • Universities & Education Organizations
    Engaging with academic and educational institutions on media psychology, emerging media systems, and curriculum, or program-adjacent initiatives.

  • Research-Oriented Nonprofits & Public-Interest Organizations
    Collaborating with nonprofits focused on media, technology, ethics, and public understanding to support evidence-informed strategy and communication.

  • Advocacy & Awareness Organizations
    Advising groups working on education, awareness, and systems-level impact related to mediated environments and technological change.

Current Areas of Inquiry

Current areas of inquiry include human responses to AI and mediated systems, cognitive load, trust in mediated environments, and the psychological impacts of large-scale technological change.

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