Kynan Dias is an actor and award-winning screenwriter, born in Honolulu and raised in Las Vegas. Inspired at an early age by great American playwrights such as Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Edward Albee, Kynan taught himself to write feature-length screenplays as a 14-year-old high school student. He earned a B.A. in film from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he pursued acting, screenwriting, and directing. Later, Kynan earned his MFA in screenwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he developed a love for writing TV sitcoms that were further nurtured during his time studying improv comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade.
As a writer, Kynan’s films tend to live within the thin space between the humorous and the tragic, in sarcastic dramas and in comedies that hurt. As an actor, he is often hired to cry in comedies. With Lester Ryan Clark, Kynan co-hosts a series of film history podcasts on the TruStory.FM network that are meticulously researched yet lean heavily on improvised comedy.
Teaching at UNLV FILM since 2008, Kynan has developed a wide variety of courses in film production, directing, acting, screenwriting, and film studies, being especially proud of building classes such as Women in Comedy and Queer Cinema. His research interests include animation history, studio system economics, queer coding in classic film, and foregrounding previously unsung collaborators within major film authors’ historiographies.
Giant monster month turns out to be less about creatures and more about systems that collapse the moment they’re needed. The Host, Troll Hunter, and Godzilla Minus One (Minus Color) all ask the same question: what do you do when the biggest thing in the room isn’t the monster?
Michelle Yeoh’s mom-tired action heroics hit different in Minute 76 — when your weapon defense involves a toy poodle and a two-liter, you earn the laugh.
We dive into Revelation 17, unpacking the Whore of Babylon as a symbol of empire, corruption, and resistance — with surprising modern parallels.
She swallows a wooden frog to jump verses, then spins a SWAT shield like a pizza sign—power rising, multiverse cracking. We unpack Michelle Yeoh’s weapon training and chi control.
We drink our fill of these seven bowls of wrath, explore the themes of Revelation, and discuss the significance of Armageddon, the moral decay of society, and more.
We discuss Evelyn’s bittersweet verse-jump as a blind opera singer, finally earning Gong Gong’s pride when she can’t see it. Plus, her first independent universe leap shows true mastery.
This is a SHORT chapter! – We got more sevens here! What is this, Vegas? – The last of the plagues! – The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven…and more!
On this episode: Why is it “put” your eye out? – Riddle me this! – What is Officer Brian doing to that lamp?! – “An orgy of stupid” – hidden hotdog – PSA: clean your sex toys…and more!
PSA: Even Hell has laws about drinking and driving – Seven heads, ten horns, and really good legs! – Excuse me, where are your grapes of wrath?…and more!
Ever stayed in a situation one beat too long because leaving felt worse than staying? This month on Sitting in the Dark, we’re talking The Invitation, The Night House, and Caveat—three films that understand the terrifying math of “just a few more minutes.”