Ryan “R.L.” Terry is a film critic, broadcaster, educator, and author whose work explores the intersection of cinema, storytelling, culture, and media.

He currently serves as the host of Tennessee Valley Mornings on 89.3 WLRH Public Radio in Huntsville, Alabama, where he delivers news, interviews, cultural features, and community-focused programming. He also hosts ReelTalk, a weekly film program featuring conversations with critics, filmmakers, and other guests about current releases, classic cinema, film history, and the craft of storytelling. Additionally, he is a part-time lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Before joining WLRH, Terry served as General Manager of WKGC Public Media in Panama City, Florida, and previously worked as a Public Information Officer for the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County.

In academia, Terry has taught film studies, screenwriting, and related media courses at the university level, including several years as a lecturer at the University of Tampa. His academic work has focused on film history, criticism, narrative structure, screenwriting, and the relationship between classical storytelling and contemporary cinema.

As a critic, Terry has published ReelView since 2014, writing about new releases, classic films, genre cinema, and the evolving language of motion pictures. His criticism often emphasizes dramatic architecture, character development, practical craftsmanship, theatrical exhibition, and the distinction between memorable moments and truly memorable stories.

He is also the author of Monsters, Madness, and Mayhem: Why People Love Horror, a study of horror, science fiction, and monster cinema, and is currently developing Are You Still Watching?, a book examining what he describes as the “death of cinema”—the decline of mid-budget storytelling, the rise of franchise-driven filmmaking, the erosion of shared moviegoing culture, and the changing relationship between audiences, studios, and the theatrical experience.

Across broadcasting, academia, criticism, and writing, Terry’s work is united by a belief that movies matter not only as entertainment, but as cultural artifacts—stories that reveal how people think, what societies value, and why the experience of gathering together in a darkened theater still matters.