Black & Gold Dispatches from the North: Rylan Fischer

Welcome to a new occasional series we’re launching to highlight some of the incredible people and stories that make our little Pittsburgh outpost what it is. The hope is to surface a bit more of the character of our group and begin to tell some individual stories in advance of our 30th anniversary next year. 

We’re kicking the whole thing off by chatting a bit with Colten Gottlob and Rylan Fischer, co-founders of Triple Crown Studios and huge fans of all things black and gold. They’ve volunteered to stand up the first ever Yinz in Boston photo booth for this Sunday’s Steelers Ravens watch party at Warehouse and we can’t wait to see what they have in store.

Hey Rylan — Appreciate you stepping up to be our first interview. We’re excited to learn a bit about your ties to Pittsburgh, your journey to Boston, and your plans for the photo booth at this weekend’s watch party. Let's start with the basics. How did you become a fan of the black and gold?

Well, my entire mom's side is from Pittsburgh. My mom, as well as my grandparents, all grew up in Sewickley. I mostly get it from my grandad though. He used to work for the ad agency that did all of the Pirates' ads, and he was in charge of directing them. He got to know some of the guys fairly well, including Willie Stargell and Doc Ellis. My great grandfather was the editor of the Post-Gazette, and was the one who ended up hiring an intern named Myron Cope.

My great grandfather was the editor of the Post-Gazette, and was the one who ended up hiring an intern named Myron Cope.

Rylan's grandad taking him to his first Pirates game

Ever since I was a little kid, my grandad got me into Pirate's baseball. I have an extensive Pirates baseball card collection from when I was younger. As I got older, I fell out of watching sports until I got to college, when I decided to get into hockey. Naturally, I started watching the Penguins casually until I randomly mentioned them at a crew meeting for a film I was working on. That's where I met Colten, who asked if I was a Pittsburgh fan. The rest was history from then, and we try to watch every single Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates game we can. 

Rylan Fischer (right) and Colten Gottlob at Fenway Park to watch Pirates vs Red Sox in August 2025

Wow, that is incredible! You're basically Pittsburgh media royalty. I'll bet your grandad has some incredible stories from his time working with Buccos. Those 1970s Pirates squads had so many great characters and the kind of on the field success that I'm not sure we'll ever see again in Pittsburgh. It sounds like you didn't grow up in Pittsburgh? Where were you raised and how does that shape your relationship with Pittsburgh sports today?

I was born in Denver originally, but I moved to northern Connecticut when I was about eight months old. Growing up around Patriots fans in the midst of the Brady dynasty was a pretty interesting thing to experience. I hadn't met another Pittsburgh fan until last year (apart from people in my family), so it was something that I considered pretty personal to me, and still do to this day. With my grandparents living down in Florida, and the rest of my extended family living in Pittsburgh, it gives me a connection to them despite the distance. 

Really well said, Rylan. And I couldn't agree more. Bringing people together to foster and share in that connection to Pittsburgh is probably the most fulfilling part of helping run Yinz in Boston. There's also something uniquely cool about cheering for the black and gold outside the home market. Though, as you noted it can be challenging when the local teams win as often as Boston has this century! 

So we've heard a bit about how you became a fan of the black and gold and where you come from. Tell us a bit about how you wound up in Boston and what you're doing here?

I came to Boston to attend Emerson College. It’s a liberal arts school that focuses on filmmaking, theater, journalism, communications, and other creative fields. I’m part of the school’s interdisciplinary studies program. The major allows me to combine multiple parts of the school to create my own major, so I’m combining film and creative writing. My goal is to become a screenwriter and director of my own films. Film is something I’ve been super passionate about for a long time, and I love creating stories for a visual medium. I have a short film coming out soon that Colten worked on called “Cronus,” and I have some exciting projects lined up in the future that will be a part of Triple Crown Studios. 

In addition to filmmaking, I’ve been making it to as many Pittsburgh sports games as I can with Colten, and we’ve even popped up on the broadcast a few times.

Your storytelling skills were apparent from very early on in this interview, so color me not entirely surprised to learn you're pursuing a career that involves writing. That is really neat though that Emerson allows you to combine that with film. I have to imagine that intersection lends itself to a lot of cool job opportunities. 

That's actually a great segue to talking a bit about the photo booth that you and Colten are putting together for the Steelers Ravens game on Sunday. Are you able to create a story around something like that or is the focus there more on the technical side of composing photographs? What can attendees expect when they sign up for a photo?

And one more thing -  keep us posted on the Cronus release! We'd love to help promote it if we can.

It’s definitely more of a technical thing, but whenever you craft an experience there’s a story there. Yinz in Boston has been a really great community to be a part of, and the photo booth is going to be a really great way to showcase what that community looks like. When someone signs up for a photo from us, it’s going to be a celebration of the group. We have all sorts of Steelers props, and fun accessories for everyone to use for the pictures, and on top of that, they’ll get to take a piece of the event home with some Polaroid photos too that they can decorate with the Steelers black and gold. It’s going to be our way of showing what the group is all about, and how amazing of an experience it is for Steelers fans who are used to Patriots fans yapping off about their squad.

Yinz in Boston has been a really great community to be a part of, and the photo booth is going to be a really great way to showcase what that community looks like.

That sounds incredible. I can't wait to see how the photo booth turns out! A huge thanks to both you and Colten for volunteering your time to get this idea off the ground. 

It's been a real pleasure chatting a bit and learning about your ties to Pittsburgh and the journey that led you to Yinz in Boston. Let's do this again in a few years after you've made it big in Hollywood!

If you're interested in learning more about Rylan's film journey, give him a follow on Instagram or YouTube.

Check back on Saturday for our interview with the other half of Triple Crown Studios, Colten Gottlob.