Agent of Change

Ryan Tunick ’12 has one goal: to keep creating goals. It’s what’s kept him motivated. “If I set my mind to something, I know I can achieve it,” he says.

It’s a lesson he’s learned over time. A self-described “terrible student” in high school, Tunick says he missed deadlines, didn’t study much, and had a hard time finding something that inspired him.

He craved a creative outlet—which he eventually found by participating in theater productions—and he craved community.

Growing up in Chappaqua, New York, Tunick was one of the few openly gay teens at his high school. It wasn’t easy. As Tunick puts it, being 14 years old and out in 2004 was very different from being openly gay in 2025.

“I’m this loud, aggressive, very boisterous, opinionated human being. I’ve always been that way,” says Tunick. “[Being out] was hard, but I used it to fuel my passion for the arts.”

Today, Tunick uses that energy to inform his work at the Los Angeles–based talent agency Entertainment 360, where he helps guide the careers of clients such as Maika Monroe (Longlegs), Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), and Brian Jordan Alvarez (English Teacher). And his work has garnered attention—this past November, The Hollywood Reporter included Tunick as one of its “35 Rising Hollywood Executives Under 35.”

“I love [what I do]. There’s nothing like it. I get to have real creative control,” says Tunick. “Being part of something that’s so much bigger than me, even if I inject a little bit of change, is good. My stamp is somewhere in this big web of film and TV.”

How It Started

While Tunick wasn’t academically motivated in school, he found his creative opportunity through film and television. Movies such as Mars Attacks and The Matrix inspired him. He still remembers his mom showing him The Sound of Music, and how it moved him. Or, how he didn’t understand the hype around the Harry Potter books until the movies were released.

“TV and movies were a real escape for me,” he says.

At 16, he dreaded going to summer camp and made it his goal to avoid it at all costs. He did so, impressively, by landing an internship at a Manhattan talent agency instead. The work resonated with him: “I remember it was fun and [I remember] thinking, ‘I’m good at this. I’m gonna keep doing this until someone tells me I’m not [good anymore].’” So he kept at it and ended up interning at three different talent agencies before the age of 20.

Emerson, with its strong film, television, and theater programs, was a good fit for Tunick and his creative ambitions and he transferred to the College during his sophomore year. Tunick says he loves the friendships and relationships he built at Emerson, even though he was still a “terrible student,” doing the minimum amount of work to get by as a Theatre Studies major.

When he didn’t get a prized internship at CAA, it crushed him. But he had another goal in mind: move to LA.

Tunick participated in Emerson’s Los Angeles Program, which helped him find an internship at the talent agency WME. Madison Miller ’06, former human resources manager at WME, was instrumental in hiring him.

He tells stories about going above and beyond at WME, completing projects that might otherwise have taken several days in just one night. The hustle paid off. Before his internship even ended, he was offered a job. He completed his final semester in Boston (checking in with his contacts at WME weekly), graduated, and moved to LA.

To stand out as an assistant, he wore a bowtie every day, thinking it would help people recognize him. And he wasn’t afraid to show his personality.

“So many people have told me to be quiet, demure, to be… the version of Ryan they want me to be,” says Tunick. “I ignored it. That is not what film and TV is about. We are supposed to amplify different voices, amplify individuality. I got to do that [by] staying true to who I was, who I am.”

At WME, he worked in the talent department, soaking up lessons from each of his bosses, including the importance of finding a good work/ life balance. After three years, he moved over to Luber Roklin Entertainment, where he eventually rose through the ranks to become manager.

How It’s Going

For a kid who was once academically uninspired, Tunick is soaring today. “Now I do the maximum amount of work to get by,” he says.

As a manager at Entertainment 360 since 2017, he says his favorite part of the job is working with his clients and the ability to be creative. No two days are ever the same, he says.

And while his star has been on the rise since graduating from Emerson, Tunick says this is just the beginning. He wants to elevate his clients’ profiles and grow his career. And he hopes to continue uplifting diverse voices in film and television. He has personal goals, too. He just moved into a house with his partner; marriage and kids are on his mind.

Goal-setting has helped Tunick get to where he is, and he encourages others who are seeking change to do the same.

“If there’s something you want, figure out ways to get there,” Tunick says. “Once that goal is realized, set another. Then go out there and achieve it.”

Illustration by Nigel Buchanan