Triple Threat Filmmaker Ryan Walker has important advice about thriving in entertainment
Ryan Walker is an actor, entrepreneur and top social media expert in the entertainment space. He founded TSMA Consulting, a premier social media consultation and management firm in Los Angeles with a focus on entertainment. Ryan is also an avid traveler, with all of his adventures documented on his Instagram @iamryanwalker.
What made you move to LA and what got you started in the film biz?
I moved out at 18 because I heard there was a shortage of actors! Haha in all seriousness, I moved here with one of my very good friends after realizing Ohio was a little too slow moving for me. I had just finished my first (and really only) big modeling campaign in China and figured that was just enough to get me going in Hollywood.
Who would you say are your filmmaking/artistic influences are and how do you stay creative?
I really appreciate the work of Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo Del Toro, and anything with Tom Hanks. Of course, I also am inspired every day by social media creators like @tonimahfud, @doyoutravel, and @iamgalla. I try and stay creative through my photography and travel – I also believe there is a good amount of creativity involved in building a business, and it challenges me every day.
What’s been your favorite project to work on? And what can we see you in next?
My favorite was a small independent film I worked on that shot in the Philippines, called Stateside. This was before I had traveled much out of the country, and shooting in a foreign third-world location, providing work for the local economy in a fun and creative space, even further solidified that entertainment is where I want to be for the rest of my life.
I actually just had a fantastic podcast I was cast in release world-wide starring Laurence Fishburne and Patrick J. Adams called America 2.0. J.S. Mayank, the creator, is a dear friend of mine and it was such a pleasure to watch it balloon into such a successful project.
You do a lot outside acting such as running TSMA – How does that influence (pun intended) your acting career and how do you balance everything?
You caught me! Yes, my time has been pretty split lately between the business (TSMA Consulting) and my performing. I had a friend of mine recently ask me the same question, and I came to the result that right now, I feel the entertainment industry needs someone there to help bring it as a whole to the social media digital age. I have been so fortunate to have been given this platform to educate and inform the community of these changes, and I feel it is my obligation to put my energy toward this endeavor. For now.
So in short, the work is definitely pulling my focus away from acting, but I think it is for the overall and greater good of this industry I love so much.
How do you think TSMA could help other folks in entertainment?
We do everything we can to be accessible to all levels and types of performers. From our complimentary seminars at SAG-AFTRA, to our affordable one-on-one consults, to our full social media management program, there truly is a package for everyone. The biggest goal is to build a bridge between actors and social media influencers; meet in the middle and help recapture the work for the middle-class performer.
With that being said, if you are a creator, performer, influencer in-the-making reading this, please do reach out and we will be happy to get you on our guest list for the next seminar.
What’s your worst finding a location horror story?
Recently for a client, we needed an upscale working office space, during the day, during the week, with enough desks to fit a small team and a conference center. Finding this in LA for less than $10,000/day was a fool’s errand and we ended up shooting at a friend’s small office instead.
If you could choose anyone to play you in your biopic (apart from yourself), who would it be?
What a great question. In my teens, probably James Franco (although he is much older than me, so not sure how that would work), and if I could get him, I would be honored to have Tom Hanks play my older self. I’ve been told I have similar features to Penn Badgley, and he was super solid in “John Tucker Must Die” so…
Given that you’re knee deep in both the acting and social media world, if you could only choose one social media platform what would it be and why?
Instagram, bar none. It is a visual medium that encompasses everything from short-form to very long-form content. The amount of options you have on Instagram is incredible and the sheer numbers makes every action worthwhile to a viewer somewhere in the world. Right now there are over a billion monthly users of Instagram and I don’t see that changing in the next few years.
