Sometimes, a person with a passion needs to create opportunities when none exist. David Bugliari ’97 has a passion for movies, but the career opportunities didn’t exist. Now, in 2026, Mr. Bugliari has spent a quarter-century as a talent manager, representing some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and Pingry honored him with its Achievement in the Arts Award.
In accepting the award, Mr. Bugliari acknowledged that he is not an artist. “I don’t paint. I don’t write screenplays. I don’t perform. But I find people who do those things, and I fight for them. I’ve spent my entire career in the service of other people’s art.” For that reason, he considers this award the highest compliment because it means that his work “is considered part of the same conversation.”
Presenting the award, his former Upper School English Teacher Tom Keating provided the big picture of Mr. Bugliari’s career. “He has been closely connected to some of the most significant films and creative projects in contemporary cinema, including The Hangover (2009; the most successful R-rated comedy of all time), American Sniper (2014; six Academy Award nominations and director Clint Eastwood’s highest-grossing movie), and Maestro (2023; seven Academy Award nominations). Taken together, these works reflect both the scale and cultural impact of the projects and talent Mr. Bugliari has helped guide throughout his remarkable career.” Mr. Keating went further, listing some of the character traits that contribute to Mr. Bugliari’s success (courtesy of his friends and classmates): connects people, listens, befriends, acts sensitively, maintains a cool head, looks out for others, solves problems.
Well, years ago, Mr. Bugliari had a major problem to solve, for himself: at Pingry and Hamilton College, he had no idea what he wanted for his career. However, he did have a passion for storytelling (and its impact) that could be traced to three sources: his parents’ stories; many late nights watching all types of movies with his father, Miller Bugliari ’52—each of which taught him something about storytelling, such as comedic timing, tension, or rooting for a character you shouldn’t like; and watching Saturday Night Live. During his four years of college (1997–2001), he “became consumed by film”, and his parents suggested that he also read about the movie business.
“This obsession was pointing me very clearly toward a career in Hollywood,” Mr. Bugliari said. But now he had another problem to solve: CAA (Creative Artists Agency), the world’s largest talent agency, which he had been reading about, was not hiring—“or so they said.” He secured an informational interview, but at the end of his visit, “I wasn’t ready to be shown to the door. I paused as I was walking out, turned around, and said to the lady in HR, ‘I’ve been saving up some cash…so you don’t need to pay me, but I’m going to work here, and I’m going to start by keeping the bathrooms and the lobby tidy.’” She stared at him and finally said, “We’re going to find you a job here.” CAA hired him as an assistant. “I was so excited by the idea that a script I was photocopying today could be in a movie theater a year from now.”
And then another problem to solve: because of a work strike, no overtime was allowed, so no assistants could be at their desks before 8:00 each morning—but the agents came to work early. How could he also be there early? He manufactured the access: every morning at 5:30, Mr. Bugliari stopped by the CAA mailroom, gathered various publications, and went across the street to sit at a table in Starbucks, where the agents waited for their coffee.
“There’s a version of that table available for all of you,” Mr. Bugliari told the students. “You don’t need connections—you need to know more, care more, and prepare more than anyone else in the room. Find your table, and sit at it every day. Someone will eventually notice.”
After a year as an assistant, CAA assigned him to the mailroom. Every day, he arrived before and went home after all of his competitors, completing every task as if it was the most important thing he had ever been asked to do. The mailroom also gave him access to CAA clients, who received scripts and other items by hand delivery to their homes. “I never thought the work was beneath me because it was all part of the education,” Mr. Bugliari said.
He would end up spending 20 years as CAA, from working in the mailroom to co-running their Motion Picture Talent Department.
In August 2020, Mr. Bugliari and some colleagues wanted to build something of their own and co-founded Range Media Partners, the world’s fastest-growing management company, where he continues to represent actors such as Bradley Cooper, Halle Berry, Vince Vaughn, Gabrielle Union, Shane Gillis, and Monica Barbaro. Range is a next-generation entertainment firm known for its strategic, tech-forward approach to representing actors, directors, writers, musicians, digital creators, culinary talent, and athletes.
When the odds and people’s advice seem to be against you, “Bet on yourself, even when it’s scary—especially when it’s scary,” Mr. Bugliari said. And in the spirit of the award that brought him back to Pingry, he told the students, “Not every person who loves art is meant to make art. Some of you will champion the people who do…that’s not a consolation prize. That’s a calling.”
Pictured: Upper School English Teacher Tom Keating, David Bugliari ’97, and Head of School Tim Lear
Contact: Greg Waxberg ’96, Assistant Director of Communications, Writer/Editor