“There were countless days that I felt like I couldn’t go on.” Actor and producer David Bianchi shares his life with Felix Magazine. “I lived in an apartment with cockroaches the size of my thumb, gun shots outside my window. That was my world…” Then something happened in Bianchi’s life that can only be explained as a blessing. He said, “By the grace of God, I found Soldier or maybe Soldier found me…” No blessing comes without tribulation and hardship; David Bianchi knows that all too well.
After graduating from Arizona State, Bianchi decided to take the entertainment industry by storm—or so he thought. “It hasn’t been easy.” Bianchi explored the industry, only to find a pathway the size of a mouse hole. Throughout his struggles, he found an outlet to his frustration, reciting his own poetry at local pubs. By experiencing this critical process, he understood what he wanted to be: “I wanted to be an actor, but I didn’t want to be a pretty boy with a headshot.”
Mentors like Marshall W. Mason, four-time Tony winner for best director, inspired Bianchi to search outside the normal process of acting, directing and producing by trying something experimental and new. Thus came Soldier, an experimental-indie short-film that captured audiences at numerous festivals, and later won a multitude of festivals in the wake of its release.
These festival awards single-handedly reassured Bianchi that his future was in entertainment, thus giving birth to his producing company, Exertion Films. Producing small feature films like Outspoken and Soldier, Exertion Films is about the experience and message of the film. “I quote Daniel Pico, ‘Independent film making is not about what kind of toys you got, it is about what you are saying and how you are saying it’…” Bianchi hopes to see Exertion Films produce two feature films per year with budgets ranging $1-10 million.
After the success of Soldier, Bianchi realized what Hollywood was all about: You have to fight for the opportunity. “It’s not about me pulling on someone’s coattails, seeing if they will let me in the door…it is about building your own doors…after trial and error, you will become a craftsman and continue to do what you love to do, and hopefully you get recognized for [your] good work.”
Bianchi’s recent achievements in Hollywood has allowed him to embark on what he says is one of the greatest and most memorable journeys in his life, a visit to Rio’s Corcovado Mountain. “I truly felt God there…” As he journeyed to the Statue of Christ, Bianchi thought about his family and ancestors, the people he has let down and those he cannot let down. The remembrance of the once-in-a-lifetime experience brought him to tears: “I am starting to get emotional right now just thinking about that experience…there are so many people, whether I know it or not, depending on me and rooting for me to make this dream of mine happen. To do it the right way and hopefully discipline myself to thrive and continue to do it…and not allow the distractions in life [to] get in the way from me or anyone to show up.” As Burt Young once told Bianchi: “Kid, just keep showing up,” a rule Bianchi follows to this day.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Michael Fields
