We were lucky to catch up with John Bevilacqua recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi John , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
That’s a slightly loaded question, as I believe there is a bit of craziness that helps push the purpose forward. That combination of madness and purpose allows me to continue to create. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I have spent many, many years writing scripts that simply sat in a pile or on a hard drive, and at a certain point you simply say “fuck it, I am making this now!” and that is how it all started. I wrote a play Love/Hate/Sex/Death that ran for 4 months at Gardner Stages in Hollywood and after spending so many months in a theater, it makes you a bit anxious- and I am already an anxious guy. The next project was a feature film set in Venice Beach, called Boardwalk Poets starring Daniel Baldwin. This was an amazing experience; crazy, fun, challenging and fraught with obstacles, but ultimately, a real fun ride. Then I made My Funny Valentine with Tom Payne and a documentary chronicling the homeless crisis in America, No Way Home: Homeless In America. My latest feature is Hollywood ’95, which is near and dear to me as it chronicles life in Hollywood in 1995; the good the bad and the ugly!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Perseverance, Perseverance, and lastly Perseverance. If you don’t continue to get back up, as wildly cliche as that sounds, you will always be down. And believe me, I have been down.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Ahhh the biggest improvement- that has to be to simply “be ok with things as they are.” I spent so much time in my life rallying against things I had absolutely no control over, that to simply be able to move on without question is a huge win. I wish I could have saved myself so much time when I was younger obsessing over the silliest of things. Be able to “move on.” That is a huge step forward in my life.
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photos: john bevilacqua
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