Today we’d like to introduce you to David Schaefer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After a crazy childhood of being sick with a heart defect spending time in hospitals and being bullied in school, I gained so much confidence and many life lessons later and experiences that helped me to survive and love and accept my journey the good and the bad we all experience as human beings. Life is not always perfect but we can make the best of every moment.
My entertainment journey started in 2008 after sending physical at that time demo CDs to management and record labels after a lot of submissions and nos I was demoralized. I saw an ad and thought ok let’s try one more time thank god that was my golden ticket that one email I send that day. I was invited by a well-known German music manager for a big pop band casting in Cologne Germany.
Long story short I was signed to a big major music record label with him as a manager and a collaboration with a Disney channel in Germany. I was gratefully touring had concerts in front of 20 000 people and my day was giving interviews and daily choreography training. I have to say I’m a better singer than a dancer.
After 1 year and 1 album and 2 singles, the project came to an end. After having a few temporary jobs in Switzerland I was lucky to find an opportunity as an international model. One model agent by the name of Christian I am still friends with today believed in me when others didn’t and send me to Greece, South Africa, Malaysia, China, Italy, and many other places.
To this day I’m very grateful for his support without him I most probably wouldn’t have traveled the world as an international model and shot men’s health covers and other great advertising campaigns and experienced so many different cultures and wonderful people. My world travels were full of ups and downs I was in wealthy countries and not-so-wealthy countries.
I remember after visiting townships in Cape Town South Africa I completely changed my outlook on life and started helping more others reach their potential which I’m doing more today with coaching next to acting music, modeling, and writing. I believe it’s all about giving back I love helping others reach their goals and potential.
After many years of traveling the world a special place in my heart will always have Los Angeles. I made so many good friends in the city of dreams. I remember going to big auditions while I have to say was living at the Hollywood blvd next to the Chinese theatre in a hostel because I haven’t had a place to stay and I was financially not ready for the city I realized in retrospect.
I mainly shot editorials and other work and life in New York before was also expensive. I have written a memoir which I release in 2023 I explain my complete journey. LA was a great experience I took the orange buses to castings and auditions and everyone thought I’m crazy that I don’t drive.
I haven’t had an international driver’s License so I had to take the buses everywhere. Sometimes I was lucky I got a ride from a model or actor’s friend from casting to another casting. I think LA is such an amazing city full of opportunities and people with interesting life stories. Most of the interesting people I met on those orange buses I took daily. I loved talking to people and meeting new people with interesting life stories.
After LA and Mexico, I ended up in London. I started acting with a small student film at a Londoner university next to my catering jobs and worked my way up slowly to feature films like a British ww1 movie called Eleven. To this day I’m super grateful for what London LA and other cities have given me and the people I have met. When we get older we somehow realize life is like a puzzle each piece is needed to complete for the puzzle.
Looking back to some great photo shoots, film shoots, music recordings, and other experiences I can one day tell my kids if find the right woman. 2023 I am planning to release my memoir which hopefully helps others to learn from my journey and hopefully avoid the mistakes I did in my 20s.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think I am super grateful for everything I experienced. I think maybe due to my sick childhood and the traumas we all have at some point I developed a very strong character and personality which sometimes wasn’t so welcome and sometimes people loved you for it. I always speak my mind and as much as I have a quiet side I am an extrovert and love being social.
The struggles I think were for example in modeling I was always too tall so I and my agent at that time had to work around this and find a strategy to explain to the clients I’m tall but I fit the clothes. In acting it was more my looks that made it a little difficult in the beginning because they thought I can’t act because I’m just a pretty face. I had to prove to myself in auditions that I can actually act and play the character truthfully.
It was sometimes hard to see other models and actors working while you haven’t booked a single job in 3-6 months. Sooner or later you accept this reality that often it’s business not personal. Obviously, as a model actor artist, you experience also financial struggles or have to deal with a lot of nos, and sometimes, especially when you are younger take it personally.
I served drinks for the most famous people in London and other places. You learn to accept that nothing happens overnight. It’s also not easy to almost book a huge job and be second or third. It’s a big part of the business and self-development to hear more nos than yes when it comes to modeling acting or music jobs. In the end, it’s all experiences good or bad you will learn.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am 15 years in the Entertainment Industry. Today I’m working also as a coach or you see me working for feature films, music productions modeling, and advertising campaigns. I love my job and some days I hate it but a wise well-known friend in Hollywood told me this is normal. We all have good and bad days. We are humans. We have feelings.
I am known for shooting the men’s health cover I was known for being one the 200 most famous people in Basel Switzerland. I was a member of a Disney pop band in Germany & worked as a dance singer under the name of David Deen for international DJs reaching more than 5.7 million views on YouTube with some collaborations I did.
I also worked and was cast in a gangster film and Uk Film production movie called Return Of The Don. I was cast in a ww1 movie called Eleven alongside top British actors. I have co-written and produced my short film called Into My Ears which I’m currently in the process of turning into a feature film.
It’s an action drama film and the topic is tinnitus which I’m also battling after getting hit mistakenly with a bottle of a film set. I had to go to the hospital and had stitches. Like I said I love my job but it can be also dangerous at times, especially since I did the stunt myself.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I learned is to never give up! A wise friend of mine in Hollywood said he wants to be anonymous. He said David always remember when you give up or leave your hard-earned position you worked for so many years. The next guy will take your spot if you give up. Know what he was trying to say I believe and learned from my own experiences you never know how close you are what you are looking for might be just around the corner.
Success is very unpredictable you work hard and hope people appreciate and love what you do but no one has a guaranteed formula for success. Also, another important lesson I learned is to forgive yourself and others for your mistakes. You are not the person you were 10 years ago. Keep moving forward Carpe Diem life is beautiful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/davidschaeferofficial
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialdavidschaefer/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/davidschaeferartist
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidschaefer23
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCv443DxAdO41anKpHs7zdng
- Other: https://youtu.be/G8UOfz4Qogg
Image Credits
Agnieszka Wormus (https://abrilliantphoto.com/)
