Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Leoni.
Hi Christopher, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Born in Miami, raised in Naples, forged in Parris Island. After serving four years in the Marines, I decided I wanted to pursue my dreams of acting in New York City. I didn’t have any family or friends in NYC so I took a leap of faith and moved, hoping to figure it out on the go.
I rented a room month to month from an elderly lady and started taking acting classes in hopes of auditioning and breaking into the industry. After about a year, I realized the process would be more difficult than I imagined and not having a network was a major issue. I decided to create my own content and see if this could be a different approach at breaking in. So, I flew back to Florida and shot a short film to test myself and see if I had what it took to make films myself. With the film, I applied to several films school and received a scholarship to SVA. I attended The School of Visual Arts and graduated in May of 2021. While I was there, I made it a personal goal to create a short film each year that could tell a compelling story and grow a diverse team. As soon as I graduated, I was recruited for Bravo’s hit reality TV show Summerhouse and have been involved ever since. Just last week, I was able to premiere my last two films from school at Regal Theatre in Union Square.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
From starting from scratch, with zero friends and family, to adapting to city life as a veteran. The road has been one obstacle after another. I come from a very low-income family, so naturally I came to NYC with just enough to pay rent for a month and get a job busing tables and running food. This made it hard to go out and try to socialize. Talk about being lonely in a city of 8 million people. Next was attending freshman class with 18-19-year-olds and being a 24-year-old veteran. The age gap made a big difference. Finally going into my junior year and finding my pace Covid hit and all the momentum started to dye out. My senior year was all virtual and I felt all the hard work I had done would never pay off since no one would see my thesis. I shot my Junior and senior thesis films back to back in my senior year.
What happened was I shot three days before covid of my Junior film, and then Covid hit and I wasn’t able to finish the film. Once I got back, I told my thesis advisor I had to finish what I started. I had promised myself I would have four films by the time I graduated and I owed it to the cast and crew to finish it too. So naturally, I was in a time crunch for my thesis film. By the time I finished shooting and editing my thesis film, it was 2021 and I was finally able to go back and start post-production on my Junior film but an opportunity came knocking on my door and I had to say yes. Finally, after finishing shooting Summerhouse, I was able to go back and finish my junior film. If I had had sufficient financial support, I would have had an editor finish the film earlier but three years after we started the film, I finally finished it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a visual director. I love to write and direct my own narrative films. Telling stories is so powerful and a duty I take very seriously. Since I bought my first camera, I started filming my friends and niching together clips to tell stories. It’s something I just did and never really thought about.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I love learning. My doors are always open to anyone who wants to collaborate or support. I can be reached by my Instagram account @chris_leoni or my website LeoniPictures.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leonipictures.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris_leoni/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leonipictures
