Daily Inspiration: Meet David Anyanwu

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Anyanwu.

Hi David, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I think any story starts with moments that bring you to the deciding moment in picking up a profession or a camera in my case and make something out of it. I do remember the first moment. Originally from Sweden with Nigerian parents, I spent my last years of high school in an international boarding school. The guys in the hostel always played the new music videos in the loft, at that point “rack city” the remix was the hottest on the billboard. We watched the music video over and over again. There was a particular moment in that video where it moved me, made me feel something I never or rarely felt before a feeling I couldn’t pin down with words. Nevertheless, the feeling always lingered, and fast forward three years later I decided to serve an LDS mission and was called to Kobe, Japan. My first area was Himeji, and we had a district leader, Elder Childs who I looked up to a lot.

After my mission I followed Elder Childs on Instagram and little did I know he was a photographer and a good for that. ALL of his pictures spoke to me and made me feel that exact feeling I had watching that music video. I was moved. I asked him all kinds of questions, what he used to take this and that photo, how do you get this angle, etc. Eventually, I asked him what camera I should get. Obviously, I wanted the same camera he had to create similar if not identical content, at least that’s how I thought it worked. I started with a canon and did a lot of wedding photography due to that I lived in Utah, I always dabbled in videos trying to figure it out while attending the best school on the planet, YouTube. Eventually, I came to a point where I told myself I wanted to take it to the next level, so I bought a Sony, the exact same camera Elder Childs had, and started my journey. Obviously, my first actual video I ever made was a music video and not only did I have the same unexplainable feeling, but I made others feel it as well. Honestly, just that became a drug and I have been hooked since not planning to sober up anytime soon.

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 did a lot of wedding videos and worked for a great company Edge a pest control company doing videos and marketing. A man named John Bills thought me a lot about editing, shooting, and the theory of filmmaking. Couldn’t have asked for a better mentor in that area. Because of him, I was able to create my own system and style that has been the foundation in all that I do even today. It was at Edge I learned what my true purpose was, it was not to be behind the camera but to uplift and give other opportunities with the skill that I have.

Since then, I have tried to fulfill that purpose with trial and error of course. I worked with artists doing free content for them, you can find a series of videos at @Blueberryartsy. I worked with upcoming companies and people that I thought I could help. Nevertheless, after working at a horrible job doing videos, I partnered up with my good friend Jerome going from business to business just trying to make a living. Jerome had an incredible eye and both of us quit our jobs to do this full-time. We made it work and had a lot of people aligned for the summer but then COVID-19 hit and all that we had worked for was in the drain. Doing full-time school, videos, and being in a relationship I shouldn’t have been in was emotionally and physically draining. I came to a point where I couldn’t even pay my Netflix payment. At this point, I was dragging myself and the only thing that got me going was the feeling videos made me feel.

One day, I was laying in my bed my friend Ismael and a person I see as a mentor called me up and asked what I was doing. He suggested that I move down to AZ helping him out with videos for his now incredible growing company Zebra cleaning. He said he could refer me to other businesses. I was hesitant leaving Jerome and an eight month relationship. I told my girlfriend that I was thinking about it and she lashed out in the lack of better words knowing that she didn’t support it. Jerome told me that I should do what I need to do. That’s what I did. Left everything I had built for three years to a whole new world during a pandemic crisis in the hope of something greater. The business was slow if nothing at first. From a full basement to living with three Mexicans in one room I started to hustle. Ismael helped me along the way as much as he could. I almost quit and wanted to go back, I actually told myself if this meeting with this person doesn’t go through, I’m leaving. The meeting went well and from there everything went up.

The business actually went really well, I learned how to be more business-minded due to Ismael as he shows me how his Zebra cleaning company is growing in an unpresidential fashion. I surrounded myself and created relationships with people that actually believed in me. Since I have been here in AZ my skill within videography has improved, always seeking to be the best. However, it has helped me to fulfill my purpose and keeps doing so. I’m not living form “gig to gig” I do projects where we build and create not only videos but opportunities for those that don’t have it because Lord knows I didn’t. My first clients here in AZ are not only clients, but I consider them friends and family because they believed in me as I in them so that I could do so with others.

The same feeling, I had to watch that music video I have every day, happiness the thing that fills your soul. It’s the art of learning how to be independently happy which is great and having friends that are so too or even romantic relationships are even greater. Yeah, I’m really good at creating videos. Will I be a videographer forever? First of all, I’m not a videographer, I’m just a guy with a camera trying to be happy and do so for others and that’s my purpose and who I’m. In what shape or form that will be in I don’t know.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work with multiple trainers, women in the beauty industry such as Jay Hernandez and Angela AKA Minty, restaurants, online courses for multiple industries, and the list goes on. The business has gone that well that I decided to invest my money in building a farm and create jobs and opportunities in Nigeria. We bought four acres and started to build. Now that business is about to be up and running and plans of expanding end of this years. My friend Ismael saw potential and had faith in me that he wanted to create a media/consulting business that we have set up in building up brands with content and strategy. The business is called Girafixx Marketing @giraffixx.marketing. More projects like this have popped up and it’s so much bigger than videos and me.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that people are more about action than talking because that’s where I’m at with my life. Honestly there is nothing thus far I don’t like about this city yet.

Pricing:

• $400 (1 min video)
• $1000 (3min video)

Contact Info:

• Email: 93Dava@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ani_shoots/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.tupacsson/

Image Credits
Jake Lewis @travelinjshots