Davide Fiore on A Little Fellow: The Legacy of A.P. Giannini, Founder of Bank of America

Davide Fiore is an Italian director, editor, and producer based in Los Angeles. Originally from Turin, he works in the audiovisual industry with clients including Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV+, VICE Media, and Ferrari. His portfolio includes documentaries, music videos, commercials, and short films.

Fiore’s latest achievement, the documentary “A Little Fellow: The Legacy of A.P. Giannini,” has earned significant recognition in the festival circuit. The film received the Audience Award for Documentary Feature at the Dances With Films Festival 2025, one of Los Angeles’ premier independent film festivals, and was previously honored with the Best International Docufilm Award at the Coliseum International Film Festival 2024 in Rome.

The documentary chronicles the remarkable life of Amadeo Peter Giannini, the Italian immigrant who founded what would become Bank of America. Giannini’s innovative approach revolutionized American banking by making financial services accessible to immigrants and working-class Americans, while his visionary investments helped finance iconic projects including the Golden Gate Bridge and early Hollywood productions by Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin.

1. Can you tell us about your background? How did you start working in film, and what brought you to the United States?

I started working in film back in 2013, in New York, on a short movie directed by Valentina Vincenzini, but I’ve always been in the entertainment world. I started in video production, doing car commercials, music videos, and fashion videos, right after studying Digital and Virtual Design at IED in Torino.

In 2014, I made my first short documentary. It was called “Just Us”, and it was about two DJs I used to work with, Nari & Milani.

Later on, my wife and I moved to Germany and lived there for three years. During that time, I was involved with the Miami Independent Film Festival, which had me traveling quite a bit. Eventually, a job opportunity came up for my wife in California. We decided to make our move because we both felt like relocating to California could be a real boost, not only for her career, but for my career as a filmmaker, too.

2. What led you to focus on the story of A.P. Giannini? Was there a personal or cultural connection that drew you to his legacy?

When I landed in San Francisco in 2017, I came across a plaque at the base of the Bank of America building. It said that the bank was originally called the Bank of Italy and was founded by an Italian-American immigrant named A.P. Giannini. I was so curious. I had to know more.

So I started looking. I searched for books, documentaries, movies—anything. I found a couple of books and started reading, and the story was just… incredible. Inspiring. I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about it before.

Besides a few books, nothing came up, no movie, no documentaries. And that’s when I thought: I’m a filmmaker. I just moved to California. I need a project to introduce myself to this new industry. So I decided to make this documentary.

3. “A Little Fellow” is a feature-length documentary that integrates archival materials, rare artifacts, animated collages, and motion graphics. It features both historical context and personal interviews, resulting in a layered storytelling approach and an intimate portrait of A.P. Giannini. How did you achieve this balance — both technically and narratively?

First of all, I started thinking about making a narrative movie about A.P. Giannini, and then I found myself in tons of research, archival, and people to meet, to create this story, because I want to know more. I felt that I needed to start small, and so I decided to start with a documentary. The first issue is the financial aspect, and the fact that you have to find money to make a documentary and make yourself known. Plus, I needed to find more archives, and in this case, old archives. That’s why I needed to do more motion graphics. First of all, it’s what I can do better; second of all, I was able to create something not boring and save money.

Making this movie took a lot of time, because the archives that we found in Washington we found them in New York. We found in different libraries in different archives. We had to deal with Bank of America as well and ask them for some archives that are in North Carolina.

I didn’t want to make a story that was too technical. I didn’t want a boring documentary. I wanted to make an entertaining and touching story. Giannini was a person ahead of his time, so I couldn’t use the music from his time. I couldn’t use the voice from his time. That’s why we have a female narrator; I wanted to have a fresh voice.

4. Did you use any form of AI—whether for animation, restoration, voice processing, or archival research—during the production of “A Little Fellow”? If so, how did it contribute to the film’s visual or narrative structure?

Since the film is in 4K and some of these photos date back to the 1800s, we used AI to clean them up. But, if I remember correctly, it was just for two pictures. The rest was done the good old-fashioned way: in Photoshop. I also used AI to create a radio speaker voice because it was nearly impossible to find usable recordings from that era. I was looking for something from the 1920s, but the surviving audio was too damaged to use. So, we generated a voice that sounded like it belonged to a radio speaker of the time.

5. Can you describe how “A Little Fellow” was financed? What role did grant funding, institutional support, and partnerships (such as with the Center for Independent Documentary or cultural institutions) play in bringing the project to life?

The funny story is that A Little Fellow was financed by Wall Street, without Wall Street even knowing it. Let me explain it. During the 2020 pandemic, my wife and I were worried about losing our jobs. So, we started doing some scalping—day trading—on the stock market. And that became our way of raising the initial money to finish the interview that we started with a crowdfunding campaign. We traded for three months, just enough to cover the basics we needed to film those interviews.

Luckily, after that, some investors came in to help us get through post-production. We also received a lot of support through donations. The most beautiful part? We’ve continued getting donations during the screenings. Our partnership with the Center for Independent Documentary has been instrumental in all of this. They’ve been with us since 2018, helping us raise money through Indiegogo, and direct donations.

6. What would you say to a young Italian creative who dreams of building a career in the United States? Are there lessons from your own journey that you think could be helpful?

Every life experience is unique. I believe people have to find their way through life—nobody can teach you what you’re going to go through.

The only thing I’d say for sure is: keep doing it. Whatever it is you’re doing, just keep going. Learn from your mistakes. Not everything will be positive, and that’s okay. You should make mistakes. It’s good to fall, and it’s good to start over. That’s how you grow. Sometimes you have to accept the change in direction to achieve your goals.

And if you’re Italian, you’re in an interesting position. You’re in a country that’s incredibly creative, but also incredibly tough. So that tension actually sharpens your creativity. It forces you to be more resourceful.

Now, when you come to the United States, yes, there are more opportunities. That’s true. But you’re also an immigrant. So you have to earn your place. You don’t start with a network, or with the knowledge and the cultural background Americans have. You have to build that from scratch.

That’s why I strongly believe you have to keep moving. Keep making connections. Keep engaging with people. Share your story. Keep talking—and just as important, listen. Listen to others.