me @ work

I had a great time shooting the play. It was awesome to see so many people volunteer and dedicate their time for this production. I would like to thank my buddy Bruce Mandel for helping me shoot this play.

Here are some pics of me shooting at the dress rehearsal.

The Best Story Ever Told:

Easter is one of my favorite holidays….though I never quite understood what the Easter Bunny had to do with it??!! This year I will be filming our church’s Passion Play. If you get a chance to come and watch it, you will enjoy the drama and music. You will see the life of Jesus unfold before you. To get a sneak preview, check out the trailer from the dress rehearsal.

Click here for info and show time

Batter Up!!!

Once in a while it is a good break producing something other then wedding films. I was asked to produce this promo clip for David, who is a talented baseball player. Not only does he have skills on the pitching mound but he also has a GPA of 4.0. WOW!!! When David makes it to the BIG league, I can say I knew him when... :-)

Kristen & Emmanuel

were married at St Hugo...but wait that's not all!!! They will do it again in France in April for Emmanuel's family. The reception was at Oakhurst Golf Club and it was wonderfuly decorated with crystals, snow flakes, blue lighting, and lots of candles by Corri of the Corri Design Group & Events.

We met a new photographer, Mary Potts. She was great to work with. Also worked with TwoFoot Creative for the first time. Ana was on her toes all day coordinating the event.

What is Re:Frame?

Since last October I’ve been working hard on a project with 5 other Top Notched studios in North America. Our goal is to raise the bar in event filmmaking thru inspiration, training, and sharing. It is a huge goal to undertake but we all love what we do and we all have a passion to move the industry forward. Here is an article from Event DV magazine that was published today about Re:Frame.

This coming October, this group will be putting on a workshop/seminar in New Orleans. I’m just so EXCITED to be a part of this.

Re:Frame

Ok, the wait is now over!!!

Re:Frame is now LIVE!!!

If you are an event filmmaker, you really need to check it out.

Lisa & Brad

Being an event filmmaker is pretty cool!!! I get to meet a lot of different people and visit a lot of cool places thru the years. Every event is unique and special but once in a while I get a mushy feeling on an event. How & why I get this feeling I don’t know. Maybe it is from observing the couple’s interaction with each other, the way they talk about each other, the way they look at each other. I can’t really pin it. But I get a feeling in my gut that says…”WOW, these two are going to make it. They are going to have a good life together. They will be blessed.”

One such event is Lisa & Brad’s. I would like share a portion of their wedding movie. The wedding was in Flint and the interview was in Chicago.

A note from Lisa's mom:
No WONDER YOU'RE THE BEST! Oh my word!!!!!!!!!!!! That is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see it!!!!!!

Beth

Pics and Awards from Video 08 in Orlando

I finally got the pics from the 4 EverGroup to share.

Flying to Orlando

Joanne waiting for her nails to dry

Award for Post Ceremony

Award for Event DV Top 25

Award for Ceremony

Award for Complete Wedding

Award for Reception

Truely an international event - Lee from Greece, Jason from Philippines, Chris from Texas (that's a country down south...right?)

get ready to ReFrame

If you are a videographer, then you need to check out ReFrame! I'm part of a team of extremely talented videographers coming together to create something really cool. I can't tell you much about it right now but stay tune for a BIG announcement. Make sure you sign up for the Reframe Newsletter once you visit reframe08.com.

Time to ReFrame? from ReFrame Collective on Vimeo.

Hottest and Most Influential Videographers on the Planet

WOW…what a week! I am on an airplane heading back from Orlando after attending an international video conference. Not looking forward to the cold weather. The pilot just informed us that the temperature is currently at 14F in Detroit. Ughhh! Monday night was the Artistic Achievement Awards banquet which also includes the announcement of the Event DV Magazine 25 Hottest and Most Influential Videographers in the World. This year’s list is amazing! The names on the list are some of the Best and most Respected in the industry. So when my name was announced as one of the 25, I was so honored and felt extremely blessed as I walked on the stage to receive the award. Event DV Magazine gave out baseball cards with the members on it. This is a mine.

In addition to Event DV 25, I won 5 Artistic Achievement Awards on Monday night for ceremony, post ceremony, reception, complete wedding, and concept video. The awards are for the international competition I have entered. More too come on this in a later post.

I will post some pics soon.

an Opening

A while back I posted a recap of Mona and Steven wedding day. Now I want to share the opening to their movie. This clip was influenced by the many Chinese kungfu and love story movies I use to watch when I was in colledge. Those movies were very long! Some of them lasted over 72 hours. I would missed class sometimes cause I was hooked on them.

on the knot

One of our couple is featured on the current Knot Spring/Summer 08 issue. Congrats Susie & Frank!!! I am not an advertiser on the Knot so I didn't get listed in the article. :-(

Here is a short clip of their day.

Happy New Year

2007 has been a great year! It was filled with challenges, joy, and pain. I have reached all of the goals I set for myself and more. So here is a short recap:

• Invited to present at a video conference in Florida
• Won 3 international video awards from WEVA & 4Ever Group
• Joanne broke her leg and I was Mr. Mom for 4 months
• Launched new website
• Created new business card
• Went to New Orleans for the first time
• Got my dream home theater completed
• Made alot of new friends in the video world
• Made alot of new friends in the photography world
• Started a dinner group for local videographers
• Refined the Blog
• Started the use of Super8 film

2008 will be even better!!! I have got so much in line this coming year so stay tune for the announcments.

Happy New Year !!!

my kids...Nicholas & Serena

My two little ones were part of their school talent show. I was really proud as I was filming them on stage. I hope that you will find the words meaningful and profound..."Jesus Paid It All"!

Huiwen & Daniel

were married in Walled Lake and had their reception at Brentwood Country Club. We worked with Ray Anthony, who was the photographer for the event. This particular wedding was special to us as the couple was from our church, Faith Baptist. It was nice to see familar faces as Pastor Woody was the officiant for the ceremony and Mark Kerr played the piano. Huiwen's parents and sister came all the way from China to attend the celebration! Daniel's family had a special bond and his dad was his best man....how cool is that! You could see the love and joy on Huiwen and Daniel's faces all day.

Danielle & Augustus

were married at St. Joseph's Church in Downtown Detroit and had their reception at the Detroit Athletic Club. The day was sunny and windy which made shooting outside a little challenging but we were able to get some great shoots in the alley. Jessica Johnston and Nathan were the photographers of the day and we had a great time working with them. I'll post some of Jessica's pics below once they are available.

While creating this trailer I had two songs in mind...one was fast and the other slow. I couldn't make up my mind which one to use so a made two trailers. Have a look and tell me which one you like better in the comment section.

HERE IS THE SLOW ONE

HERE IS THE FAST ONE

November 8, 1991 was the Best Day Ever

Why? Because that was the day I married Joanne. Yesterday was our 16th wedding anniversary. We dated for 6 years before getting married so that is a total of 22 years being with each other. Do you know what’s cool, after all these years I still get excited seeing her every day just like when we were dating. Yes I'm a blessed man. Yesterday we went to our favorite restaurant, The Tribute, to celebrate.

I have shown numerous wedding videos on the web but this one is special. Its mine! This is from a VHS tape so the quality is not too good. Digital video was not around in 1991. My kids love watching it! To me and my family this video is priceless! Now don’t laugh too hard when you watch it.

I Love You Joanne!!!

Emerald City Designs

We were invited to the Grand Opening of Emerald City Designs new location yesterday. One word...WOW!!! That place was amazing! The show room was packed with beautiful table setups and the offices were really cool. David Mcknight is a great designer. I've done many events where David and his crew decorated the reception hall and they never fail to impress me with their creativity.

At the party we ran into Cheridy from Arising Images. She is expecting in 3 weeks and we are praying for her and her soon to come baby.

Here are some pics:

Cheridy and her belly :)


David McKnight

New Orleans meeting

I met up with some of the best wedding film makers in the world in New Orleans for three days. Not only did I have a good time partying with those guys but we had 2 long days of discussions on what we can do to better the wedding video industry. More to come on this in 2008.

Here are some pics of the gang:

From the left: Kristen* - Bliss* Video Productions, me, Julie Hill – Elysium Productions

From the left: me, Terry Taravella – Studio Vieux Carre, Chris Jones - Mason Jar Films

From the left: Joe Taravella - Studio Vieux Carre, Alex Hill – Elysium Productions, me, Victor Sizemore (cool photographer) – VCS Photography

Bruce Patterson – Cloud Nine Creative

Mona in Flash

I've posted this before in windows media format but I think it looks so much better in flash.