Voted Best of Cincinnati!

Wow! Many many thanks to the 2009 brides who voted Studio+Z Films the best videographer in Cincinnati for 2010.  This is the People’s Choice of the wedding industry awards and it truly means so much to us. We cannot thank you enough for this HUGE honor and for giving us a great start to this new year! See the full list of the “Best of” vendors in the Spring/Summer issue of The Knot magazine.

2009 in the rearview

As 2009 comes to an end I wanted to look back and reflect on all the the personal and professional events that helped make it one of the best years of my life.

First the personal events.

Without question the single best event of 2009 for me was the birth of our second daughter, Sadie. She came into this world on June 3rd and has not stopped finding new and inventive ways of melting my heart. She’s smiling and rolling over and it won’t be long until she’s crawling. Of course she has seen the camera more than once and I’m working on putting together a film of her first year like I did with Mya. Nice segue to Mya here, she turned two years old in May and is going full steam ahead, no really, she doesn’t walk anywhere, she runs for no apparent reason but to get from point a to point b, really really quickly. We took her to Disney last January and to say she had the time of her life would be a ridiculous understatement. I bet we rode the flying Dumbo ride at least a dozen times and looking back at the smile on her face as if every time was the first time, I could’ve ridden it another dozen times. Those times were priceless! Every day she continues to make Reagan and I laugh at something silly she says or does but we’re also in complete awe of her desire to share and help out with her little sister. These are in fact the best days of my life and I’m certainly enjoying every minute of them. I’m looking forward to the days when Sadie and Mya are able to play together more and we’re able to do more things as a family. Certainly Mya and Sadie have the best mom in the world and I have the best wife. Reagan and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in September and she amazes me every day with her multi tasking abilities. No joke, she can hold both girls and still find a free hand to do something else. She’s been there when the girls are sick and she’s been there when I needed her too. I truly am the luckiest man in the world.

Now the professional.

2009 has been a head spinning year. So many great things have happened and I’m truly blessed for everything. It was a year of new beginnings as I changed the studio name. I went from Glass Eye Video to Studio+Z Films. This change was something I had been working on for a long long time. It took me forever to find a name I loved and once I did, I found a great designer in Renee, owner of Ribbons of Red, to help me bring it all to life. It was important to me to not just add ‘Films’ to Glass Eye, I wanted a whole name change as I felt the studio had gone through more of a rebirth than a name change. Renee helped create not just a logo and awesome site, but also a brand. That was something I never had and I couldn’t be happier with it.

I hired the super talented Josh Emerson this year. He is an amazing asset to our Studio+Z Films team and we couldn’t have accomplished what we did this year without him! We really fine tuned our Same Day Edit that help make so many weddings unique this year.

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to educate others when I presented at WEVA, Wedding & Event Videographers Association International, the worlds largest wedding videographer organization and at MIVA, Michigan’s professional Videographers Association and I have a few more speaking engagements lined up for 2010. I really enjoy public speaking and to have the opportunity to help other studios grow and achieve their goals is so rewarding.

Also at WEVA, I was incredibly honored to be awarded a Creative Excellence Award, its the Oscar or Golden Globe of our industry and to bring the first International Award for wedding filmmaking to our hometown of Cincinnati is indescribable.

One of the best moments of 2009 came when I opened the mailbox and found my copy of EventDV Magazine where there was a four page spread about my studio and the concept film I created that helped make this year the best year for me professionally. Our studio was also featured on Style Me Pretty, Rock n Roll Bride and two issues of Cincinnati Wedding Magazine.

Lastly, I just found out I was voted Best Videographer in Cincinnati by the The Knot magazine 2009/2010. What a huge honor!

Yes 2009 may be over, but 2010 is right around the corner with so many new opportunities and I’m incredibly fortunate for them all. I have a few things I’ll be unveiling soon, but I’m most looking forward to filming some of the most incredible weddings I’ve filmed so far, including quite a few destination weddings. I’m truly a blessed man and I couldn’t ask for more.

Megan + Jeff: Same Day Edit

I remember meeting Megan and Jeff several months ago to talk about their wedding at the Hall of Mirrors and bringing up the Same Day Edit and at the time, they weren’t sure it was something they wanted to do. I’m SO glad they changed their minds and from their emails, they’re equally glad! This is what Megan wrote in an email after the wedding, “Everyone was freaking out and telling me it was like an episode trailer for “The Hills” on MTV. You and Josh did such an amazing job. You are so talented and basically made the wedding night with the same day edit. Do you remember when we were considering not having it? I’m so glad we did!” As if that wasn’t sweet enough, Jeff sends this email, “I know Megan already thanked you but I wanted to personally let you know how much I appreciated everything you did for us this past weekend. The “Same Day Edit” blew my mind and was a very special moment for me at our wedding. You are a true artist when it comes to your work and I can tell you truly love what you do. The “SDE” was the talk of the party…” Emails like that make a bad day good and a good day even better!  I wanted to try something different here and really focus on the vows they had personally written to each other. I really hope you enjoy Megan and Jeff’s Same Day Edit which played during dinner at their reception!  Many thanks to Mr. Steve Lyons for the awesome reactions shots!

Planner: i-do weddings & events
Photography: Steve Lyons
Hair: Sam Hills
Make up: Nancy with Brideface
Florist: Kevin Ford

Ronald McDonald House

When I was approached to produce a film for the Ronald McDonald House, I had no idea of the journey this production would take me.   Prior to this, my knowledge of the Ronald McDonald House was minimal, I didn’t know its mission or the stories of those it has helped in the past 27 years.  It truly is an oasis of happiness for families going through one of the most difficult times one could ever go through.  It is a place of support, love, and friendship where families from all over the world live under one roof while their children are receiving life saving treatments right next door.     To see children who are receiving cancer treatments or organ transplants and all they want to do is be a kid and play with other children is indescribable and reminds me of how incredibly blessed I am.    I will be forever grateful to have had this opportunity and I know from this experience, I will continue to give back to such an amazing organization that has helped countless families through the years.   For more information on the Ronald McDonald House, please visit their website.  I hope you enjoy this film I created for them, which played at their annual gala this past Saturday night.

We ♥ Kortnee Kate!!!

Who doesn’t love a pumpkin patch?? And what could be better than spending a day in a patch with two of your best friends who just so happen to be two of the raddest photographers under the sun??!?! Well, the answer is clearly NOTHING!
A few weeks ago Reagan and I took Sadie and Mya to meet Kortnee and Ted and their son Micah at Berries & Blooms in Loveland for some pumpkin patch fun, with an extra added ingredient, mud. The days prior, it had rained and rained some more. Of course rain + farm = mess, but we had a blast with it all! The kids loved it, with the exception of Sadie, who wasn’t sure what was going on and why she was being placed in crate full of these cold orange objects (pumpkins) while some woman (kortnee) stood in front of her with this thing (her camera) while she made cute baby sounds. While this is going on, Ted and I are constantly refreshing the web on our phones to get the latest score of the Vikings/Packers game. The mud certainly made things interesting and its amazing how kids are magnets for that stuff. No matter how hard we tried, we simply couldn’t keep them clean!
Carmel Apples, a hay ride, picking your own pumpkin out of a patch with your family and friends, this was good day indeed. We truly love Kortnee and Ted and Micah too (as long as he quits hitting on Mya) :)
I wanted to share with you some of the awesome pics that Kortnee took that day. Here’s the link to her blog with more of goodness that was captured that day  Enjoy!

Kristin + Mark: Coming Attraction

It would be difficult to ask for a better day.  From the preparations at her uncle’s beautiful home to the reception at The Phoenix that evening, everything was under a stunning sky.   The weather was perfect, the leaves had just started to change, I swear Kristin and Mark have connections somewhere to get a day like that!  It was definitely a unique day too.  Kristin and Mark didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony, but were having their pre ceremony photos taken at the same time, in the same place, her uncle’s home.  They even wanted to ride to the ceremony together, but still didn’t want to see each other first.  I suggested they wear blindfolds and even sit next to each other in the limo bus.   They loved it and even added to it by bringing along some heart shaped glasses to wear on top of the blindfolds, just to be sure.   They had a blast with it all, and even though they sat next to each other on the bus, holding hands, they still never saw each other until she walked down the aisle!    The very talented Steve Lyons was there as well capturing each moment and was incredible to work with.  It was a perfect day for the start of their lives together.   I hope you enjoy their Coming Attraction Trailer!

Speaking in Michigan Next Week!

I’m incredibly honored to be invited to present at the MIVA (Michigan Independent Video Association) this coming Wednesday, November 4th.  My presentation will be on concept films and how they can transform your studio.  I’ll be covering how to get started, advanced techniques, storyboarding and scripting methods as well as marketing.  I love to inspire others as much as I’ve been inspired and I’m really looking forward to this.  Good times with great people and I’m sure there will be an after party including hops and barley.  You can find more information here.  I hope to see you there!

Erin + Adam: Coming Attraction

In a week of pouring rain, Erin and Adam somehow had one of the most beautiful days for a wedding.  This storybook wedding started in Hyde Park and wrapped up at the Taft Museum of Art where Erin and Adam’s closest friends and family members celebrated their new beginning.  Erin was so much fun!  She even asked where my Chucks were, hoping I’d wear them that day.  As if that wasn’t cool enough, she even was thinking of the sweet dress shot before I even arrived!  I knew then, this was going to be an incredible event.  I had the pleasure of working with the amazing Robert White for the first time and I’m certainly looking forward to the next time.  Erin and her bridesmaids couldn’t have looked better thanks to the artistic talents of Nancy at Brideface and the incomparable Jen Nally.  The always awesome DJ Toad made sure all the chairs were empty and the dance floor packed as their guests danced long into the night.  This is just a preview of their film and I hope you enjoy it!

Award Winner + Presenter: My experience at WEVA

Last week was one of the best weeks I’ve had in my life, certainly in my professional career. I attended the 19th annual WEVA Expo in Orlando. WEVA is the Wedding and Event Videographer’s Association. Every year they hold the largest conference where wedding filmmakers from all over the world come for inspiration, education, and to simply catch up with friends. This was my first experience with WEVA and I was honored twice by them. On Monday night they held the CEA awards. The Creative Excellence Award is the highest award offered in the wedding filmmaking world, it could be compared to the Golden Globe, Emmy, or maybe the Oscars in terms of what the award means to our industry. It was a very surreal moment when my name was called to come to the stage and accept an award. An incredible experience to say the least, I still can’t believe it. Fast forward to Thursday and I’m giving a presentation on Extreme Concept Films and how to use them to set yourself apart. In my five years in this business, I have certainly been inspired by some of the giants in the world and to have the opportunity to inspire others is nothing short of amazing. The hour flew by and it felt good to give back and to help others through education. I was introduced on stage by my good friend Ray Roman, which was a huge honor in itself. John Moon, an incredible filmmaker and friend  out of Indianapolis was in the front row with his wife Jen and my wife Reagan and he was awesome enough to take these pictures. What an amazing week it was, to inspire and be inspired in one place and then to bring the first WEVA International Award to Cincinnati is indescribable. I’m looking forward to next year to have the opportunity to inspire a new generation of filmmakers.

Shannon + John: The Same Day Edit

You simply could not have picked a better day for a wedding. Not only was the weather perfect, EVERYTHING was perfect. Shannon and John joined their lives in front of their closest friends and family and I’m incredibly honored to have been a part of it and to share their story with everyone. The energy was absolutely incredible and from getting to know them over the last couple of months I could really feel it escalate as their wedding got closer. Shannon and her bridesmaids were so awesome during preparations that morning, and John and his groomsmen were having the time of their lives starting with lunch at Behle Street Cafe, good good times! Dawn Dagenbach and her incredible team made the day flow with ease, and my rockstar photography friends Kortnee + Ted, were amazing to work with as always! After the ceremony the party kicked off at Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, which was absolutely stunning, the perfect location for a celebration. I was so excited when Shannon + John chose a Same Day Edit, they are always so much fun to produce and the reaction from the guests is always one of disbelief. They can’t believe they’re watching a highlight from that very day. They are taken on a journey and are able to see the preparations, the photo shoot, the ceremony and even parts of the reception that just happened a couple hours or minutes ago. This was no exception. Their guests loved it and I really hope you do too!

View on ExposureRoom

Check out this AWESOME reaction shot from Ted!