Make Better Wedding Films

Entering the luxury market is both an elusive and enticing goal for many filmmakers, but the road to get there involves unlearning a lot of what we’ve known to be true in our careers so far. On today’s show, Taylor and Kelly from the Level Up Co are popping the hood on the luxury wedding film market and sharing their secrets on how to build the business of your dreams. Liked this episde? Then jump...

You, my friend are a beautiful, wonderful artist. A pure creative at heart. But you’re also a business owner and often those two modes of operating can so often get confused and get in the way of one another, so on today’s show, I’m talking with Daren Smith on the concept of cultivating a creative business mindset and how we can build the systems that support that.  Download a free copy of Daren's...

2023 as seen a flood of interest around the advancements and capabilities of A.I. technology, and things seem to be changing by the day. In fact, mere hours after this interview was recorded, news dropped about a Premiere Pro plugin that could do some of the things we were speculating about in this discussion. On today’s show Narrative CEO and founder James Broadbent and I sit down to discuss the...

The longer you’re in this line of work, the business of capturing people and moments on camera, the more you realise that the craft is more in the people than in the camera. Connecting with, empathising with and falling in love with your subjects is the only way to truly make work that resonates and stands the test of time. On today’s show, I’m sitting down with Andrea and Eugene from The Drakes t...

The more we develop our careers, our techniques, our craft, it’s easy to focus on flashy visuals and cinematography and loose sight of the real reason people are willing to spend their hard earned money on a wedding film. On today’s show, Riccardo Fasoli shares his wisdom on creative expression, staying authentic to ourselves and reminds us of an important perspective that is all too often forgott...

Another year, another season of the MBWF podcast! This year I’ve got the Aussie duo we all know and love @bottlebrush films joining me back on the airwaves on a regular basis and we’re kicking off the year with a bit of reflection, some predictions and some hopes for what wedding films might look like in 2023 and beyond. List of filmmakers mentioned in today's show: Henry Martens, House on the Clo...

As 2022 comes to a close, we come to the end of another season of the show. Last year I ended with Bottlebrush, and this year I’m ending Season 3 with another pair of Aussie legends, “Lovers + Legends” to be precise! Steph & Elliot are a husband + wife, photo + video duo from Brisbane Australia who have an amazing energy to their films and who balance the roles of photo + video creation seamle...

Polished, elegant and consistent are words I would use to describe the work of Deanna and Grant aka Harrison Films and today’s episode is an absolute masterclass in what it takes to create a high end product. Attention to detail is key and in my discussion with them I was blown away at just how much care and thought goes into every step of the process. From location scouting, to colour grading the...

The film look is something digital filmmakers have been trying to emulate for years and back in 2012, a small company in New Zealand set out to achieve that goal. A decade later, Filmconvert is the arguably the most accurate and sophisticated film emulation software on the market. On Today’s show I’m sitting down with Filmconvert’s Henessey Griffiths to discuss the science and the magic of digital...

For the first time in a LONG time, I'm sitting across the table, in the flesh with today's guests; Jesse Peters from Jesse & Jessie and Zac from Flatroc Films. On today's show, my fellow kiwis and I are cracking a beer and looking back at the crazy season that was and what we can learn from the situations we found ourselves in. We talk about burn out, parent life, work life balance, back end s...

Sometimes, the thing that starts out as helpful support, can turn into overwhelming noise… Echo chambers, unhelpful advice and toxic opinions can start to weigh on our confidence as creatives and as business owners. On today’s show, I’m sitting down with Kaleb and Elaine from KEJ productions to hear their perspective on when to listen, when to stand up for yourself and when to block out the noise....

“Sound is half your story” is a mantra that I think I’ll always bring up on the podcast, I think it’s something as filmmakers we can keep coming back to and exploring, experimenting and educating ourselves in. On today’s show, I’m talking with Boomer and Sarah from Multiply Media about the marriage between music and sound design, how to tell stories with music, how to evoke memories with sound and...

How you open your film, sets the stage for the viewers experience as a whole. It’s a chance to put the most important elements to the couple front and centre, to make them feel like this film was made for them and no-one else. On today’s show, I’m talking with Andrea and Aaron from By The Millers about how they developed their storytelling style, how they make each film unique to their couples and...

Husband and Wife duo The Augusts are a photo + video powerhouse who started their business at the start of the pandemic. On todays show, I’m chatting with them about their uniquely elegant and emotive filmmaking style and how they have developed a synergistic workflow together that allows Rebekah to capture photos and Jonah to capture video, each in the best way possible. Make sure to follow them...

Directing couples can often be a daunting task for videographers. So often we start our journey with wedding filmmaking by just shadowing the photographer, not knowing how and where to step in and add value. On today’s show I’m talking to Tina Phillips from Bel Zev Films about the importance of instilling confidence in your couples, how to work with rather than against the photographer on a photo...

I’ve spoken before about how the cornerstone of storytelling is conflict, but as wedding filmmakers, it’s not immediately obvious how we should implement conflict in a representation of the happiest day of someones life. Today, I’m sitting down with Aaron Daniel Films to learn more about his unique approach to wedding filmmaking, from world-building his brand, to writing books for his couples, to...

Music is as much a part of our films as the footage and audio we capture on the day, but the skill of curating, pairing and manipulating music is often one that’s overlooked. On today’s show, I’m sitting down wth DJ and musician Thomas Rose to discuss some of the techniques videographers can use to level up the way we use music in our films. Make sure to follo This show is sponsored by Musicbed -...

🚨 Get 50% off your first year with Studio Ninja - that's just US$125! 🚨 🥷 Click here and use the promo code "MBWF50"  🥷 There are parts of this job that we love and parts that we… ✨dislike✨and today’s show is about how you can streamline the backend of your business and automate a lot of the admin that’s keeping you from doing what you’re best at, making wedding films! On today’s show,...

Story is at the root of what we do as wedding filmmakers, we all call ourselves storytellers but how often to we consciously work on developing that specific skill? How well do you understand the anatomy of a story? On today’s show, I’m joined by McLean from Hello Tomorrow Films to discuss what goes in to a compelling story in a wedding film. If traditional filmmaking has taught us anything it’s t...

Chris Mai aka Good Co Studios, is a master of capturing intimate and immediate footage of his couples together. He’s also an educator and through mentorships and 1on1 workshops helps wedding filmmakers create a stronger connection with their couples and become more confident with their camera and their storytelling. On today’s show, I get Chris to run me through one of his full day workshops and b...

Filming with your intuition is something we’ve talked about before on the show. The honesty that can come through in your work when you are NOT trying to do a bunch of flashy transitions, or trying to be someone that you’re not, makes for films that showcase the real emotions of the people on screen and they are films that stand the test of time. When you trust your gut and put the needs of your c...

Sound is half your story… This heuristic is so simple and yet so often overlooked by wedding filmmakers, myself included. On today’s show, we’re welcoming back Shannon and Jack from Forever Curious films to get a crash course in everything audio. From research and consulting with your couples, to what gear to use, right through to post production, mixing and sound design, we’ve tried to cover it a...

$100,000 per year is a goal that for a lot of people starting their business seems unattainable. On today’s show, David from Forestry films breaks down some of the ways we can shift our mindset towards solving people’s problems and that this is the key to growing a successful and profitable business. If you would like a step-by-step road map from David on how you can take your business to the next...

All of us have the part of a filmmaking process that we like more than others, it’s probably the reason we fell in love with this craft. Whether it’s filming, editing, directing, the cool gear… there’s always something that’s more “fun” than other parts of our job, like figuring out how to run a business or learning about audio. On today’s show, Matt sits down with me to discuss some of the most c...

Planning a wedding is stressful enough, but for couples in the LGBTQ+ community, there’s a whole other layer of fear and anxiety that can be part of the process when they start contacting vendors about their special day. As wedding vendors, if we want to be a supportive and safe business for these couples then we need to look with a critical eye at the gendered and patriarchal history of wedding t...