Not only have the lives of wedding filmmakers been upended during the pandemic; but the countless couples who were to be married this year as well. Yet even in the midst of uncertainty, there have been encouraging lessons to be learned from this year.
While the wedding film industry may seem insulated from other film industries, it’s still one-hundred-percent filmmaking. There are stories, editing timelines, demanding clients, and hard drives full of footage. Yet, a career in wedding filmmaking is also different than any other film career. There’s a steep learning curve to learning how to work with clients, manage, schedules, and stay sane during the infamous “edit season.”
Sure, it’s fun editing a wedding film from time to time. But, it’s a whole different beast when edit season rolls around. All of a sudden you have dozens of expectant clients, hundreds of hours of footage, and one blank timeline staring you in the face. It can be a beast, especially if you’re new to the game.
At first, Joe Simon learned things the hard way—on his own. After getting his start shooting extreme sports with a camera he bought at Best Buy, Joe started shooting weddings to make some extra cash. Now, more than a decade later, Joe has turned wedding videography into an art form all its own—treating each wedding like an independent film. He is also the owner/director of The Delivery Men, a production company that offers services from film conception to delivery. But while Joe may have started out on his own, he didn’t stay that way. In fact, finding a creative community he loved was part of what helped him turn things around.
