2014 – is it really come and gone? It’s been a whirlwind of a year for us and we wanted to take a moment to share a few lines from our story. In 2014, we captured nearly 25 weddings. Our cameras experienced it all – from the quintessential artsy streets of Hudson, New York to the desert mountains of Las Cruces, New Mexico; from a bistro in Brooklyn to a plantation in central PA; from an iconic Beaver Stadium to a classic Catskills summer camp; from the shores of Eastern Maryland to a goat farm in rural North Carolina – we’ve had nothing short of an exciting, story-driven year. We still have so many stories to release but below are a few of our favorites so far –

 

Speaking of story-driven, earlier this year, I attended a game-changing workshop by our revolutionary filmmaker friends, stillmotion. At the workshop, I learned about a new community initiative, Story & Heart, which I quickly & eagerly became a part of. (“Driven by story, guided by heart.” If that motto doesn’t speak to our work, I don’t know what does.) Through these connections, I was able to expand my skills & mindset as a filmmaker, most-notably in pre-production, and even spent a few days throughout the year helping out on stillmotion shoots on the East Coast. It was thanks to these educational experiences that I decided, on a whim, to enter into a filmmaking contest put on by Story & Heart in September of this year. I now believe that if there’s a cure for feeling stale and uninspired, it’s piling more challenging work onto your plate just at the point when you think you can’t possibly take on anything more. Call me crazy, but you try it. It works. At 9pm on a Sunday night, just 3 hours before the contest submissions were closing, I nearly called it quits and kept the story all to myself. But then, I closed my eyes and hit send. A few weeks later, I left a dinner party to receive a voicemail from a friend with Story & Heart. And an email. Saying my film came in third! Third in an international contest. Seriously?! What a feeling. To go through such personal-driven perseverance followed by such immense self-doubt only to come out and find that what we had created had resonated with someone else on a personal level. What a feeling. Our film was a promotional piece for a new non-profit, Sprocket Mural Works, who are on a mission to beautify and rebuild the city of Harrisburg with public art. We released this film under our sister company, wonderscope and you should most definitely take 5 minutes to watch it —

 

On a personal level, 2014 has been a year of building and growing and jumping off for us. After two and a half years of hibernation, we left the Poconos and moved back to our favorite little city, Harrisburg – the place where birdhouse began. PS: Did you know that the birdhouse is an actual place? And an actual place that Sprocket Mural Works will be painting a mural on in the future? YES! Of course we will be documenting it. We’re so excited to plant our roots here and play an active role in helping transform this city into the bright, artistic hub it is growing into.

So, 2015. What’s it have in store? Weddings in Boston, Maine, the Hamptons, Stone Harbor, Brooklyn, the Bronx and all over PA, New Jersey & Maryland. We’ll be shooting alongside friends, new & old, like Storytellers & Co., Redfield, M2, Jeff Frandsen, The More We See, Jessica Ames and 5 West Studios. Plus exciting commercial projects under wonderscope and a few personal trips here and there to refuel and reignite the fire.

Here’s to the most adventurous year yet!