Meet Long Haul Films
It's a much overdo Vendor Highlight today on the blog!! And I have to say I'm pretty excited about this lovely couple you're about to meet! I first met Melissa and Tom earlier this year as I started to plan my promo video! I immediately fell in love with their urban chic vibe and knew they were the perfect fit for the project! (You can read more about that here!).
Together, married couple Melissa and Tom make up the team that is Long Haul Films. They create the most beautiful and REAL wedding films and I'm always blown away by their work! They travel extensively throughout New England and are a highly sought after duo. They make weddings into a work of art and I simply adore all that they do! So naturally, I had to share them with you! If you want to see more of their amazing work, click here. And to follow along with them make sure to check out their blog! Here we go! Let's meet Melissa and Tom!
Deb -- Hi guys!! Thanks so much for taking some time to spend with us on the blog today!! How about we start with a little bit about the two of you:)
M&T -- We're Tom and Melissa, the husband and wife team behind Long Haul Films, a Boston-based production company that makes wedding, documentary and commercial films. Melissa is a Boston native and Tom comes from the north of England. We met in London and moved to Boston after we got married a few years ago. Yes, Tom will bring his English accent to your wedding!
Melissa is Long Haul Films' Creative Director and before launching the business, worked in international advertising in London, Europe and the Middle East. Tom is Long Haul Films' chief Cinematographer and Editor with a passion for visual storytelling developed at the University of York, where he founded the University of York Filmmaking Society, and a Master's program in Feature Film at the prestigious Goldsmiths College, London.
Deb --You have a pretty diverse portfolio, how did you get started in weddings?
M&T -- Film and filmmaking has been a shared passion from the moment we met. Our first creative collaboration was a documentary project about the meaning of modern marriage. It led to an opportunity to film a wedding, which we did as a favor to a friend. It turned out to be a bigger favor to us because we instantly fell in love with making wedding films! From the beginning, we knew we wanted to make wedding films that tell the interesting and unique stories of the couples we work with in a beautiful and cinematic style.
Deb -- What is one thing that you just love about your job?
M&T -- Hmmmm, only one thing? If we have to pick one, it's that we have the privilege of capturing the best day of our clients' lives and turning it into a film that they can watch and enjoy for years to come. It's a wonderful, rewarding thing to do for a living and it makes us feel genuinely thrilled when we've made our clients happy.
Deb -- As a Bride starts to plan her wedding, why would you encourage her to hire a videographer?
M&T -- The couples we work with invest so much time, energy, passion and money into making their wedding day a celebration of their relationship and reflection of themselves. After weeks, months and sometimes years of planning the day passes by so quickly! No matter how hard you try to see everyone and do everything, there are parts of your wedding that will go by in a blur. Having a wedding film is the perfect way to revisit favorite memories, and also a chance to experience moments you might have missed the first time around. There aren't many days in life that are like your wedding day -- when all the people who love you come together to celebrate you and your relationship. Hiring a talented videographer allows you to enjoy that experience again and again; to share your wedding with those who might not be able to join you on the day; to show your children and grandchildren down the line.
Deb -- What is one thing you wish Brides knew in regards to wedding videography?
M&T --There's a lingering stereotype that wedding videographers use giant cameras, overwhelming spotlights and get in the way of guests. In fact, we're able to capture beautiful, high definition footage using the same small DSLR cameras that most photographers use and minimal artificial lighting. Most of our clients comment on how unobtrusive we are and once the day gets going, they completely forget we're filming. That's a big compliment to us-- if our clients and their guests can forget we're there, the footage we capture will be that much more natural and relaxed.
Deb -- What makes your style different than the average wedding videographer?
M&T -- We believe the couples we work with benefit from having both the male and female perspective go into the making of their wedding film. We each have different strengths which completely complement each other; we notice different important moments and details; and because we're a married couple, we work together naturally and effortlessly. There are still relatively few female videographers out there, and sometimes we call Melissa our "secret weapon"-- she's not only talented behind the camera, but she loves weddings; follows blogs to stay up to date on the latest trends; and truly understands the emotional energy of the day!
Additionally, we believe our experience making documentary and commercial films positively influences the quality of our work, the professionalism of our customer service and the scope of our creativity. This year alone we've made a commercial for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, a travel film for the Berkshires and a music video for an up and coming band-- not to mention the promotional film we made for Deborah Zoe Photography! Doing this kind of work stretches us creatively and provides us with many ideas and inspirations that we bring to our wedding clients.
Deb -- What is your favorite part of a wedding day?
M&T -- Again we ask... do we have to pick just one part?! There are so many moments we love... and love to capture with our cameras. Seeing the bride when she first gets into her dress and is truly transformed is always a special moment. The look on the groom's face when he first catches sight of his wife-to-be is also incredible and powerful. We love to film great speeches-- Fathers of the Bride are often favorites. And then there's the dance floor-- oh, the dance floor! It's so much fun when we see everyone from age 8 to 80 shaking their thing to LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem. Seriously, make sure your DJ has that song on your wedding playlist because it's always one of the most fun moments!
But maybe most of all, we love those candid, never-could-have-planned-it moments that are so exciting to capture for the wedding film. Like in this trailer for Anne and Andy's wedding which took place on a sweltering August day in a rustic barn in New York. At the end of the night, the bride, Anne, jumped into the pool at the venue-- fully clothed in her Vera Wang dress. What a once-in-a-lifetime moment to capture!
Deb -- What do you love to do when you're not filming weddings?
M&T -- Um, is it sad to say that in our spare time we love making films? We usually have at least one personal film project that we work on in our spare time and it's truly one of our favorite things to do. It's hard to separate us from our cameras and editing equipment. But when we do break away, we love anything to do with the arts-- going to film festivals, galleries, concerts, performances of any kind. We love to travel and take any excuse to jump on a plane and explore somewhere new. We both love taking photos and writing (if we weren't filmmakers I think we'd either be novelists or photographers... or both). And we're also often to be found walking our ridiculously cute little Yorkie around downtown Boston. Yes, sometimes in a sweater. Deb --(and yes, their Yorkie is adorbs!)
Deb -- Anything else you'd like to add before you go?!
M&T -- We'd just like to add that we had so much fun making your promotional film and learning about you. That's another cool part of our job-- we get to know so many amazingly talented, interesting and fun people. Thanks for letting us tell your story, Deborah, and we can't wait to see the next chapter.
Thanks again Melissa and Tom for spending sometime with us on the blog today! Perhaps it's the pregnancy hormones but I started watching some of your films again and immediately started to cry!! Ahh, I just can't get enough!!
If you'd like to reach Melissa and Tom you can reach them at their website Long Haul Films or by emailing Melissa directly at melissa@longhaulfilms.com.