Hey everyone!   Our new blog, consisting mostly of weddings and wedding related films will be found at www.loydcalomayfilms.com. Concept videos and other news will be posted here. An exciting transition is coming in the near future. Thanks for visiting our new site!

- Loyd

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When Jennifer and David approached me to do a concept video based on their favorite TV show, Chuck, I thought “How’s this gonna work?”  My only impression of the show was that it was about a nerdy guy who works at a Best Buy type electronics store that gets involved in some spy vs. spy capers.  Then they explained the show to me and it was a lot more interesting than that.  They let me borrow the DVDs and I instantly became a fan of the show.  Like most great shows, at its heart is a love story.  And that’s all we needed to make it work.  Oh… and an e-mail of government secrets embedded in a photo montage of images.  Check out Jennifer & David starring in their version of “Chuck” by clicking the photo above.

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Peichi and Sothea exchanged their wedding vows in a teahouse that overlooked a beautiful Japanese garden. It was a hidden gem located in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, which is where I grew up. I didn’t even know it was there. But it was the perfect setting. A Western ceremony amidst Far East traditions. For their Same Day Edit, Peichi & Sothea thought it would be nice to separate their two ceremonies, their morning tea ceremony and afternoon western ceremony, with two different songs. The first song, a Chinese ballad, and the second song recorded by, appropriately enough, an American Idol. Check out their two-part SDE by clicking the photo above. Congrats Peichi and Sothea!

A huge THANK YOU to my good friend Mon Villacorta, for helping me capture the day and for coming through in a pinch to help pull off the SDE presentation.

Event Planner: Sandy Liang, Aquafuzion
Photography: Kim Le Photography
Make Up: Angelina T, AT Makeup Pro
Officiant: Alan Katz

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What we’re gonna do is go back. Way back. Back into time.

I met Sonny, a close friend of my cousin AJ, during my college years. That was in the 90’s. Before cellphones, facebook, iPads, digital video editing and way before any of us were married. We were both part of the same brotherhood, Theta Delta Beta… me from the original UC Irvine chapter and Sonny part of the newly created UCLA chapter.

So when Rocelle & Sonny asked me to capture their wedding day on video and be a part of a new “chapter” in their life , it came with great anticipation. A chance to serve one of my brothers and also an opportunity to shoot back in the town I was born in, Santa Monica.

Click the photo above to watch their Same Day Edit wedding film, which was shown at their reception, our first using footage entirely shot with Canon DSLRs (yup, they look like the cameras that the photographers use but we’re now shooting spectacular looking video on them).

A big thanks to my wife, Hazel, for shooting alongside with me, my assistant Marcus “Beantown” Brian (yes, Lakers and Celtics fans can work together), and my brother-in-law Bobby for taking some cool behind-the-scenes photos. Check them out below.

Congrats, Rocelle & Sonny! WESTSIDE!!!

Ceremony: St. Monica Catholic Church, Santa Monica
Prep & Reception: Marina Del Rey Marriott, Marina Del Rey
Photography: Tara Rochelle Photography
Entertainment: Dennis de Castro, Audio FX Productions

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Have you ever seen a wedding filmmaker cry in front of all the guests at the reception? Well, if you were at Mylene & Jesse’s wedding celebration at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant, you would have seen one… me! Mylene has been a close friend of ours for many years and to see this day come, well… it was really special. So when she asked me to put down my camera and come up for a big hug from the two of them, I couldn’t hold back all the happy tears. Will you ever see it? Maybe… if it makes it into the final cut of the wedding film. But for now, you can check out their trailer by clicking the frame above. Aloha, Mylene & Jesse. We love you guys.

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Recently, I watched an episode of Platinum Weddings.  I had heard about the show from friends in the industry and was able to catch it on our cable’s On Demand viewing channel.  Now what the show highlights, beyond the couple’s love story, is how much they were willing to spend on their wedding day.  They go down the list of obvious first choices when putting together a wedding: rings, planner, venue, etc.  And with these featured weddings on this show, money is no object.  By the time everything is added up, the couple on this particular episode was spending over a quarter of a million dollars for just over 100 guests!

But what bothered me was that there was no mention of the photographer and filmmaker.  Towards the end of the show, a list of how much they spent was shown on a graphic, the bottom item being “Miscellaneous”.   So on one of the most important days in someone’s life, the two vendors entrusted to record and capture the moments to be remembered and shown to future family members is just… a footnote?!  A miscellaneous expense.

Don’t get me wrong.  All of these details are important.  But when the cake has a budget listed more than all the other unmentioned items put together (including the filmmaker) something just doesn’t sit well… at least in my opinion (no offense to you great cake designers out there).

My point is this: If you’re going to invest into creating your perfect wedding day, shouldn’t you give a high priority on your cinematographer and photographer?  To me both are equally important and should have an equal investment.  Photos capture special moments in time.  We hang those moments on our walls, use them as our desktop screensavers, share them with others on our iPhone.  But your wedding film is your time machine.  Your passport to relive those moments… in motion… and in sound.  These combined, photos and video, eventually “become” your memories.

So if you’re planning for your special day, a day that you will want to remember and one day share with your children, please don’t make us your “miscellaneous”.

UPDATED - The reason why I feel strongly about this is because we made that mistake on our wedding day. We didn’t set video as a priority. Granted, it was recorded by a friend who was a hobbyist, and we’re totally grateful because we can look back at it now. But it wasn’t at all creative and felt very distant (it was shot with one camera and a lot of the shots were wide). In honesty, it’s what planted the seed in my mind to start a wedding video business of my own, to offer something highly creative, in hopes that others wouldn’t make the same mistake that we did.

Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

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Well, it’s that time of the year again. We’re rapidly approaching our goal for the number of weddings we want to do for 2010 and this here is the “two-minute warning”… the “last call”… the “bring your items to the checkout” announcement. There are only a few spots left, so contact us ASAP!

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Wow! We just learned that we were voted by our industry peers as one of Event DV’s 2009 All-Star Team and among the hottest, most influential studios on the planet. It is truly an honor and we’re thankful to all of those who considered us deserving.

There’s much to say… but right now I’m speechless.

Stay tuned. I’ll update this entry once I’m able to pick up my jaw from the floor.

- Loyd

UPDATED - Here is the press release from EventDV:

MADISON, WI—February 25, 2010—EventDV magazine has unveiled the 2009 EventDV 25, and Loyd Calomay of Corona-based Red 5 Studios, was named to the list as one of the 25 hottest and most influential event filmmakers in the world. The honorees were announced in a four-part awards show presented this week on EventDV’s online video channel, EventDV-TV.

EventDV, the Authority for Event Videographers, is published monthly by Information Today, Inc. and read by over 20,000 event videographers and independent video producers around the world. For more information on EventDV, visit www.eventdv.net. To view the 2009 EventDV 25 awards presentation online, visit www.eventdv-tv.com.

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For those who signed up on the IN[FOCUS] learning site, here are links to the videos that I played and referred to during my presentation. Thanks for taking the time to watch!

Red 5 Studios Movie Trailer Demo
“Romeo + Juliet”
“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”
“Entourage Behind-The-Scenes”
“Heroes”
“50 First Dates”
“Forrest Gump”
“Sneak Preview”

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Well, I’m back from Austin and the first In[Focus] conference for event filmmakers… and I’m more excited about the business I’m in more than I ever. This “gathering” was special. I can’t put a finger on exactly why it was, but there was something different and fresh about it. I can spend days writing about everything I learned from all the amazing speakers. But I can spend even more raving about the things I learned just from being around all the attendees. It’s what I love about going to these events. And it’s what inspires me to work harder. 2010 is off to a great start and I’m looking forward to the year ahead.

Here’s a nice video and article by Steve Nathans-Kelley, editor of Event DV magazine, reflecting on all the things that happened at In[Focus].

If you’re an event filmmaker and missed out on In[Focus], they’ve created a learning site where you can view many of the great seminars. Check it out here.

Photos by Jet Kaiser and Joe Taravella

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