March 3, 2025 • 47 mins
Step inside the world of the Buffalolovebus, where passion meets creativity in a unique and inspiring way. This episode takes you on a journey with Michael Mitri (Owner) who transformed his love for vintage Volkswagens into a thriving business, creating unforgettable memories for those who step inside. At the studio at the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal, the conversation dives deep into the Michael's personal story, detailing how a simple love for these classic vehicles turned into a mobile photo booth experience that captures joy, nostalgia, and creativity.
We talk about the challenges faced during the pandemic and how pivoting operations encouraged innovation. The effort to make every celebration memorable and enjoyable is evident throughout the discussion, highlighting the importance of creating a relaxed atmosphere—an ethos that resonates deeply with clients looking for a unique, fun way to celebrate their special moments.
As the narrative unfolds, learn about the art of combining different passions, embracing new trends, and exploring creativity while staying true to one’s roots. This episode is a celebration of resilience, adaptability, and the joy of making lasting memories, all while cruising in a classic Volkswagen. Tune in to uncover the fascinating journey of the Buffalolovebus and how one individual's unwavering enthusiasm has led to transforming events across the region. Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review if you enjoyed this adventure!
About the Host
Erik Arneth is a proud Buffalonian with a passion for promoting small local businesses through the sharing of their origin stories. He's also a real estate salesperson in the City of Good Neighbors: Buffalo, New York.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Erik Arneth (00:04):
Okay, so we are at the what is this place called
again.
Michael Mitri (00:07):
Well, I just call it my studio,
but like the actual place thatwe're at.
It's the food terminal, the Niagara Frontier
Food Terminal on Clinton andBailey
Erik Arneth (00:17):
This is a place that I've never actually been to
, So, when I pulled in I waslike wow, this is like taking a
step back in time.
I can imagine old trucksdriving in and out.
Michael Mitri (00:30):
It bustling yeah.
Erik Arneth (00:32):
Yeah, and I'm sure that there's pictures and maybe
videos of the bustling days assoon as video.
Michael Mitri (00:39):
You know I think it predates.
You know common video.
You know I think it's beenaround since the 20s or 30s.
So yeah, through the years 50s,60s, 70s, 80s it's been here
forever.
I'm sure there's video throughthe years.
Erik Arneth (00:50):
Yeah, yeah, and there's a market downstairs too.
Michael Mitri (00:53):
There's a nice market the Nickel Plate, yeah
and I kind of describe it as abig Etsy where it's all homemade
goods from local artists andvendors that sell everything you
can imagine.
Yeah, really local.
You know.
Erik Arneth (01:11):
Yes, it's really cool because when I was walking
down there with you and you gaveme a little tour, I was seeing
some of the vendors that I'veinterviewed market vendors and
they have their stuff at thisshop the Nickel Plate and so I
love how it all comes together.
Michael Mitri (01:27):
Yeah, it's great.
Erik Arneth (01:28):
Here you are upstairs.
You're the owner of BuffaloLove Bus,
that's right
, and I've seen you on social media a bunch, yeah
yeah, and we've never met before.
But I appreciate you invitingme to the studio and just for us
to be able to have aconversation.
I don't know if you've listenedto anything that I've done.
I don't expect that you did,but,
Michael Mitri (01:46):
um, no, I like everything you're doing.
It's been great.
Erik Arneth (01:48):
Yeah, the whole goal is to hear your story,
because I personally, even if Ididn't have any listeners uh,
and even at this point I don'thave that many, right but I
personally love to hear thestory of somebody who had a
passion and they just starteddoing it.
A lot of times, these peoplethat I've talked to weren't
(02:11):
making any money doing it.
At first, it was just a passion, a side project or something,
and they decided to take a riskand put themselves out there.
You know, yeah, and it turnedinto something, and that story
is inspiring to me.
Michael Mitri (02:26):
That is similar to my story, so obviously I kind
of wish we were sitting in myVolkswagen bus right now or
around that.
So that business really runsfrom about May to October.
Because a Volkswagen doesn'tdrive in the wintertime, it
(02:47):
doesn't really have heat, it hasa long way to travel, the
engine's in the back and that'swhere the heat comes from.
So I don't drive them in thewintertime, I store them and I
bring it out.
I look forward to bringing itout in May.
And the whole origin of thisbusiness is because I'm really a
Volkswagen enthusiast.
(03:07):
I actually own three busesright now and I bought my first
one in my early 20s and I stillown it and on my social media
you might see way back that'sthe first Buffalo bus.
I had an orange VolkswagenWestfalia, which is a camper
model with the top that pops up.
Erik Arneth (03:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw a picture on the website
actually.
Michael Mitri (03:31):
Yeah, so I have.
I've had that forever andthat's kind of my baby.
You know I've traveled all overthe country and that mostly on
the East coast.
Did you call it the Buffalo busbefore it was?
No, no, I didn't.
And, as a matter of fact, theorange bus.
You know, having owned it for20 years, before the business, I
never gave it a name, and carenthusiasts will often give
(03:54):
their cars a name and I just.
I just call it my orangeVolkswagen bus, if that's its
name, or just the orange bus.
Erik Arneth (04:00):
Did the thought of naming it never occur to you, or
did you just never want to?
Michael Mitri (04:04):
What's that called Personification?
Is that the right word when yougive a name to an anatomic?
yeah, I know what you'retalking about.
Is that the right word?
I'm not sure, but I just neverwanted to do that and give I
don't know, it's just not my, Ijust thought it was cheesy, I
guess, so I didn't want to giveit a name.
Okay, so no, I didn't name itthe Buffalo Bus from the time I
bought it, although I probablyyou know.
(04:26):
So I had that and I had beenagain.
I traveled to Florida in it andI traveled all around in it and
then I got into photography andI really found another passion
for photography and I guess youcan just say quite quickly, I
(04:46):
just combined the two passionstogether.
I think I was bumping around onYouTube and I saw videos about
photo booths and I thought theywere easy to make.
You know, I would think theywould be.
I made one right, so I made onein a week.
Erik Arneth (05:06):
So it was actually easy to make.
Michael Mitri (05:09):
Yeah For me, if you like doing that stuff, if
you like making photo booths.
I'm into technology.
My whole life I've been intocomputers and tinkering.
Okay, so things are easier.
If you like doing them, sure,yeah, of course, you know,
Definitely.
So I built a photo booth juston a tripod, with a camera and a
(05:32):
flash connected to a computerand a printer.
I think I had a little I stillhave it a Canon selfie printer.
So I and you know the firstphoto I took of myself that went
through the computer and cameout the printer.
It was super exciting, you knowI did it.
Erik Arneth (05:49):
Do you still have that photo?
I imagine yeah, I never throwanything out, that's gotta be
framed and put out somewhere.
Yeah.
Michael Mitri (05:57):
I'm sure I do, you know, at least digitally,
Cause I, yeah, I've neverdeleted a photo in my life.
So then I saw other peopleusing Volkswagens as photo
booths around the country.
People often come up to me thisis a brilliant idea, and give
me all this credit.
(06:17):
Well, I stretched the ideas andI made it my own, but I, I it
is a thing that other peoplehave done.
So I thought I want to do that,so I did.
I put the photo booth in the myorange Volkswagen.
Erik Arneth (06:30):
What year was this?
Michael Mitri (06:31):
Uh, 2016.
Okay, uh, might've been 2015,but I really my first gig was in
2016.
Okay so, um, I, I, uh, Icreated, yeah, right around then
I created an Instagram accountand I started promoting myself
and making a video.
And one thing I've learned that, uh, a Volkswagen bus just pops
(06:56):
off the camera.
Totally, it, totally.
It's just there's somethingabout it that, uh, it helped my
Instagram grow just by puttingthe bus in the photos, right, so
, combining it with the cameraand that it being a photo booth.
It wasn't long before I got myfirst gig and I used the orange
(07:22):
bus for a year and then I hadbought a second bus, the blue
one, and I had bought that to.
I've got some land where I liveand I was going to put it in
the backyard and build a deckoff of it.
You'll see some people in thecountry that have like a camper
in their backyard.
That's just almost like a guesthouse, yeah yeah, yeah.
(07:42):
Or they, just they.
So that was my vision.
But then I decided I really theorange Volkswagen is so
sentimental to me that I justdidn't want people smoking their
cigars and drinking beer andjust kicking it.
I wanted to preserve it morethan taking it out to events.
(08:04):
So that is when I decided tojust completely overhaul the
blue Volkswagen pivot from thecamper to making it the Buffalo
bus of what it is today and I'msure that the wanting to
preserve the orange one wasbecause of experience.
Erik Arneth (08:19):
You probably brought it to a couple of events
and somebody spills a beer andyou're like no you know A little
bit.
Michael Mitri (08:24):
I'm so laid back though even still, but I saw
where it could lead.
Yeah, yeah, and yeah, you'reright.
You're right.
I probably did act like that,feel like that a little bit on
the inside, but I never let itknown to anybody.
I didn't.
It's funny To this day now withthe blue one, let's pivot to
that one where anybody who'sever been in it or asked me
(08:49):
about can we get 10 people inhere.
My motto is I have no rules.
I really don't, and it's funnywhen you tell people that
there's no rules, they kind ofact a little bit more respectful
in a weird way.
You know they're like becausethey kind of know what the rules
are.
Just to be appropriate.
Erik Arneth (09:11):
Now, all of a sudden, they're putting rules on
themselves.
They kind of are.
Is this okay?
Is that okay yeah?
Michael Mitri (09:14):
Yeah, but to my point, I don't care how many
people can get in, I don't careif you smoke a cigar or if you
bring your beer in, and I wantit to be fun.
That's the entire image that Iwant to portray.
Is that it's fun, there's norules and it's not the most
(09:36):
beautiful Volkswagen on theinternet.
I don't have a 10,000, or maybeit would be even more now to
have it painted.
It could be $20,000 to have apaint job on it, and there are
other companies around thecountry that have a Volkswagen
that looks beautiful, but Idon't care if kids lean up
against it and scratch it or ifeverybody just stands around it
(09:56):
and leans up against it.
I want it just to be fun.
So if it gets scratched, I couldfix that or something like that
.
So I'm laid back in that way.
Um, in the end I wouldn't belike that with the orange
volkswagen.
Now you might see the orangevolkswagen during covid.
Um, I had to pivot my business,like everybody had to, and I I
(10:17):
started using both volkswagens,and people often wanted the
orange one as photo shoots.
So I'll, and I still do as abackdrop as a backdrop.
I rent them out for photo shoots, mini sessions, and that helped
me get through COVID.
It would be there were somemini sessions with just families
(10:38):
and they would come one at atime, 20 minutes in between, and
so I still drive the Volkswagen, I travel in it, the orange one
.
The orange one, excuse me.
And yeah, I use it as a as a Istill use it as a backdrop.
Erik Arneth (10:53):
So so that portion of your business where it acts
as a backdrop in front of somekind of whatever scenery that
they choose, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michael Mitri (11:01):
I did a mini session with.
There was this dance classthese little girls from Fredonia
and a photographer, one of herdaughters, were in the class and
they were.
It was a seventies theme.
They were all dressed like 1970leotards, so they were climbing
all over it and having a greattime.
So I did that.
It wasn't.
I think it was last fall we didthat.
Erik Arneth (11:22):
So yeah, but that was born out of covid, because
all of a sudden you couldn'tcram people in the van.
Michael Mitri (11:28):
that's right so exactly right you had to be
outside.
Erik Arneth (11:31):
That's, yes, such a common story.
Obviously any small businessowner had to pivot.
Yes, change during covid one ofmy neighbors is the owner of
roly polies, which is a localclimbing fitness gymnastics
center for kids.
Right right, and they pivotedby creating online videos that
(11:52):
kids can work out at home.
Right right, or there was, youknow, Bloom and Rose.
They're the Jew-ish deli.
Michael Mitri (12:00):
Okay.
Erik Arneth (12:01):
They make Jewish food, but it's not kosher Right,
right For the rest of us.
Deli, okay, make jewish food,but it's not kosher right, right
for the rest of us.
Um, they started to do um.
They would do um, like pre-madebags that were delivered to
people's homes.
Yes, and you know, just likethe creativity that people had
to have.
Yes, to keep their businessesgoing.
Yeah, but at the same time, alot of businesses were actually
(12:21):
born out of covet, becausepeople lost their jobs right and
all of a sudden it forces asudden, they were turning their
hobbies into a side hustle, andthen they might realize that
they wish they lost their jobfive years before.
Michael Mitri (12:33):
Yeah, you know.
Yeah, yeah, covid was.
I learned a lot during COVID.
Yeah, another thing that Istarted to do after COVID and
this I might not be the greatestbusinessman, I don't think I am
Before COVID, I would collect adeposit because I thought
(12:53):
that's what every photographerdid you collect a deposit before
a wedding or before a corporateevent or a family party.
And when people would call meand have to cancel their wedding
and cancel their birthdayparties and cancel their
corporate events, I wasreturning their deposits.
But on the phone with them whenthey were calling, they'd be so
(13:14):
grateful that I would just yeah, I'll send you the check or
Venmo right away.
They would tell me all thesehorror stories about other
companies and trying to getthrough COVID as well that maybe
had a policy where they didn'treturn the deposits and it was.
It was tough.
So from that point on, I don'tcollect a deposit.
(13:35):
My motto is only pay me afterthe event and only if you're
happy.
So like to a normal businessperson.
They might find that ridiculous,but I've never been stiffed um
at any event and have peoplecalled me um a few days before
(13:56):
the event to cancel.
Yeah.
Erik Arneth (13:58):
And maybe you would have lost out on business that
you otherwise would have hadbecause of that.
Michael Mitri (14:02):
What's that I'm?
Erik Arneth (14:03):
sorry, Like maybe somebody called you.
Like you book a weekend?
Yes, it's not ideal, right?
Michael Mitri (14:07):
But that's okay.
Yeah, you know so.
Then I sit home, I get to spendSaturday night with my wife.
You know that's fine.
Erik Arneth (14:15):
But that's a part of the whole.
Like business strategy andplanning is like what's better
to collect the deposit so youprotect yourself, you protect
your income.
But maybe you have a distraughtcustomer who's like I gave a
thousand dollar deposit and hedidn't give it back to me.
Is that person going torecommend you to friends?
right right, right, right, maybethe generosity and the honesty
(14:37):
of you know, don't even pay me adeposit, I'm just a guy who's
friendly, who, who wants to makeyour event better, and there
there's no rules and just havefun, that's it.
That maybe is actually betterfor your business than
protecting the bottom lineshort-sightedly.
Michael Mitri (14:54):
And it's nothing strategic.
Erik Arneth (14:56):
Yeah, it's just my nature, yeah it's just my nature
.
Michael Mitri (14:59):
I hear that I'm not going to, I'm laid back and
I yeah, I don't want to bringany.
I don't want the bride or anevent planner to have to stress
about the photo booth or haveany extra thoughts about it.
I want them just to expect meto show up, bring value to the
(15:22):
event, make everybody happy andthen go home and then they pay
me and that's it.
I don't want them to have tothink about any extra stress.
Erik Arneth (15:34):
So, uh, there's a lot of stress around weddings.
Michael Mitri (15:35):
Yes, there is unnecessary, yeah.
Now here's another thing thatI've.
I've been doing this, Um, whatis it?
Almost nine years now with thewith the uh, Buffalo bus.
Um, I, I have a lot of eventsand I've I've been to I don't
know how many.
I probably should have added uphow many weddings I've been to
and I have never, ever, had acouple that was super difficult
(15:59):
and you hear stories in thewedding industry that there
could be a couple that could bea little bit demanding or it
could be.
It's a stressful day and theycan sometimes take that out on
the vendors, but I have neverseen it, ever.
And I have a theory that thecouple that wants an old 1972
Volkswagen hippie van at theirwedding they're going to be
(16:21):
pretty laid back, chill peopleand it's been true, they're
always the coolest couple.
They're the couple that wantsan old hippie van at their
wedding and every single one ofthem have been great and have
been nice and I've never had abad experience.
Erik Arneth (16:35):
I've actually heard that before too.
I have some friends who arephotographers and they started a
wedding photography businessand other things too.
Family events, family things,whatever yeah, and they call
themselves High Five for Love.
Oh right, and they calledthemselves Hi-Fi for Love and
they said a similar thing.
Where the kinds of people whoare reaching out to a company
called Hi-Fi for Love were likeyou know it almost like narrowed
(17:00):
down the type of clientele justbecause of the name.
That's fair yeah.
Michael Mitri (17:04):
I mean my business narrows down the people
that don't like Volkswagens ordon't want a Volkswagen hippie
van at their wedding.
Erik Arneth (17:14):
They're not going to hire me.
Michael Mitri (17:15):
They just want a normal, traditional photo booth.
Erik Arneth (17:17):
It's cool too, because you already have that
the people who are going toreach out to a place, who's
going to bring an old Volkswagenbus, and the person who's
running the business has apassion for old.
Yeah, yeah, it's like theperfect icebreaker between you,
and the person who's running thebusiness has a passion for old.
Yeah, yeah, it's like theperfect icebreaker between you
and the client.
Michael Mitri (17:33):
And maybe half the time.
That might be a little bit more, but there's a Volkswagen
enthusiast in the family.
Maybe the bride always wantedone since she was a little girl
or vice versa the groom.
Erik Arneth (17:47):
There's definitely something that is very romantic
about the thought of aVolkswagen bus.
Michael Mitri (17:53):
Yeah, and I always say they're so Americana.
Yes, they're red, white andblue, but they couldn't be more
German at the same time.
Erik Arneth (18:04):
Well, they represent a lifestyle or a time
in history, or the idea of likeexploring, and they do.
Michael Mitri (18:13):
Yeah, and again, I wish we were here to show you.
Yeah, we will.
Someday I'll give you a tour ofit.
I'd love that.
I gave it a travel theme.
So I mentioned before I built aphoto booth.
I built the photo booth in theBuffalo bus out of a steamer
trunk, okay, photobooth.
I built the photobooth in theBuffalo bus out of a steamer
trunk, okay.
(18:36):
So I cut a hole in it for thecamera and I have a square for
the computer.
And it's a steamer trunk.
The curtains are maps and Ioften have old luggage.
So I gave it a theme of travel.
Cool, you know so, when you'regoing to go on a road trip.
But it could also be.
Here's another thing about aVolkswagen bus.
It's so versatile, especiallyfor the photo shoots.
But if a wedding has a certaintheme, it could be so boho,
(19:00):
bohemian, with the peacockchairs set up by them.
It could be Patagonia.
It could be like Colorado, witha little campfire and wood
chairs.
It could be Southern Californiawith surfboards, and you know
what I mean.
It's really versatile acrossmany different themes.
(19:21):
It could be Grateful Dead withtie-dyes and hippies themes, you
know.
So there's something that ifanybody has any just prior
feelings about what they see.
They bring it to the bus.
You know they have that thoughtabout it, seeing it that way,
very cool.
Now, I mentioned earlier thatonly runs in the summertime,
(19:44):
yeah, so I wanted to grow mybusiness and have work over the
summer or over the winter.
So I went to Las Vegas a coupleof years ago to a photo booth
convention and I bought a photobooth there.
You might have seen it's allmade out of mahogany.
And I keep the theme of vintage.
(20:05):
You know Volkswagen is avintage vehicle and old school.
Erik Arneth (20:11):
Oh my gosh, even in the studio here, and I'll take
some footage.
You have record players and oldcameras and a TV that looks
like it was in my grandpa'sliving room.
Michael Mitri (20:21):
It's also it's my nature I'm a collector and I
like a lot of vintage things.
So I bought a vintage stylephoto booth and that has been
great and it's really taken off.
It's a whole different businessthan a Volkswagen, but it also
stretches my business where Icould do a gig on the third
floor of a building you knowwhere I couldn't.
It expands my horizons as faras where I can do gigs, and also
(20:47):
in the wintertime.
So I've been doing that andthat has been a whole different
experience, but it has beengreat.
And the thing about that photobooth, too, that I really focus
on because I have a passion forphotography and, if you notice
on my Instagram or on the photosthat are taken with it, it's
(21:07):
really high quality.
Most photo booths are.
They're made for the memory.
They're made for the experienceof sitting in a photo booth and
having it take your picture.
The photos aren't always thebest quality, and that's okay.
Again, they're for the memory.
But I kind of wanted to gobeyond that and give a really
(21:29):
high quality photo that thatprints out and I give them
digitally as well.
Um, so that was uh.
When I bought that photo booth,I wanted to keep it as high of
a quality as the Buffalo bus.
So I built it myself, Um, and Iused, uh, all the software and
the cameras and everything andthe lighting, um, and the
(21:49):
lighting, to keep that themegoing.
So that's been really fun.
Erik Arneth (21:54):
Did I see something on the website about Buffalo
Bar too.
Michael Mitri (21:59):
I sold that oh did you, yeah, I did.
I sold that.
I built a bar out of a horsetrailer.
I uh, I just didn't promote itenough.
I uh again, I do everythingthat I want to do and that makes
me happy.
Erik Arneth (22:18):
That was just like the flavor of the year.
Michael Mitri (22:20):
Yeah, I had more fun building it.
Okay, you know, I, I spent awhole summer building it.
I, um, there's an Amish sawmilldown the road from me, um and
uh, um, mr Schlabach runs it andhe built, gave me all the, I
bought all the wood from him andI had a great time building the
bar and I sold it to another.
(22:40):
It's still in Buffalo.
Okay, um, let me tag the guywho owns it now and in your
social media yeah, so peoplewill go and rent it from him.
But I just I wasn't bringing itout enough.
I did.
I think I did four or five gigswith it and what I did with
that and I might buy, I might doit again, and the way that
(23:01):
worked is I would just drop itoff and pick it up the next day.
I was in no way, shape or formselling alcohol or even
expecting people to use it foralcohol.
It was called a bar.
But or form selling alcohol oreven expecting people to use it
for alcohol, it was called a bar, but you could have sold coffee
or donuts or flowers oranything you wanted from it.
So that was my model was justto build it, drop it off and
(23:22):
pick it up the next day.
Erik Arneth (23:24):
Yeah, and they handled all the things.
Michael Mitri (23:26):
Yeah, and I was working with a local bartender
company, but I just lostinterest and I didn't spend any
time marketing it.
Really, I did, yeah, a littlebit here and there.
Erik Arneth (23:43):
I'm similar in some ways where, if I'm into
something I'm so hyper-focusedon, it yeah, and then if I lose
interest, it's like I'm done.
Michael Mitri (23:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let me turn my phone off.
Yeah, if that's how I am, ifI'm so, even sitting around in
the studio, and I do want totalk about the other photo
booths.
But I have a passion forsneakers, and this whole area
over here is where I make customsneakers.
Oh, you made these, yeah, soI've made these.
(24:16):
I've got a variety of differentones.
This is just like I was workingon trying to make them, so this
was a prototype, but yeah, I'vegot a whole section over here
and I've got a variety of customshoes that I make.
Erik Arneth (24:25):
So you're making these and selling them as well,
or you're just doing it foryourself?
Michael Mitri (24:30):
I'm just doing it for myself.
Okay, they're for sale, youknow, if somebody wants to buy
them or give me an order.
So I, and I'm actually going tomake them better, because I
bought this leather sewingmachine over here that right now
these are glued on and I'mgoing to sew them on.
(24:51):
That's how you do it officiallyyou buy some thicker leather
and you actually sew them on.
I've seen social media accountsthat do that yeah it's super fun
and I've got a pair that Ipainted.
I don't think they're at myhouse.
I gave them a camera theme andI wear them to gigs Nice.
So I painted a Canon camera onthe side and on the front it's
(25:12):
cameras and apertures and thingslike that.
So talking about just doingsomething that makes you happy
and it's rather time-consuming,therapeutic I guess.
Guess I could say making shoesis and this is a nice space here
for it bright lights and um, soI have a lot of nice big
(25:33):
windows.
Erik Arneth (25:34):
Yeah yeah, it's a nice studio, so I wanted to ask
about, like, um, a little bitabout what you were doing before
I know.
On the website there's a littlebio and people can read you
were in special education for alittle while.
Yeah, yeah.
Michael Mitri (25:48):
So after college I taught special education for
20 years and again always aVolkswagen enthusiast, so I
would travel in the summertime.
I still go on about one trip asummer with the Orange Camper.
Erik Arneth (26:08):
That's great in education.
You have the summer off.
Yes, exactly.
Michael Mitri (26:12):
So I'd go on one trip a summer and then it was
just going to the drive-in or toget ice cream.
So the Buffalo Love Bus reallygot me out there more.
You know where I'm now.
I'm driving it to events andthat's my favorite part about
being a Volkswagen enthusiastand owning Volkswagens.
(26:33):
So as I was teaching, I wasgetting more and more gigs and
more and more gigs and I justpivoted to just wanting to
follow this passion and do itfull time.
So I'm just I'll quickly sayI'm blessed that I have the
means to make that decision.
You know, it's Joy and I it'sjust the two of us.
(26:57):
So I had that flexibility to beable to pivot and just follow
this passion and take it to thenext level.
Yeah, again, I feel veryblessed that I'm able to do that
.
Erik Arneth (27:09):
It's good to have a level of humility and
gratefulness around what you'redoing too?
Michael Mitri (27:13):
Yes, exactly.
And so again, more and moregigs, and I am always thinking
about how I can improve thingsand make them better, and that's
fun too.
So, as I'm driving to events,I'm thinking about different
ways to make it better.
And maybe the latest thing thatI started a couple of years ago
(27:37):
as I'm driving to an event andI'm thinking about things and
being a collector of cameras anda photographer and things
vintage, I have a wholecollection of VHS video cameras.
So I thought, well, why don't Ibring one of these to an event
and see what you know, have funwith it?
You know what I was probablythinking I'm going to shoot some
video for my own social media.
(27:59):
I was going to take some videowith a VHS camera of the Buffalo
bus.
So I did a VHS camera of theBuffalo bus.
So I did, I brought it to awedding and I started doing that
.
But then I started dipping intothe dance floor and the mom and
dad speech and I just I had thecamera and I brought all the
(28:20):
footage home, I chopped it down,I created an Instagram post and
the bride she was crying, she,you know, she said she was
crying, she texted me.
It's the perfect evolution.
Erik Arneth (28:33):
You're already at the wedding.
Right, you're running thisvintage photo booth.
You have this vintage camerathat now you're filming the
wedding.
It's like right.
Michael Mitri (28:42):
So I I started doing that and it took off.
It was a hit immediately, ofcourse, and I have all the
camera gear, I have all theprior knowledge of how to
digitize it and, uh, and shareit with the couple or even the
event that hire me.
Um, so I started I and puttingthat as an add on.
(29:05):
Um, so I started I at puttingthat as an add on, and at this
time that we're recording this,um, if you um hire me for the
Buffalo bus and I'm alreadythere, it's a $300 add on, which
, um, I think is a margin thatis fair for the value that it
brings.
So more than fair, I know, Iknow, I know, I know, but I feel
like I'm already there, yeah,yeah, yeah, oh.
(29:27):
And some of the footage kind ofa lot of the footage I give the
camera to guests, okay, so onthe dance floor, you might see
the videos of everybody having ablast.
It could be like.
Erik Arneth (29:38):
It's even better that way.
Michael Mitri (29:39):
Yeah, yeah, like a home video who's this
photographer that nobody knows,or like my girlfriends with the
camera so I, I pass it off, andthey're all so, um, sometimes
when I pass it off, they'll, areyou sure?
Or they'll have never held onebefore, ever so, like they don't
know how to work it.
Yeah and uh, I said no, goahead.
(30:00):
And again, I have maybe ahundred, honestly, vhs cameras.
So even if they drop it orbreak it, it's the cost of doing
business.
It's fine, and they haven't.
But I'll have a lot of footageof just the ground.
If they're not paying attention, they have to turn it off or
something like that.
But, to my point, the footagethat pops off the camera from
(30:22):
the guests walking around withit is is can be great.
You could probably even rentthem.
Yeah, yeah, you're right, Iprobably could.
Erik Arneth (30:30):
Like I'm going on a trip, I want to rent it for a
week or whatever.
You're right I've got, and thenthey, they give it back to you
and you digitize it.
Michael Mitri (30:37):
Yeah, yeah, I could do that.
Um, a big expense with thevideo cameras that I I buy and
thrift and some people just giveme.
The camera might be 25 to 100,yeah, but the battery is 50
because they're third-partycompanies, yeah, so they don't
even make them anymore theydon't even make them right or,
if they do, they're veryexpensive.
(30:58):
Yeah, and unfortunately, likeevery brand has a different
battery, they're not alluniversal, so that's there is
cost of doing business.
But, um, I do it's.
It's an add on for either anyof my photo booths.
It's $300 add on.
If you, there have been couplesthat have hired me just to do
VHS and that's a little bit moreand that's usually a
(31:18):
negotiation.
Um, I think I started around$800 and up for just me going to
do that, and when I sell it orwhen I speak with the couple
that's hiring me for it, I makeit clear it's really just for
the reception.
Granted, that's usually theonly time I show up with the
(31:40):
Volkswagen, so it's a receptionvideo.
Now, sometimes I like to arriveearly and if the ceremony's
going on, I'll dip into that asjust a bonus again, just to
stretch it.
Or sometimes they'll want methere for the wedding and it
could be great as a photographerand maybe I'm just wrong
(32:08):
videographer, and maybe I'm justwrong I kind of recommend they
get their ceremony in 4K by aprofessional that you know it's
the most cutting edge technologyand I don't know.
That's just my view.
I guess it always depends onthe setting and where the
wedding is too, because I did doa ceremony on VHS.
That actually looks pretty good.
Have you been to Bill's gameswith your camera?
I have, yeah, oh gosh.
(32:28):
So I went to a Bill's game.
My vision was to make it looklike the 1990s.
Erik Arneth (32:34):
Yeah, okay, that must have been because I saw,
like recently I've seen videosof like oh my God, it looks like
the 90s, yeah, and I wonder ifit was you or not, that was me
and it was just pure artwork.
Michael Mitri (32:44):
It was.
I wasn't getting paid to dothat, that was just me wanting
to do something that was fun.
That's awesome.
I had a vision of it.
Looking like the 90s yeah, andthey're like the most viewed
videos I've ever made.
Anything bills related, oh yeah, just skyrockets.
Erik Arneth (32:58):
Yes.
Michael Mitri (33:00):
So it's funny.
So I made like two or three ofthem.
Erik Arneth (33:01):
Instagram keeps trying to pigeonhole me towards
the bills.
Michael Mitri (33:05):
Yeah, but yeah, they have a strong algorithm.
They gather everybody Totally.
But yeah, they turned out great.
Benny the Butcher is a localartist who was there.
Erik Arneth (33:15):
Yeah.
Michael Mitri (33:15):
I've heard of him and I met him and I got some
footage of him at a tailgate andI promised him I'm going to use
your song for the video I make.
And I did and that was apopular video.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it was fun.
But, yeah, I'll carry a videocamera around with me just about
everywhere I go, and tailgatesare fun and there's a strong
(33:36):
connection with the Bills andthe 90s and vintage.
There are thrift stores justdedicated to 90s Bills gear, so
there's something about havingit on VHS that seemed to
resonate with people.
Yes, yeah.
Erik Arneth (33:49):
Yes, so that was fun.
Yeah, some of these vintageshops like just an old vintage
T-shirt from the 90s, $70.
Right People buy it.
Right Because it's just, it's apart of who we are Right right.
As Buffalonians, you know.
Michael Mitri (34:06):
Well, and you might be looking around and
wondering about all thedifferent things that I have,
from the cameras to the shoes Ihave a little bit of a fashion
line that I'm working on tooTotally different, pivoted from
photography.
But there is a strongrelationship between the fashion
subculture and group andphotography the fashion
(34:29):
subculture and group andphotography.
So I dipped into it by going tosome fashion shows with my
photo booth and shootingphotography and I got inspired
about by the artists at thefashion shows and came up with
my own little collection, and itis it's a Buffalo theme, so I'm
going along with that.
I'll have to give you aclose-up view of some of those
that I'm working on around alittle bit.
Erik Arneth (34:48):
Okay, so how about what about, like in the
immediate horizon, like thingsthat you're hoping to maybe
launch in the next year or two,that you wouldn't mind sharing
things you're excited about?
Michael Mitri (35:01):
Well, I think the biggest thing that has that I'm
excited about is the vintageanalog photo booth that I
recently bought.
In the last six months, I havea lot of different ideas and
plans for that photo booth and,for those of you that don't know
, this is a photo booth thatessentially has a darkroom built
into it.
Erik Arneth (35:21):
This is the one that's right over here?
Michael Mitri (35:22):
Yeah, it's right over here.
So there's uh.
It has a camera that takesphotos on special light
sensitive paper, where there'sno negative.
The photo is uh developed righton the paper and uh, it gets
dipped in a variety of differentchemicals and uh, and then
delivered in about five Actually, I think this one's about six
(35:45):
minutes it takes to develop thephoto.
So that photo booth is it's theonly one in Buffalo and it's
the only one that the closestone outside of Buffalo there's
one in Syracuse, toronto andthen Cleveland and probably
Pittsburgh or Penn.
You know, every big cityusually has one.
So I mentioned to you earlierhow there was a report done by
(36:07):
NBC News that there's about 200of them that are still remaining
working in North America.
So this is one of them andsince I bought it, I've been
promoting it on social media andpeople have been traveling from
all over the country just tocome and book time with their
photos in it.
By that I mean Toronto.
(36:30):
This weekend a couple fromCleveland is coming to do their.
I think it's not a genderreveal, just that they're having
a baby reveal.
Several people from the areahave come to do their engagement
photos in it, where they'llshow their ring.
And a couple came fromMinneapolis.
(36:50):
I think they were visitingfamily in Buffalo.
Yeah, but they found me andthey came here and took photos
in it.
That's so cool.
So it's been a unique and Ithink TikTok is another reason
it's become popular.
I think there's a lot of videoson TikTok of people getting
their photos taken in it.
So I've been inspired by thosevideos to make my own.
(37:10):
Yeah, and the couples that Imake them for are very grateful
and they think they're very cute.
So that photo booth I haveplans to open it up more to the
public, where I'm going to havemore steady, open hours where
people can drop in.
I'll be here.
They could come and get theirphoto taken.
We mentioned the storedownstairs.
(37:30):
They're going to have moreevents.
I might put a sandwich boardoutside my door where people can
come up and take photos directpeople up, but I think it's more
just people finding the time tocome and get their photo.
Maybe they're going out withtheir girlfriends or boyfriend
or whoever and they will saylet's dip in and get our photos
taken.
This will be fun before we goout.
(37:52):
Or maybe I have an event, maybeI have a class.
I'm teaching a littlephotography Anything to bring
more people here and get theirphoto taken.
I want to.
I have a close relationship withthe Buffalo Film Group and it's
just a group of people thatstill shoot on film.
So I was at an event and Imentioned to one of the leaders
(38:17):
let's have a class here.
I want to teach everybody aboutthis photo booth.
It's just so fascinating sothey all thought that was a
great idea.
So I really want to stretchthat.
I want to just that.
I want to just have it moreopen to the community and really
teach people about what a gemit is and that we're kind of
lucky to have it here stillrunning in Buffalo, so it's
(38:38):
really cool.
Erik Arneth (38:39):
It's awesome to hear all the ways that you know
that original idea and that lovefor the Volkswagen bus you know
has original idea, and thatlove for the Volkswagen bus you
know has transformed into whatyou're doing, and just to think
about all of the differentpossibilities that can happen in
the future, all the differentways that this can go Right Is
(39:00):
it seems like the sky's thelimit, right, you know like, and
you can kind of follow yourpassions.
And I love also like theserendipitous nature of like you
have your old vintage cameraand you're at the wedding and
you just happen to take somefootage and you realize, oh my
God, this works perfectlytogether, the bus and this
camera.
It's just, it's a fun story.
Michael Mitri (39:19):
Well, and I'm a risk taker.
Okay, I am always thinking ofnew ideas and I do them.
Yeah, right, I haven't told youabout all the things that I've
done.
That totally failed.
Erik Arneth (39:31):
I'm sure there's hundreds more.
Michael Mitri (39:32):
Yeah, no, that totally failed though Okay, you
know what I mean or that Ididn't pursue.
Maybe the Buffalo bar was anexample of something that I
would consider.
You know, it wasn't a greatsuccess.
Did I learn from it?
Absolutely, but when I do havean idea, I do it, you know, even
(39:54):
buying that giant photo booth,that's 800 pounds.
It was a real hassle getting itup here, you know, but I bought
it.
I'm just going to do it, youknow, and when I bought it, I
really had no idea of where itcould go, or that anybody would
like it, or if people would haveas much passion about these old
photo booths as I do.
It turns out they do so.
(40:14):
Then, being inspired by that andnot being able to move that to
events, I built this.
We've been walking around thisgiant photo booth here and it's
kind of been the elephant in theroom.
This is something.
I actually just shared it on myInstagram last night for the
first time.
I bought it about six monthsago and I've been building it
(40:37):
and this is a photo booth.
It's an homage to the oldvintage photo booths, same style
and motif, but, um, it's goingto be digital, okay, and this
one it, uh, it.
I can disassemble it with justa couple tools and I have a
trailer and I'm going to bringthis to events.
So I'm this is another, this isthe future.
(40:59):
Um, nice, it's.
Uh, I'm gonna again give it thetheme of an old one, where I'm
going to have the red curtainsthat you draw, and to your
passion about the city ofBuffalo, I'm going to give this
a city of Buffalo theme.
There's a company that doeswraps, so I'm going to wrap this
(41:21):
with Art Deco design and Ithink on the other side there's
a big black panel.
I'm going to have an image ofBuffalo City Hall.
Erik Arneth (41:31):
Yeah, which is Art Deco the most Art Deco?
Yeah.
Michael Mitri (41:35):
If you notice, I thrifted this sign up there that
says photo booth and it's ArtDeco.
So basically I bought that signfor $50.
And then I'm like, all right,now I need a photo booth for it.
So I built the photo bootharound that sign.
So that's an Art Deco theme.
I'm going to have other ArtDeco writing and font, you know.
(41:55):
Just to say you know your photowill be delivered in five
minutes, or not five minutesimmediately, because it's
digital.
But I'm just that's you know inabout.
I would say in about six monthsthis will be completely
finished, hopefully sooner.
I'm being generous at that time.
But yeah, I just have to buildthe photo booth, and so that's
also the future.
That'll be the next big thingand I think, I think this will
(42:17):
be a hit.
I think, with the amount ofpeople that love that old,
vintage photo booth this at awedding is going to be, it'll
bring more than just a photobooth.
It'll bring an experience to anevent, and that's what I want
to do.
My business isn't about, youknow, my wife says nobody's just
hiring a camera.
You know they're hiring you andif you bring an experience for
(42:41):
them and you can, like I said,over deliver, that's what is
going to make them happy Totally.
So this photo booth, it will.
It'll pop it again.
There'll be no rules.
You know as many people cancram into it, and I think it'll
be a fun experience.
Erik Arneth (42:56):
I think so too.
Michael Mitri (42:57):
There are other of these, you know.
They're around the country andI dare to dream, but there's a
company that rents them outconstantly to like movie
premieres in Los Angeles, wherethey wrap the whole thing with,
like the last one I saw, it wasjust the Barbie movie and they
had all their image.
So, you know, maybe there's abig corporate event and if they
(43:17):
want to wrap it with whateverthey, you know their brand is,
it's not only the photos thatare branded that come out of the
photo booth, but people willtake pictures of this photo
booth, yep, of them in it,sitting in it.
Yeah, I want to make it look sobeautiful that people will.
It'll be a um, a spectacle atany event, and really a
(43:38):
centerpiece that might bringvalue to it, yep, so so I'm
really excited about this.
Erik Arneth (43:43):
Well, I know that after our conversation we're
gonna head over to the actual,actual vintage photo booth and
take a photo and show me theprocess of that and maybe we'll
do a little bonus content onsocial media of that.
I can't wait but for this partof the interview thank you so
much for sharing your story.
I appreciate you inviting me toyour studio and for giving me
kind of draw the red curtainback to the origin of your story
(44:07):
and all the things that you'lldo in the future.
I wish you the best of luck.
Michael Mitri (44:10):
Thank you so much .
I had a great time and I reallywish we were in the Volkswagen.
Well, let's do that again and Ican't wait for you to see that
up close.
That's really the pinnacle andmy passion of the business.
Everything else really derivesfrom that, but there has been a
lot that has been driven fromthat.
But, yeah, thanks forno-transcript.
Okay, so we are at the what is this place called
again.
Michael Mitri (00:07):
Well, I just call it my studio,
but like the actual place thatwe're at.
It's the food terminal, the Niagara Frontier
Food Terminal on Clinton andBailey
Erik Arneth (00:17):
This is a place that I've never actually been to
, So, when I pulled in I waslike wow, this is like taking a
step back in time.
I can imagine old trucksdriving in and out.
Michael Mitri (00:30):
It bustling yeah.
Erik Arneth (00:32):
Yeah, and I'm sure that there's pictures and maybe
videos of the bustling days assoon as video.
Michael Mitri (00:39):
You know I think it predates.
You know common video.
You know I think it's beenaround since the 20s or 30s.
So yeah, through the years 50s,60s, 70s, 80s it's been here
forever.
I'm sure there's video throughthe years.
Erik Arneth (00:50):
Yeah, yeah, and there's a market downstairs too.
Michael Mitri (00:53):
There's a nice market the Nickel Plate, yeah
and I kind of describe it as abig Etsy where it's all homemade
goods from local artists andvendors that sell everything you
can imagine.
Yeah, really local.
You know.
Erik Arneth (01:11):
Yes, it's really cool because when I was walking
down there with you and you gaveme a little tour, I was seeing
some of the vendors that I'veinterviewed market vendors and
they have their stuff at thisshop the Nickel Plate and so I
love how it all comes together.
Michael Mitri (01:27):
Yeah, it's great.
Erik Arneth (01:28):
Here you are upstairs.
You're the owner of BuffaloLove Bus,
that's right
, and I've seen you on social media a bunch, yeah
yeah, and we've never met before.
But I appreciate you invitingme to the studio and just for us
to be able to have aconversation.
I don't know if you've listenedto anything that I've done.
I don't expect that you did,but,
Michael Mitri (01:46):
um, no, I like everything you're doing.
It's been great.
Erik Arneth (01:48):
Yeah, the whole goal is to hear your story,
because I personally, even if Ididn't have any listeners uh,
and even at this point I don'thave that many, right but I
personally love to hear thestory of somebody who had a
passion and they just starteddoing it.
A lot of times, these peoplethat I've talked to weren't
(02:11):
making any money doing it.
At first, it was just a passion, a side project or something,
and they decided to take a riskand put themselves out there.
You know, yeah, and it turnedinto something, and that story
is inspiring to me.
Michael Mitri (02:26):
That is similar to my story, so obviously I kind
of wish we were sitting in myVolkswagen bus right now or
around that.
So that business really runsfrom about May to October.
Because a Volkswagen doesn'tdrive in the wintertime, it
(02:47):
doesn't really have heat, it hasa long way to travel, the
engine's in the back and that'swhere the heat comes from.
So I don't drive them in thewintertime, I store them and I
bring it out.
I look forward to bringing itout in May.
And the whole origin of thisbusiness is because I'm really a
Volkswagen enthusiast.
(03:07):
I actually own three busesright now and I bought my first
one in my early 20s and I stillown it and on my social media
you might see way back that'sthe first Buffalo bus.
I had an orange VolkswagenWestfalia, which is a camper
model with the top that pops up.
Erik Arneth (03:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw a picture on the website
actually.
Michael Mitri (03:31):
Yeah, so I have.
I've had that forever andthat's kind of my baby.
You know I've traveled all overthe country and that mostly on
the East coast.
Did you call it the Buffalo busbefore it was?
No, no, I didn't.
And, as a matter of fact, theorange bus.
You know, having owned it for20 years, before the business, I
never gave it a name, and carenthusiasts will often give
(03:54):
their cars a name and I just.
I just call it my orangeVolkswagen bus, if that's its
name, or just the orange bus.
Erik Arneth (04:00):
Did the thought of naming it never occur to you, or
did you just never want to?
Michael Mitri (04:04):
What's that called Personification?
Is that the right word when yougive a name to an anatomic?
yeah, I know what you'retalking about.
Is that the right word?
I'm not sure, but I just neverwanted to do that and give I
don't know, it's just not my, Ijust thought it was cheesy, I
guess, so I didn't want to giveit a name.
Okay, so no, I didn't name itthe Buffalo Bus from the time I
bought it, although I probablyyou know.
(04:26):
So I had that and I had beenagain.
I traveled to Florida in it andI traveled all around in it and
then I got into photography andI really found another passion
for photography and I guess youcan just say quite quickly, I
(04:46):
just combined the two passionstogether.
I think I was bumping around onYouTube and I saw videos about
photo booths and I thought theywere easy to make.
You know, I would think theywould be.
I made one right, so I made onein a week.
Erik Arneth (05:06):
So it was actually easy to make.
Michael Mitri (05:09):
Yeah For me, if you like doing that stuff, if
you like making photo booths.
I'm into technology.
My whole life I've been intocomputers and tinkering.
Okay, so things are easier.
If you like doing them, sure,yeah, of course, you know,
Definitely.
So I built a photo booth juston a tripod, with a camera and a
(05:32):
flash connected to a computerand a printer.
I think I had a little I stillhave it a Canon selfie printer.
So I and you know the firstphoto I took of myself that went
through the computer and cameout the printer.
It was super exciting, you knowI did it.
Erik Arneth (05:49):
Do you still have that photo?
I imagine yeah, I never throwanything out, that's gotta be
framed and put out somewhere.
Yeah.
Michael Mitri (05:57):
I'm sure I do, you know, at least digitally,
Cause I, yeah, I've neverdeleted a photo in my life.
So then I saw other peopleusing Volkswagens as photo
booths around the country.
People often come up to me thisis a brilliant idea, and give
me all this credit.
(06:17):
Well, I stretched the ideas andI made it my own, but I, I it
is a thing that other peoplehave done.
So I thought I want to do that,so I did.
I put the photo booth in the myorange Volkswagen.
Erik Arneth (06:30):
What year was this?
Michael Mitri (06:31):
Uh, 2016.
Okay, uh, might've been 2015,but I really my first gig was in
2016.
Okay so, um, I, I, uh, Icreated, yeah, right around then
I created an Instagram accountand I started promoting myself
and making a video.
And one thing I've learned that, uh, a Volkswagen bus just pops
(06:56):
off the camera.
Totally, it, totally.
It's just there's somethingabout it that, uh, it helped my
Instagram grow just by puttingthe bus in the photos, right, so
, combining it with the cameraand that it being a photo booth.
It wasn't long before I got myfirst gig and I used the orange
(07:22):
bus for a year and then I hadbought a second bus, the blue
one, and I had bought that to.
I've got some land where I liveand I was going to put it in
the backyard and build a deckoff of it.
You'll see some people in thecountry that have like a camper
in their backyard.
That's just almost like a guesthouse, yeah yeah, yeah.
(07:42):
Or they, just they.
So that was my vision.
But then I decided I really theorange Volkswagen is so
sentimental to me that I justdidn't want people smoking their
cigars and drinking beer andjust kicking it.
I wanted to preserve it morethan taking it out to events.
(08:04):
So that is when I decided tojust completely overhaul the
blue Volkswagen pivot from thecamper to making it the Buffalo
bus of what it is today and I'msure that the wanting to
preserve the orange one wasbecause of experience.
Erik Arneth (08:19):
You probably brought it to a couple of events
and somebody spills a beer andyou're like no you know A little
bit.
Michael Mitri (08:24):
I'm so laid back though even still, but I saw
where it could lead.
Yeah, yeah, and yeah, you'reright.
You're right.
I probably did act like that,feel like that a little bit on
the inside, but I never let itknown to anybody.
I didn't.
It's funny To this day now withthe blue one, let's pivot to
that one where anybody who'sever been in it or asked me
(08:49):
about can we get 10 people inhere.
My motto is I have no rules.
I really don't, and it's funnywhen you tell people that
there's no rules, they kind ofact a little bit more respectful
in a weird way.
You know they're like becausethey kind of know what the rules
are.
Just to be appropriate.
Erik Arneth (09:11):
Now, all of a sudden, they're putting rules on
themselves.
They kind of are.
Is this okay?
Is that okay yeah?
Michael Mitri (09:14):
Yeah, but to my point, I don't care how many
people can get in, I don't careif you smoke a cigar or if you
bring your beer in, and I wantit to be fun.
That's the entire image that Iwant to portray.
Is that it's fun, there's norules and it's not the most
(09:36):
beautiful Volkswagen on theinternet.
I don't have a 10,000, or maybeit would be even more now to
have it painted.
It could be $20,000 to have apaint job on it, and there are
other companies around thecountry that have a Volkswagen
that looks beautiful, but Idon't care if kids lean up
against it and scratch it or ifeverybody just stands around it
(09:56):
and leans up against it.
I want it just to be fun.
So if it gets scratched, I couldfix that or something like that
.
So I'm laid back in that way.
Um, in the end I wouldn't belike that with the orange
volkswagen.
Now you might see the orangevolkswagen during covid.
Um, I had to pivot my business,like everybody had to, and I I
(10:17):
started using both volkswagens,and people often wanted the
orange one as photo shoots.
So I'll, and I still do as abackdrop as a backdrop.
I rent them out for photo shoots, mini sessions, and that helped
me get through COVID.
It would be there were somemini sessions with just families
(10:38):
and they would come one at atime, 20 minutes in between, and
so I still drive the Volkswagen, I travel in it, the orange one
.
The orange one, excuse me.
And yeah, I use it as a as a Istill use it as a backdrop.
Erik Arneth (10:53):
So so that portion of your business where it acts
as a backdrop in front of somekind of whatever scenery that
they choose, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michael Mitri (11:01):
I did a mini session with.
There was this dance classthese little girls from Fredonia
and a photographer, one of herdaughters, were in the class and
they were.
It was a seventies theme.
They were all dressed like 1970leotards, so they were climbing
all over it and having a greattime.
So I did that.
It wasn't.
I think it was last fall we didthat.
Erik Arneth (11:22):
So yeah, but that was born out of covid, because
all of a sudden you couldn'tcram people in the van.
Michael Mitri (11:28):
that's right so exactly right you had to be
outside.
Erik Arneth (11:31):
That's, yes, such a common story.
Obviously any small businessowner had to pivot.
Yes, change during covid one ofmy neighbors is the owner of
roly polies, which is a localclimbing fitness gymnastics
center for kids.
Right right, and they pivotedby creating online videos that
(11:52):
kids can work out at home.
Right right, or there was, youknow, Bloom and Rose.
They're the Jew-ish deli.
Michael Mitri (12:00):
Okay.
Erik Arneth (12:01):
They make Jewish food, but it's not kosher Right,
right For the rest of us.
Deli, okay, make jewish food,but it's not kosher right, right
for the rest of us.
Um, they started to do um.
They would do um, like pre-madebags that were delivered to
people's homes.
Yes, and you know, just likethe creativity that people had
to have.
Yes, to keep their businessesgoing.
Yeah, but at the same time, alot of businesses were actually
(12:21):
born out of covet, becausepeople lost their jobs right and
all of a sudden it forces asudden, they were turning their
hobbies into a side hustle, andthen they might realize that
they wish they lost their jobfive years before.
Michael Mitri (12:33):
Yeah, you know.
Yeah, yeah, covid was.
I learned a lot during COVID.
Yeah, another thing that Istarted to do after COVID and
this I might not be the greatestbusinessman, I don't think I am
Before COVID, I would collect adeposit because I thought
(12:53):
that's what every photographerdid you collect a deposit before
a wedding or before a corporateevent or a family party.
And when people would call meand have to cancel their wedding
and cancel their birthdayparties and cancel their
corporate events, I wasreturning their deposits.
But on the phone with them whenthey were calling, they'd be so
(13:14):
grateful that I would just yeah, I'll send you the check or
Venmo right away.
They would tell me all thesehorror stories about other
companies and trying to getthrough COVID as well that maybe
had a policy where they didn'treturn the deposits and it was.
It was tough.
So from that point on, I don'tcollect a deposit.
(13:35):
My motto is only pay me afterthe event and only if you're
happy.
So like to a normal businessperson.
They might find that ridiculous,but I've never been stiffed um
at any event and have peoplecalled me um a few days before
(13:56):
the event to cancel.
Yeah.
Erik Arneth (13:58):
And maybe you would have lost out on business that
you otherwise would have hadbecause of that.
Michael Mitri (14:02):
What's that I'm?
Erik Arneth (14:03):
sorry, Like maybe somebody called you.
Like you book a weekend?
Yes, it's not ideal, right?
Michael Mitri (14:07):
But that's okay.
Yeah, you know so.
Then I sit home, I get to spendSaturday night with my wife.
You know that's fine.
Erik Arneth (14:15):
But that's a part of the whole.
Like business strategy andplanning is like what's better
to collect the deposit so youprotect yourself, you protect
your income.
But maybe you have a distraughtcustomer who's like I gave a
thousand dollar deposit and hedidn't give it back to me.
Is that person going torecommend you to friends?
right right, right, right, maybethe generosity and the honesty
(14:37):
of you know, don't even pay me adeposit, I'm just a guy who's
friendly, who, who wants to makeyour event better, and there
there's no rules and just havefun, that's it.
That maybe is actually betterfor your business than
protecting the bottom lineshort-sightedly.
Michael Mitri (14:54):
And it's nothing strategic.
Erik Arneth (14:56):
Yeah, it's just my nature, yeah it's just my nature
.
Michael Mitri (14:59):
I hear that I'm not going to, I'm laid back and
I yeah, I don't want to bringany.
I don't want the bride or anevent planner to have to stress
about the photo booth or haveany extra thoughts about it.
I want them just to expect meto show up, bring value to the
(15:22):
event, make everybody happy andthen go home and then they pay
me and that's it.
I don't want them to have tothink about any extra stress.
Erik Arneth (15:34):
So, uh, there's a lot of stress around weddings.
Michael Mitri (15:35):
Yes, there is unnecessary, yeah.
Now here's another thing thatI've.
I've been doing this, Um, whatis it?
Almost nine years now with thewith the uh, Buffalo bus.
Um, I, I have a lot of eventsand I've I've been to I don't
know how many.
I probably should have added uphow many weddings I've been to
and I have never, ever, had acouple that was super difficult
(15:59):
and you hear stories in thewedding industry that there
could be a couple that could bea little bit demanding or it
could be.
It's a stressful day and theycan sometimes take that out on
the vendors, but I have neverseen it, ever.
And I have a theory that thecouple that wants an old 1972
Volkswagen hippie van at theirwedding they're going to be
(16:21):
pretty laid back, chill peopleand it's been true, they're
always the coolest couple.
They're the couple that wantsan old hippie van at their
wedding and every single one ofthem have been great and have
been nice and I've never had abad experience.
Erik Arneth (16:35):
I've actually heard that before too.
I have some friends who arephotographers and they started a
wedding photography businessand other things too.
Family events, family things,whatever yeah, and they call
themselves High Five for Love.
Oh right, and they calledthemselves Hi-Fi for Love and
they said a similar thing.
Where the kinds of people whoare reaching out to a company
called Hi-Fi for Love were likeyou know it almost like narrowed
(17:00):
down the type of clientele justbecause of the name.
That's fair yeah.
Michael Mitri (17:04):
I mean my business narrows down the people
that don't like Volkswagens ordon't want a Volkswagen hippie
van at their wedding.
Erik Arneth (17:14):
They're not going to hire me.
Michael Mitri (17:15):
They just want a normal, traditional photo booth.
Erik Arneth (17:17):
It's cool too, because you already have that
the people who are going toreach out to a place, who's
going to bring an old Volkswagenbus, and the person who's
running the business has apassion for old.
Yeah, yeah, it's like theperfect icebreaker between you,
and the person who's running thebusiness has a passion for old.
Yeah, yeah, it's like theperfect icebreaker between you
and the client.
Michael Mitri (17:33):
And maybe half the time.
That might be a little bit more, but there's a Volkswagen
enthusiast in the family.
Maybe the bride always wantedone since she was a little girl
or vice versa the groom.
Erik Arneth (17:47):
There's definitely something that is very romantic
about the thought of aVolkswagen bus.
Michael Mitri (17:53):
Yeah, and I always say they're so Americana.
Yes, they're red, white andblue, but they couldn't be more
German at the same time.
Erik Arneth (18:04):
Well, they represent a lifestyle or a time
in history, or the idea of likeexploring, and they do.
Michael Mitri (18:13):
Yeah, and again, I wish we were here to show you.
Yeah, we will.
Someday I'll give you a tour ofit.
I'd love that.
I gave it a travel theme.
So I mentioned before I built aphoto booth.
I built the photo booth in theBuffalo bus out of a steamer
trunk, okay, photobooth.
I built the photobooth in theBuffalo bus out of a steamer
trunk, okay.
(18:36):
So I cut a hole in it for thecamera and I have a square for
the computer.
And it's a steamer trunk.
The curtains are maps and Ioften have old luggage.
So I gave it a theme of travel.
Cool, you know so, when you'regoing to go on a road trip.
But it could also be.
Here's another thing about aVolkswagen bus.
It's so versatile, especiallyfor the photo shoots.
But if a wedding has a certaintheme, it could be so boho,
(19:00):
bohemian, with the peacockchairs set up by them.
It could be Patagonia.
It could be like Colorado, witha little campfire and wood
chairs.
It could be Southern Californiawith surfboards, and you know
what I mean.
It's really versatile acrossmany different themes.
(19:21):
It could be Grateful Dead withtie-dyes and hippies themes, you
know.
So there's something that ifanybody has any just prior
feelings about what they see.
They bring it to the bus.
You know they have that thoughtabout it, seeing it that way,
very cool.
Now, I mentioned earlier thatonly runs in the summertime,
(19:44):
yeah, so I wanted to grow mybusiness and have work over the
summer or over the winter.
So I went to Las Vegas a coupleof years ago to a photo booth
convention and I bought a photobooth there.
You might have seen it's allmade out of mahogany.
And I keep the theme of vintage.
(20:05):
You know Volkswagen is avintage vehicle and old school.
Erik Arneth (20:11):
Oh my gosh, even in the studio here, and I'll take
some footage.
You have record players and oldcameras and a TV that looks
like it was in my grandpa'sliving room.
Michael Mitri (20:21):
It's also it's my nature I'm a collector and I
like a lot of vintage things.
So I bought a vintage stylephoto booth and that has been
great and it's really taken off.
It's a whole different businessthan a Volkswagen, but it also
stretches my business where Icould do a gig on the third
floor of a building you knowwhere I couldn't.
It expands my horizons as faras where I can do gigs, and also
(20:47):
in the wintertime.
So I've been doing that andthat has been a whole different
experience, but it has beengreat.
And the thing about that photobooth, too, that I really focus
on because I have a passion forphotography and, if you notice
on my Instagram or on the photosthat are taken with it, it's
(21:07):
really high quality.
Most photo booths are.
They're made for the memory.
They're made for the experienceof sitting in a photo booth and
having it take your picture.
The photos aren't always thebest quality, and that's okay.
Again, they're for the memory.
But I kind of wanted to gobeyond that and give a really
(21:29):
high quality photo that thatprints out and I give them
digitally as well.
Um, so that was uh.
When I bought that photo booth,I wanted to keep it as high of
a quality as the Buffalo bus.
So I built it myself, Um, and Iused, uh, all the software and
the cameras and everything andthe lighting, um, and the
(21:49):
lighting, to keep that themegoing.
So that's been really fun.
Erik Arneth (21:54):
Did I see something on the website about Buffalo
Bar too.
Michael Mitri (21:59):
I sold that oh did you, yeah, I did.
I sold that.
I built a bar out of a horsetrailer.
I uh, I just didn't promote itenough.
I uh again, I do everythingthat I want to do and that makes
me happy.
Erik Arneth (22:18):
That was just like the flavor of the year.
Michael Mitri (22:20):
Yeah, I had more fun building it.
Okay, you know, I, I spent awhole summer building it.
I, um, there's an Amish sawmilldown the road from me, um and
uh, um, mr Schlabach runs it andhe built, gave me all the, I
bought all the wood from him andI had a great time building the
bar and I sold it to another.
(22:40):
It's still in Buffalo.
Okay, um, let me tag the guywho owns it now and in your
social media yeah, so peoplewill go and rent it from him.
But I just I wasn't bringing itout enough.
I did.
I think I did four or five gigswith it and what I did with
that and I might buy, I might doit again, and the way that
(23:01):
worked is I would just drop itoff and pick it up the next day.
I was in no way, shape or formselling alcohol or even
expecting people to use it foralcohol.
It was called a bar.
But or form selling alcohol oreven expecting people to use it
for alcohol, it was called a bar, but you could have sold coffee
or donuts or flowers oranything you wanted from it.
So that was my model was justto build it, drop it off and
(23:22):
pick it up the next day.
Erik Arneth (23:24):
Yeah, and they handled all the things.
Michael Mitri (23:26):
Yeah, and I was working with a local bartender
company, but I just lostinterest and I didn't spend any
time marketing it.
Really, I did, yeah, a littlebit here and there.
Erik Arneth (23:43):
I'm similar in some ways where, if I'm into
something I'm so hyper-focusedon, it yeah, and then if I lose
interest, it's like I'm done.
Michael Mitri (23:51):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, let me turn my phone off.
Yeah, if that's how I am, ifI'm so, even sitting around in
the studio, and I do want totalk about the other photo
booths.
But I have a passion forsneakers, and this whole area
over here is where I make customsneakers.
Oh, you made these, yeah, soI've made these.
(24:16):
I've got a variety of differentones.
This is just like I was workingon trying to make them, so this
was a prototype, but yeah, I'vegot a whole section over here
and I've got a variety of customshoes that I make.
Erik Arneth (24:25):
So you're making these and selling them as well,
or you're just doing it foryourself?
Michael Mitri (24:30):
I'm just doing it for myself.
Okay, they're for sale, youknow, if somebody wants to buy
them or give me an order.
So I, and I'm actually going tomake them better, because I
bought this leather sewingmachine over here that right now
these are glued on and I'mgoing to sew them on.
(24:51):
That's how you do it officiallyyou buy some thicker leather
and you actually sew them on.
I've seen social media accountsthat do that yeah it's super fun
and I've got a pair that Ipainted.
I don't think they're at myhouse.
I gave them a camera theme andI wear them to gigs Nice.
So I painted a Canon camera onthe side and on the front it's
(25:12):
cameras and apertures and thingslike that.
So talking about just doingsomething that makes you happy
and it's rather time-consuming,therapeutic I guess.
Guess I could say making shoesis and this is a nice space here
for it bright lights and um, soI have a lot of nice big
(25:33):
windows.
Erik Arneth (25:34):
Yeah yeah, it's a nice studio, so I wanted to ask
about, like, um, a little bitabout what you were doing before
I know.
On the website there's a littlebio and people can read you
were in special education for alittle while.
Yeah, yeah.
Michael Mitri (25:48):
So after college I taught special education for
20 years and again always aVolkswagen enthusiast, so I
would travel in the summertime.
I still go on about one trip asummer with the Orange Camper.
Erik Arneth (26:08):
That's great in education.
You have the summer off.
Yes, exactly.
Michael Mitri (26:12):
So I'd go on one trip a summer and then it was
just going to the drive-in or toget ice cream.
So the Buffalo Love Bus reallygot me out there more.
You know where I'm now.
I'm driving it to events andthat's my favorite part about
being a Volkswagen enthusiastand owning Volkswagens.
(26:33):
So as I was teaching, I wasgetting more and more gigs and
more and more gigs and I justpivoted to just wanting to
follow this passion and do itfull time.
So I'm just I'll quickly sayI'm blessed that I have the
means to make that decision.
You know, it's Joy and I it'sjust the two of us.
(26:57):
So I had that flexibility to beable to pivot and just follow
this passion and take it to thenext level.
Yeah, again, I feel veryblessed that I'm able to do that
.
Erik Arneth (27:09):
It's good to have a level of humility and
gratefulness around what you'redoing too?
Michael Mitri (27:13):
Yes, exactly.
And so again, more and moregigs, and I am always thinking
about how I can improve thingsand make them better, and that's
fun too.
So, as I'm driving to events,I'm thinking about different
ways to make it better.
And maybe the latest thing thatI started a couple of years ago
(27:37):
as I'm driving to an event andI'm thinking about things and
being a collector of cameras anda photographer and things
vintage, I have a wholecollection of VHS video cameras.
So I thought, well, why don't Ibring one of these to an event
and see what you know, have funwith it?
You know what I was probablythinking I'm going to shoot some
video for my own social media.
(27:59):
I was going to take some videowith a VHS camera of the Buffalo
bus.
So I did a VHS camera of theBuffalo bus.
So I did, I brought it to awedding and I started doing that
.
But then I started dipping intothe dance floor and the mom and
dad speech and I just I had thecamera and I brought all the
(28:20):
footage home, I chopped it down,I created an Instagram post and
the bride she was crying, she,you know, she said she was
crying, she texted me.
It's the perfect evolution.
Erik Arneth (28:33):
You're already at the wedding.
Right, you're running thisvintage photo booth.
You have this vintage camerathat now you're filming the
wedding.
It's like right.
Michael Mitri (28:42):
So I I started doing that and it took off.
It was a hit immediately, ofcourse, and I have all the
camera gear, I have all theprior knowledge of how to
digitize it and, uh, and shareit with the couple or even the
event that hire me.
Um, so I started I and puttingthat as an add on.
(29:05):
Um, so I started I at puttingthat as an add on, and at this
time that we're recording this,um, if you um hire me for the
Buffalo bus and I'm alreadythere, it's a $300 add on, which
, um, I think is a margin thatis fair for the value that it
brings.
So more than fair, I know, Iknow, I know, I know, but I feel
like I'm already there, yeah,yeah, yeah, oh.
(29:27):
And some of the footage kind ofa lot of the footage I give the
camera to guests, okay, so onthe dance floor, you might see
the videos of everybody having ablast.
It could be like.
Erik Arneth (29:38):
It's even better that way.
Michael Mitri (29:39):
Yeah, yeah, like a home video who's this
photographer that nobody knows,or like my girlfriends with the
camera so I, I pass it off, andthey're all so, um, sometimes
when I pass it off, they'll, areyou sure?
Or they'll have never held onebefore, ever so, like they don't
know how to work it.
Yeah and uh, I said no, goahead.
(30:00):
And again, I have maybe ahundred, honestly, vhs cameras.
So even if they drop it orbreak it, it's the cost of doing
business.
It's fine, and they haven't.
But I'll have a lot of footageof just the ground.
If they're not paying attention, they have to turn it off or
something like that.
But, to my point, the footagethat pops off the camera from
(30:22):
the guests walking around withit is is can be great.
You could probably even rentthem.
Yeah, yeah, you're right, Iprobably could.
Erik Arneth (30:30):
Like I'm going on a trip, I want to rent it for a
week or whatever.
You're right I've got, and thenthey, they give it back to you
and you digitize it.
Michael Mitri (30:37):
Yeah, yeah, I could do that.
Um, a big expense with thevideo cameras that I I buy and
thrift and some people just giveme.
The camera might be 25 to 100,yeah, but the battery is 50
because they're third-partycompanies, yeah, so they don't
even make them anymore theydon't even make them right or,
if they do, they're veryexpensive.
(30:58):
Yeah, and unfortunately, likeevery brand has a different
battery, they're not alluniversal, so that's there is
cost of doing business.
But, um, I do it's.
It's an add on for either anyof my photo booths.
It's $300 add on.
If you, there have been couplesthat have hired me just to do
VHS and that's a little bit moreand that's usually a
(31:18):
negotiation.
Um, I think I started around$800 and up for just me going to
do that, and when I sell it orwhen I speak with the couple
that's hiring me for it, I makeit clear it's really just for
the reception.
Granted, that's usually theonly time I show up with the
(31:40):
Volkswagen, so it's a receptionvideo.
Now, sometimes I like to arriveearly and if the ceremony's
going on, I'll dip into that asjust a bonus again, just to
stretch it.
Or sometimes they'll want methere for the wedding and it
could be great as a photographerand maybe I'm just wrong
(32:08):
videographer, and maybe I'm justwrong I kind of recommend they
get their ceremony in 4K by aprofessional that you know it's
the most cutting edge technologyand I don't know.
That's just my view.
I guess it always depends onthe setting and where the
wedding is too, because I did doa ceremony on VHS.
That actually looks pretty good.
Have you been to Bill's gameswith your camera?
I have, yeah, oh gosh.
(32:28):
So I went to a Bill's game.
My vision was to make it looklike the 1990s.
Erik Arneth (32:34):
Yeah, okay, that must have been because I saw,
like recently I've seen videosof like oh my God, it looks like
the 90s, yeah, and I wonder ifit was you or not, that was me
and it was just pure artwork.
Michael Mitri (32:44):
It was.
I wasn't getting paid to dothat, that was just me wanting
to do something that was fun.
That's awesome.
I had a vision of it.
Looking like the 90s yeah, andthey're like the most viewed
videos I've ever made.
Anything bills related, oh yeah, just skyrockets.
Erik Arneth (32:58):
Yes.
Michael Mitri (33:00):
So it's funny.
So I made like two or three ofthem.
Erik Arneth (33:01):
Instagram keeps trying to pigeonhole me towards
the bills.
Michael Mitri (33:05):
Yeah, but yeah, they have a strong algorithm.
They gather everybody Totally.
But yeah, they turned out great.
Benny the Butcher is a localartist who was there.
Erik Arneth (33:15):
Yeah.
Michael Mitri (33:15):
I've heard of him and I met him and I got some
footage of him at a tailgate andI promised him I'm going to use
your song for the video I make.
And I did and that was apopular video.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So it was fun.
But, yeah, I'll carry a videocamera around with me just about
everywhere I go, and tailgatesare fun and there's a strong
(33:36):
connection with the Bills andthe 90s and vintage.
There are thrift stores justdedicated to 90s Bills gear, so
there's something about havingit on VHS that seemed to
resonate with people.
Yes, yeah.
Erik Arneth (33:49):
Yes, so that was fun.
Yeah, some of these vintageshops like just an old vintage
T-shirt from the 90s, $70.
Right People buy it.
Right Because it's just, it's apart of who we are Right right.
As Buffalonians, you know.
Michael Mitri (34:06):
Well, and you might be looking around and
wondering about all thedifferent things that I have,
from the cameras to the shoes Ihave a little bit of a fashion
line that I'm working on tooTotally different, pivoted from
photography.
But there is a strongrelationship between the fashion
subculture and group andphotography the fashion
(34:29):
subculture and group andphotography.
So I dipped into it by going tosome fashion shows with my
photo booth and shootingphotography and I got inspired
about by the artists at thefashion shows and came up with
my own little collection, and itis it's a Buffalo theme, so I'm
going along with that.
I'll have to give you aclose-up view of some of those
that I'm working on around alittle bit.
Erik Arneth (34:48):
Okay, so how about what about, like in the
immediate horizon, like thingsthat you're hoping to maybe
launch in the next year or two,that you wouldn't mind sharing
things you're excited about?
Michael Mitri (35:01):
Well, I think the biggest thing that has that I'm
excited about is the vintageanalog photo booth that I
recently bought.
In the last six months, I havea lot of different ideas and
plans for that photo booth and,for those of you that don't know
, this is a photo booth thatessentially has a darkroom built
into it.
Erik Arneth (35:21):
This is the one that's right over here?
Michael Mitri (35:22):
Yeah, it's right over here.
So there's uh.
It has a camera that takesphotos on special light
sensitive paper, where there'sno negative.
The photo is uh developed righton the paper and uh, it gets
dipped in a variety of differentchemicals and uh, and then
delivered in about five Actually, I think this one's about six
(35:45):
minutes it takes to develop thephoto.
So that photo booth is it's theonly one in Buffalo and it's
the only one that the closestone outside of Buffalo there's
one in Syracuse, toronto andthen Cleveland and probably
Pittsburgh or Penn.
You know, every big cityusually has one.
So I mentioned to you earlierhow there was a report done by
(36:07):
NBC News that there's about 200of them that are still remaining
working in North America.
So this is one of them andsince I bought it, I've been
promoting it on social media andpeople have been traveling from
all over the country just tocome and book time with their
photos in it.
By that I mean Toronto.
(36:30):
This weekend a couple fromCleveland is coming to do their.
I think it's not a genderreveal, just that they're having
a baby reveal.
Several people from the areahave come to do their engagement
photos in it, where they'llshow their ring.
And a couple came fromMinneapolis.
(36:50):
I think they were visitingfamily in Buffalo.
Yeah, but they found me andthey came here and took photos
in it.
That's so cool.
So it's been a unique and Ithink TikTok is another reason
it's become popular.
I think there's a lot of videoson TikTok of people getting
their photos taken in it.
So I've been inspired by thosevideos to make my own.
(37:10):
Yeah, and the couples that Imake them for are very grateful
and they think they're very cute.
So that photo booth I haveplans to open it up more to the
public, where I'm going to havemore steady, open hours where
people can drop in.
I'll be here.
They could come and get theirphoto taken.
We mentioned the storedownstairs.
(37:30):
They're going to have moreevents.
I might put a sandwich boardoutside my door where people can
come up and take photos directpeople up, but I think it's more
just people finding the time tocome and get their photo.
Maybe they're going out withtheir girlfriends or boyfriend
or whoever and they will saylet's dip in and get our photos
taken.
This will be fun before we goout.
(37:52):
Or maybe I have an event, maybeI have a class.
I'm teaching a littlephotography Anything to bring
more people here and get theirphoto taken.
I want to.
I have a close relationship withthe Buffalo Film Group and it's
just a group of people thatstill shoot on film.
So I was at an event and Imentioned to one of the leaders
(38:17):
let's have a class here.
I want to teach everybody aboutthis photo booth.
It's just so fascinating sothey all thought that was a
great idea.
So I really want to stretchthat.
I want to just that.
I want to just have it moreopen to the community and really
teach people about what a gemit is and that we're kind of
lucky to have it here stillrunning in Buffalo, so it's
(38:38):
really cool.
Erik Arneth (38:39):
It's awesome to hear all the ways that you know
that original idea and that lovefor the Volkswagen bus you know
has original idea, and thatlove for the Volkswagen bus you
know has transformed into whatyou're doing, and just to think
about all of the differentpossibilities that can happen in
the future, all the differentways that this can go Right Is
(39:00):
it seems like the sky's thelimit, right, you know like, and
you can kind of follow yourpassions.
And I love also like theserendipitous nature of like you
have your old vintage cameraand you're at the wedding and
you just happen to take somefootage and you realize, oh my
God, this works perfectlytogether, the bus and this
camera.
It's just, it's a fun story.
Michael Mitri (39:19):
Well, and I'm a risk taker.
Okay, I am always thinking ofnew ideas and I do them.
Yeah, right, I haven't told youabout all the things that I've
done.
That totally failed.
Erik Arneth (39:31):
I'm sure there's hundreds more.
Michael Mitri (39:32):
Yeah, no, that totally failed though Okay, you
know what I mean or that Ididn't pursue.
Maybe the Buffalo bar was anexample of something that I
would consider.
You know, it wasn't a greatsuccess.
Did I learn from it?
Absolutely, but when I do havean idea, I do it, you know, even
(39:54):
buying that giant photo booth,that's 800 pounds.
It was a real hassle getting itup here, you know, but I bought
it.
I'm just going to do it, youknow, and when I bought it, I
really had no idea of where itcould go, or that anybody would
like it, or if people would haveas much passion about these old
photo booths as I do.
It turns out they do so.
(40:14):
Then, being inspired by that andnot being able to move that to
events, I built this.
We've been walking around thisgiant photo booth here and it's
kind of been the elephant in theroom.
This is something.
I actually just shared it on myInstagram last night for the
first time.
I bought it about six monthsago and I've been building it
(40:37):
and this is a photo booth.
It's an homage to the oldvintage photo booths, same style
and motif, but, um, it's goingto be digital, okay, and this
one it, uh, it.
I can disassemble it with justa couple tools and I have a
trailer and I'm going to bringthis to events.
So I'm this is another, this isthe future.
(40:59):
Um, nice, it's.
Uh, I'm gonna again give it thetheme of an old one, where I'm
going to have the red curtainsthat you draw, and to your
passion about the city ofBuffalo, I'm going to give this
a city of Buffalo theme.
There's a company that doeswraps, so I'm going to wrap this
(41:21):
with Art Deco design and Ithink on the other side there's
a big black panel.
I'm going to have an image ofBuffalo City Hall.
Erik Arneth (41:31):
Yeah, which is Art Deco the most Art Deco?
Yeah.
Michael Mitri (41:35):
If you notice, I thrifted this sign up there that
says photo booth and it's ArtDeco.
So basically I bought that signfor $50.
And then I'm like, all right,now I need a photo booth for it.
So I built the photo bootharound that sign.
So that's an Art Deco theme.
I'm going to have other ArtDeco writing and font, you know.
(41:55):
Just to say you know your photowill be delivered in five
minutes, or not five minutesimmediately, because it's
digital.
But I'm just that's you know inabout.
I would say in about six monthsthis will be completely
finished, hopefully sooner.
I'm being generous at that time.
But yeah, I just have to buildthe photo booth, and so that's
also the future.
That'll be the next big thingand I think, I think this will
(42:17):
be a hit.
I think, with the amount ofpeople that love that old,
vintage photo booth this at awedding is going to be, it'll
bring more than just a photobooth.
It'll bring an experience to anevent, and that's what I want
to do.
My business isn't about, youknow, my wife says nobody's just
hiring a camera.
You know they're hiring you andif you bring an experience for
(42:41):
them and you can, like I said,over deliver, that's what is
going to make them happy Totally.
So this photo booth, it will.
It'll pop it again.
There'll be no rules.
You know as many people cancram into it, and I think it'll
be a fun experience.
Erik Arneth (42:56):
I think so too.
Michael Mitri (42:57):
There are other of these, you know.
They're around the country andI dare to dream, but there's a
company that rents them outconstantly to like movie
premieres in Los Angeles, wherethey wrap the whole thing with,
like the last one I saw, it wasjust the Barbie movie and they
had all their image.
So, you know, maybe there's abig corporate event and if they
(43:17):
want to wrap it with whateverthey, you know their brand is,
it's not only the photos thatare branded that come out of the
photo booth, but people willtake pictures of this photo
booth, yep, of them in it,sitting in it.
Yeah, I want to make it look sobeautiful that people will.
It'll be a um, a spectacle atany event, and really a
(43:38):
centerpiece that might bringvalue to it, yep, so so I'm
really excited about this.
Erik Arneth (43:43):
Well, I know that after our conversation we're
gonna head over to the actual,actual vintage photo booth and
take a photo and show me theprocess of that and maybe we'll
do a little bonus content onsocial media of that.
I can't wait but for this partof the interview thank you so
much for sharing your story.
I appreciate you inviting me toyour studio and for giving me
kind of draw the red curtainback to the origin of your story
(44:07):
and all the things that you'lldo in the future.
I wish you the best of luck.
Michael Mitri (44:10):
Thank you so much .
I had a great time and I reallywish we were in the Volkswagen.
Well, let's do that again and Ican't wait for you to see that
up close.
That's really the pinnacle andmy passion of the business.
Everything else really derivesfrom that, but there has been a
lot that has been driven fromthat.
But, yeah, thanks forno-transcript.
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