February 25, 2025 • 46 mins
Wedding films are often seen as simple event videos, but Luke Bernardi is changing that. In this episode, Dane Shoemaker sits down with Luke, the founder of Bernardi Films, to talk about how he’s transforming wedding filmmaking with original music, reality TV-style interviews, and cinematic storytelling. Luke shares his journey from freelancing for top studios to launching his own brand, the challenges he’s faced, and how he sets himself apart in the industry. He also discusses the business side of wedding videography, from pricing strategies to client expectations, and why sound design plays a crucial role in his films. Tune in to hear Luke’s unique approach to filmmaking, the impact of storytelling in weddings, and his vision for the future of Bernardi Films.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is the Shoemaker Films podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to Shoemaker Films podcast. I'm Dane
Shoemaker. I'm here with LukeBernardi, Bernardi Films. Luke,
how are you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah. Of course. This is this is fun. I think feel
like we started following eachother on Instagram maybe a year
ago or something like that. AndI don't do, wedding films at
all, but I'm just blown away bythe quality of the work you do.
I mean, there's such a widevariety that's out there that
you're getting with weddingstuff, but I feel like these
are, like, these are, like, highend films. And some of them are,
(00:45):
like, reality shows too. Right?Like, I wanna dig into that a
little bit. But, can you tell meabout, you know, how you got
into this?
You know, what's your businesslike? Your little bit of your
background?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Absolutely. So first, I wanna start. I feel like
there's a perception aboutwedding films, that they're kind
of a lower tier art form,especially in the filmmaking
community. I feel like peopleview wedding films as just a
thing you do to make a littleextra money. But, you know, I've
been doing wedding films forabout ten years now, and I've
really just decided how can weelevate the art forms that's a
(01:19):
more respected, form of, like,filmmaking.
And so the way we we do that isthrough original compositions.
So we're making our own music tothe wedding film. We're the only
video company in the world thatmakes our own wedding film
music. And we also incorporatethose reality TV style
interviews. So we'reinterviewing the friends and
(01:40):
family.
We're interviewing the parents,the bridal party, and we're
telling the story from theperspective of the people that
know the couple the most.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
What is that what is that process? I mean, well,
before we get into that, like,how did you what's been the
evolution of, like, when whatwas your first wedding that you
shot, and, like, what has thatprogression looked like over the
last couple years or decade? Idon't know how long you've been
in the business.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So Yeah. So I've been I started filming weddings when
I was in high school. I gotreally lucky. I had a great
mentor in high school, Jeff Ash,who kinda brought me along as an
assistant for his business andkinda just showed me the basics.
And man, my wedding films fromwhen I first started to now,
it's completely, it's completelydifferent, to imagine, like
(02:28):
yeah.
Basically, I've been doing thisfor about over a decade now. And
so I've been working for all thetop studios, just, you know, you
kind of freelance in thebeginning. You're just working
for whoever you can find to giveyou jobs. Right? In 2020, we all
lost our jobs, essentially, inthe wedding industry.
(02:50):
So I use that time to just kindof reflect and be like, I need
to be in control of my ownfinancial future. You know, I
can't be dependent on otherpeople, for my life. You know?
So I decided to start my ownbusiness and just use all the
things that I've learned fromthose past ten years and all the
good things and all the badthings to avoid. And I started
(03:13):
Bernardi films and then theoriginal music thing came in
because I've been a musician mywhole life.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I'm really a musician that got a camera. Right? So I
was like, how can I work thismusician this like talent that I
have into my films? And so I waslike, why don't we just make our
own music to the wedding film?Because I found that everything
was everything was just toodramatic or either too campy,
(03:39):
you know, with, like, royaltyfree music.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
There's always so much stock free, you know, stock
royalty music out there that,you know, there's probably a
lot, but
Speaker 3 (03:46):
yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I I was it was came out of
necessity.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
So and I feel like your style is partly the sounds
that you use. You know? We're sovisual as, like, filmmakers and
photographers. But, really, yoursound is equally as important to
what your style is. So I'm like,why don't we make our own
sounds?
You know? Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah. I always say that, like, video or, you know,
videos are are audio is the mostimportant part. Right?
Especially, like, I do a lot ofpodcasts, so, obviously,
podcasts are gonna be they haveto be audio. You can listen to
podcasts in the car.
But if you're listening to,like, a brand story or any
video, I always start with themusic first and then layer on
(04:35):
the, you know, interviews andthen layer on the b roll last.
So, like, the visual part isactually, like, the least
important part of a video in myin my opinion. So I'm I'm
aligned a % with that thatstatement.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah. When when we watch movies, what the
characters say we're notwatching silent movies. You
know? We wanna hear the thedialogue between the characters,
and I feel like that applies towedding filmmaking as well.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah. We've I feel like, there's definitely science
behind it, but, like, I feellike auditory stuff is, like,
jars more emotions. Like, youknow, you hear something, like,
you know, like the like an icecream truck or something like
that, and that immediatelybrings you back to, like, summer
when you were, like, 10 yearsold or something like that, and
you start feeling nostalgic andand stuff like that. So, yeah, I
(05:23):
feel like audio music is reallysets the tone for for something.
So, do you do do you compose alloriginal stuff for every every
video that you do, every weddingfilm?
Or
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Oh, we do it for the teasers right now. We do we do
occasionally do it for the fullwedding film. That's a bit a bit
more involved of a process. Butfor our teasers that we post on
on Instagram, we're doingoriginal music.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And a lot of it's yeah. I I mean, I gotta go back
and watch some of them, but it'slike it's it's like cinematic.
So you have these, like, pianohits Yeah. And then, like, you
know, these, like, you know,strings and stuff like that. So
how do you, how do you let'sjust go into that.
How do you come I mean, how doyou come up with musical
compositions? I mean, what whattools are you using? What
(06:08):
instruments are you playing? Youknow, what's that process like?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
You're right. So we use a lot of, samples through
Splice, a sample company. Yeah.And we kinda get, like, the the,
like, sounds and theinstrumental hits through there.
But I'm a piano player as wellas a guitar player and a a
vocalist.
So we are composing, like,actual songs with lyrics
occasionally when when we feellike it fits. Yeah. And so we'll
(06:34):
ask couples. We'll be like, hey.What are four artists that you
love?
Or, like, what's the lastconcert that you've seen? And
they'll give us they'll give usartists, and we'll base that
music in that world. So kind oflike a aggregate of all the
artists that they list will kindof make something that's kind of
inspired by that. Yeah. A a lotof videographers, honestly, I've
(06:57):
gotten a lot of negative DMsfrom other videographers.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Then do you know you're doing something good?
Yeah. Yeah. When Pete, you'regetting hate on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I get I got a I get a lot of hate from other
videographers on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Like, you're making you're making me look bad,
buddy? Or, like, what?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah. It's like, oh, now we have to be musicians.
I've I get that comment all thetime. They're like, it's already
so hard to make wedding films.Now you you're we have to, like,
score original films.
And I'm like, well, you don'thave to do that, but that's
something that I'm just bringingto the table to differentiate my
business from other businesses.No.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
You that is such a compliment in disguise that,
like, people are coming afteryou. Like, thanks a lot. Now we
gotta, you know, now we gotta beJohn Williams over here, like,
for for these weddings. I'mlike, that's how you you have to
do you have to be different,right, and set yourself apart
and take things to the nextlevel. Like, it's a competitive
field.
Sure. And that's, you know,that's awesome. Yeah. I think
(07:53):
that's great. I'm jealous.
The fact that you're actuallypeople are, like, DM ing you
mean things. That means you'redoing something good.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah. Yeah. I love mean comments on
Speaker 1 (08:00):
the Internet. It's great.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I live for it. Yeah. It's it's so funny because,
like, when you the moresuccessful you get is, like, the
more love you get, but also themore, hate you get. So you kinda
have to have the emotional,like, capacity to not get upset
over every little comment thatyou read on. Yeah.
Especially, like, we had awedding film, last year that got
(08:23):
over a million views onInstagram, which was, like,
absolutely nuts for a weddingfilm. Yeah. And and that the
amount of, like, comments justreading it was just so
overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
But that was really cool.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
That's awesome. Well, they're just so they're such
feel good. Like, I've I'veactually done I've done a couple
weddings, and they're great.They're fun. Like, the the
brides were amazing.
Like, it was it was a funexperience and, like, people are
just it's such an emotional dayand just people get, like I'm
not gonna lie. I've watched acouple of your films. I'm like,
oh my god. This is like this islike really good stuff here.
(08:56):
Like, you know, and, like, Idon't even know who these people
are.
Right? You know? So, it's justan emotional day. So, like, I
think everyone and especially ifyou're married or whatever, you
can kinda relate to, you know,you get kinda nostalgic about
your wedding day and stuff likethat. So
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I % agree. And, when we talk about, like, wedding
films being emotional Yeah. Iwould say there's a difference
between videography andstorytelling. Right? So a
videographer will capture anemotional moment, maybe like a
dad crying the first time hesees a bride.
Yeah. But a storyteller willtake the data side and be like,
(09:32):
what was going through your headwhen you when you saw your
daughter for the first time? AndI had this happen at one of my
weddings. He was saying he'slike, when I saw my daughter
walking down the stairs and Isaw her for the first time, I
was thinking back to when shewas three years old and I was
sitting there with my dad, hergrandfather. And we were just
like she was like playing dressup with like all the dresses.
(09:54):
Yeah. And he's like, I I wascrying because I was thinking of
my dad who who passed. And so hewas that's why he was crying is
because he was having thatemotional connection like I miss
my dad. And that made the thescene so much more
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Like emotional is like interviewing him
afterwards.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
How do you I mean, you you gotta plan this stuff
out, right, in advance. Like,hey. Your father of the bride
interview is, like, during thistime. Right? Like, you have to
have this stuff.
Because those weddings areinsane, like, the schedule.
Right? So Yeah. How do youmanage that schedule with, like,
the photographer, weddingplanners? Like, how does what's
(10:32):
that look like?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah. So one of the things that we really started
doing is doing multi daycoverage. So the day before
maybe at the rehearsal dinner,we'll get a ton of interviews.
We'll get all the family tellingthe amazing stories and it
really gets people into thewedding mood. Right?
So we kind of have the storyalready crafted before we even
show up on the wedding day. Sowe kind of like doing a mix of
(10:57):
planned and unplannedinterviews. So plan the day
before. Right? We'll do like aprofessional interview set up
like this, and then we'll dodrunk interviews at the end of
the night.
And I feel like I like the Ilike the dichotomy of, like,
planned, interviews and drunkinterviews. Yeah. Because it
(11:18):
looks a kind of, like, fun mix.You know? That's cool.
People say some wild shit,especially the groomsmen. So
it's some pretty you get somestuff that, like, you can't put
on the Internet. I wish I couldput all this stuff that we get
in the interviews on theInternet, but I would get
canceled.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah. I'm sure. Yeah. Do you give most of the stuff
then to the bride and groom?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Like Yeah. We give the full, uncut interviews to
the bride and groom, and it'shonestly their favorite part of
the wedding video experience.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
That's awesome. Yeah. We had our wedding filmed too.
It was this is back in 2016, so,you know, these were I don't
know if these were camcordersthat the the guys were using,
but it's just it's like nightand day looking at stuff that
you do versus, you know, fromalmost ten years ago. Right?
That was me
Speaker 3 (12:05):
with the camcorders. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And it's kind of an old concept, the interviews, you
know, because, like, peoplewould come up to the tables and
do it. We're just kind of, like,elevating it a little bit. So
what about, like, when did,like, the reality show style,
like, edits start popping up?Are people asking you for that?
Did you have the idea to pitchto a couple?
Like, how did that
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah. So there's actually a videographer in
Texas, Justin Porter, who Oh,
Speaker 2 (12:30):
yeah. I know him. Yeah. I follow him. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Justin Porter, he's kinda started the reality TV
wedding thing. Yeah. And it it'sa kind of a thing, like, it's an
old tradition that kinda isrevamped. And so we kind of just
our take on it is we do that,but it we kinda do it more in,
like, a Netflix doc style asopposed to, like, reality TV,
(12:53):
because we found that, like,some clients were kinda turned
off with the idea of, like, ourwedding being being a reality TV
show. Right?
Because often, like, what'sassociated with reality TV is,
like, controversy
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Drama.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Shit talking, drama.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
So we wanted ours to be, like, a little bit more
classy.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
So it's kind of like a classy reality TV show. It's
kind of what what I was goingfor.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Was there, I mean, any,
like, any really fun weddingsthat you've done that you you
know, any good stories or funnystories or, you know, things
like that you might wanna share?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Oh, I have a ton.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
So I actually filmed a wedding, last year where
Donald Trump showed up Oh, wow.At the wedding. And so I got
interviews of all the people,talking about, like, their
interactions with him. Likelike, they're going to the
bathroom and, like, they're and,like, Donald Trump walks in.
He's like, you boys are sogreat.
You boys are terrific. Like, thebest dressed guys in the world.
And that was just that wasreally fun to because that was,
(13:56):
like, one of my goals is tohave, like, a president in my
wedding video, and that was,like, one of the coolest
moments. One of my favoriteweddings, that I did last year,
the bride stepped on a beehive.It was nuts.
So she wants she she had thisidea that she wanted to, like,
get a shot of her her and herhusband running through a field.
(14:18):
Right? And the the husband'slike, I don't know if that's a
great idea, like, it's like tallgrass. And she's like, no. I
have a vision.
We're doing this. So they startrunning. We're filming it. And
then she just stops and shegoes, oh, shit. I just stepped
on a beehive.
And then a swarm of bees startattacking all the photographers
and wedding planners and all herbridal party. Everybody got
(14:40):
stung. It was absolutely crazy.So the bride goes back to the
bridal suite. Right?
And she has to take off herdress. Right? And there's bees
still living in the dress, andthey all, like, re attack
everyone. It was the craziestthing I've ever seen, but that's
probably the the most, like,nuts thing.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I can only imagine. Was anybody allergic or
anything? Or
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Thank god. We had to go puff some Benadryl, but Yeah.
Thankfully, no one wasdefinitely allergic.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Can you imagine if she, like, got bit on her face
and just puffed up, like, rightbefore her wedding or oh my god.
That'd be crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
The worst thing I ever heard was a bride getting
food poisoning on her weddingday, and she just spent the
entire day on the can. It's soso sad.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
That's well, this is one you were at?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Or this is not what I was at. This is what I I heard
about, But
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That would be yeah. That would be pretty bad.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
And my lowest moment was when I, crashed a drone at
an Indian wedding. I I thought Iwas trying to get a shot of the
the brat ceremony where they'reon the horse, and they're all,
like, dancing. Yeah. It was,like, they're sent off smoke
bombs. It was, like, the coolestshot.
I was, like, this is the thecoolest shot I've ever gotten.
And then I'm, like, alright. Igot the shot, and then I flew
fly back over the trees, to,like, land.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
And then I clipped a tree, and it got stuck in a
bush, like 30 feet high in theair. I couldn't get to it. I
tried for like hours, to findthis drone.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
So I I leave, at the end
Speaker 2 (16:07):
of the day and I
Speaker 3 (16:08):
go back home and my mom's like, you're finding that
drone. And I'm like, I can'tfind the drone. It's like buried
in like bush. And she's like,no. We're finding it.
And so she we bring likelandscaping equipment to this
wedding venue the day after. Andafter, like, three hours, I'm
saying, like, a prayer to, like,my my, like, grandfather. And,
(16:28):
like, we found if we find thedrone, like, on a cliff, just,
like, there, like, with thegolden rays of light on it, I'm
like, oh my god. We found it. Iwas so happy.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
And you got it? You got the footage? Yeah. Oh, man.
That's awesome.
Yeah. That is always one of myfears too. I've only crashed a
drone once, but I was able toget it, but it wasn't lost. So,
that's cool. I was gonna askyou, do you fly all your drone
footage too?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yourself.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Yeah. Yeah. We have a ton of, we have a ton of drone
footage of Philadelphia and andeverything. You know? But, yeah,
we use we use drone footagejust, like, as a,
Speaker 2 (17:09):
It's like establishing shot.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Establishing shot. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I think one of the one of
Speaker 3 (17:12):
the big, like, things in the wedding film world is not
to use drone shots first. It'slike a big it's kind of like a
cliche Yeah. That, like, therethere's, like, certain things
about, like really, like, allyou have is your preferences for
your style, and, like, apreference of mine is, like, no
makeup shots in in the film.That's, like, one things we
don't do.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Like, doing
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Like, I feel like every wedding video kinda starts
with, like, just makeup. Yeah.And I'm like, why would a bride
want shots of her before she hasmakeup on?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Just, like, stuff like that. That's just, like,
industry stuff that
Speaker 2 (17:46):
That's a good that's a good point. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Like, why would why would you want that? So we don't
do any of that.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
I do feel like, even with just, like, the stuff that
we do is, like, there's always aa drone shot at the beginning of
the video. I'm like, alright. Igotta stop doing this now. It's
like the establishing shot. It'snot establishing anything.
It's, you know, it has nothingto do with the rest of the
video, but, just drones aresick, though. You know? They're
fun.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
They're so fun when you don't crash them.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah. What do
Speaker 1 (18:14):
you what do you have? Who do you fly?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Mavic Air three.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yeah. With the the two, lenses. Okay. That's really
fun. So we can get, like,telephoto drone shots, which is
really cool.
Okay. I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Nice. So do you do any, do you do any any work
outside of wedding stuff?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah. We do we do, occasionally corporate stuff,
and and, we also make music.Like, I'm an artist. My wife,
Mia, is an, a musician, and Iwrite her her music. Okay.
So we have, like, music onSpotify and Apple Music and
everything.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Oh, nice.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
That's what I'm doing when I'm not doing wedding
films.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
That's what you really enjoy, doing the music.
Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yeah. Really, I'm just a musician trying to find
Yeah. That's cool. Find my way.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I, I played guitar for a long time. High school, I
was in a band and, DJed for alittle bit and then was, like,
producing electronic music,like, ten years ago, and I got
out of it. Found this stuff,which I I've enjoyed this
better. But, yeah, I Iappreciate what you do. So So
you do mostly corporate?
(19:22):
Mostly corporate stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Nice. I absolutely love the the work you do. It's
like I feel like it's really,like, a good representation of
the brands.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh, it's awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
In, like, a really a way that doesn't feel like an
ad. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah. We don't do a lot of, like, traditional
commercial stuff. Most of whatwe do is, like, you know, brand
building I don't know, like,next generation, like, kinda
brand building stuff, likeYouTube and podcasts and social
media content, stuff like that.And then we'll do a lot of,
like, brand story, like,corporate brand story stuff. But
(19:58):
I haven't done a lot of, like,ads, like, stuff that you'll
see.
I wanna get there. I wanna like,a nice high end ad, like a Super
Bowl ad. I would love to producethat, you know, like, someday.
But, I really like working with,like, entrepreneurs and business
owners and kinda be in theirmarketing arm in a way.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's so valuable Yeah. For, for an entrepreneur
to be the face of their businessand to be a present face on
their social medias. So I thinkthat's, like, where you really
kill it. It's it's such a bigbang for their buck to have,
like, a podcast of them just,like, sharing their opinions and
what makes them unique. So Ithink that's really valuable
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
More so than, like, a traditional
Speaker 2 (20:39):
ad. Yeah. I think we're gonna see more of that. I
hope. Because I feel like Ifound a pretty good niche with
that with, like, founder led,like, marketing, you know, you
know, as they build the businessthat you're kind of, like,
documenting that process.
And, so yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Yeah. It's like there's 20 businesses selling
the identical product. You know?It's like in Mad Men. It's like
you can say whatever you want.
So it's just the message thatyou wanna give out there, you
know, that that distinguishesyourself from all these
competitors, which areessentially making the same
thing they're making. So I Ithink it's it's so important to
be founder led.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yep. Mad Men is, like, one of my ultimate
favorite shows of all time.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Cool. That shit.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah. Yeah. Before I even got into it, like, in high
school, I was watching. I waslike, man, that's that's what I
I actually got into salesbecause part of that was, like,
I just I thought it was just acool like, Don Draper was, like,
a cool dude. Kind of a piece ofshit, but, like, also cool.
Yeah. So, yeah. What else sowhat's, you know, the music that
(21:44):
you make with Mia, what what'sthat like? Tell me about
Speaker 3 (21:47):
We're we have a big, pop punk influence
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
In our in, Mia's music. It's kind of like
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Do you have a band name or is it Mia or what's the
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Mia Cephalow.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Mia Cephalow. Okay. How about the check check I'll
have to check you out then.Yeah. And you play Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
I kinda do a lot of the writing, and some of the
guitar work, And we have ouramazing producer, Jeff McKinnon,
who, really elevates the the themusic, and we're trying to, like
she we can be the next thing.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah. It'll be fun. Yeah. Alright. Cool.
What's the, do you guys playlive at all? Or
Speaker 3 (22:25):
she so she's in a wedding band called The
Business. There's this weddingband, The Business. They tour
all around, like I
Speaker 2 (22:31):
think I've heard
Speaker 3 (22:32):
live casino. Like Yeah. And, they're awesome to
work with.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
The business is great. Like, if you if you need,
like, a wedding band, thebusiness is, like, gonna keep
the party going.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
So we we we really wanna work together. We haven't
worked together yet Okay. Likeour companies. But
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yeah. You almost have, like yeah. Yeah. So you
have the wedding band, you havethe wedding videography. You
just need, like, a photographer,and you guys kinda and a DJ, and
then you guys are ready to go.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yeah. We we added photography this year to our
wedding video Okay. Just becausewe found that, like, it's just
easier to control the schedule.Right? And Yeah.
A lot of our clients are, like,video first clients. Like, they
prioritize, like, the video. Sowe just needed, like, something
to we just needed to be incontrol of the schedule because
we we find that kind ofphotographers kinda dominate the
(23:19):
the wedding day schedule. Sothat's why we have to do a lot
of our interviews, like, the daybefore or, like, during the
drunk cocktail, like, during thedrunk reception times.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's smart, though. I think
people kinda want that one stopshop sometimes.
Like
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
You know, like, you and I know that photo and video
are so different, but somepeople just don't they kinda see
it as, like, one thing. Like, aphoto and video. It's, like, the
same, you know, same camera.Like, I'll be running around
with this thing. So I'm like,hey.
Can you take my picture? I'mlike,
Speaker 3 (23:49):
no. It's like I could, but you're not gonna get
it. So
Speaker 2 (23:53):
This, I can't. That, I can FX three, I can take a
photo with.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
No. That's cool. So do you on a typical day when
you're do you how many people ordo you have, like, a is it just
you or do you have a BCAM? Doyou have
Speaker 3 (24:08):
So we typically have two
Speaker 2 (24:09):
to three people Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
On a wedding day. I have a team of, 10, like,
contractors. Yeah. So it's apretty big team of people that
we, like, rotate in and out. Wehave a great editor.
And, yeah, everyone on the teamkinda, like, believes in our,
like, philosophy of, like, storyfirst, and we're we kinda have,
(24:31):
like we're alignedstylistically. So we can have
multiple we can have, like,three weddings a day, and
they're all kind of consistentacross, like, our style, which
is really awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah. Is that typical that you might have two or three
runnings going on in one day?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Yeah. Yeah. Especially for, like, busy days
like September. We usually have,like, almost usually, on most
Saturdays, we'll have, like, twoor three jobs a day.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
That's that's that's great. Yeah. So how have you
sourced, you know, thecontractors? I mean, are these
they're they're obviously tenten ninety nine employees, but
how do you manage that? Like,how how how did you go about
finding talent and how much haveyou had to develop that train?
Now we're moving over to CEO,Luke, here. Let's talk more
(25:17):
about the business. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Yeah. So it's, it's about half and half, like,
finding people
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And training people. So I've I've trained people, and
I've found people. I find thatthere's, like, pros and cons
with both. So the thing abouttraining people is you can have
them do it exactly the way youwant, so they don't have any bad
habits from, like, othervideography studios. And the
best thing about, like I feellike the key, honestly, when
(25:46):
hiring people is to just be atthe top of the rates for the
wedding videos.
Right? So, like, we're neverpaying people. Like, people
always return my calls because,like, I pay them the most. Like,
we do we do you know what Imean? I feel like, honestly, it
comes down to that.
It's, like, charging enough tosustain your business so that
(26:07):
you can pay your contractors,like, the top rate so that
they'll always prioritize you.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
So we end up getting, like, the best videographers, in
in the area, just because we wepay the most. And they kind of,
like, respect our style, andthey wanna I get I get messages
from, like, people all over theworld, like, wanting to join the
team and be a part of it, whichis really awesome. And I feel
like people like, when peoplesee the results on, like, social
(26:33):
media, they're like, oh, I wannado that kind of stuff because
it's also it's like when we paypeople the most and we also
offer creatively fulfillingwork, it's not just like wedding
videographer stuff. It's likewe're doing interviews and like
all this cool creative stuff,that they feel like they're
engaged with. So that's thecoolest thing about, like,
(26:54):
finding and hiring people,
Speaker 2 (26:56):
I would say. That's awesome. Yeah. I feel like when
you have when your expectationsor you set the bar high and you
pay well and you train people,like, people are are loyal.
Right?
And you deliver a great productand sure you treat people well
and you know? So yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
There's, like, a few things that'll kill a business
that I've seen because I've I'vebeen in this for ten years. I've
seen a lot of video I've I'veseen a lot of wedding companies,
rise and fall. Three things thatwill sync a wedding company.
One, not delivering on time. Soif you're delivering, like, a
year or two years after thewedding, you're cooked.
(27:34):
Two, not not charging enough isthe biggest mistake that I see
in the wedding industry. It's itdon't get me wrong. Like,
weddings are very expensive andpeople you know? But if you
don't charge enough, you don'thave enough money to pay
yourself or to pay youremployees and your contractors.
So if you have too much work,you end up getting burnout, and
(27:55):
then you can't deliver on time.
So I see that syncing a lot ofbusinesses. You have to treat
everyone with respect in thisindustry. I feel like if you get
a reputation of being oftreating people, like, unfairly,
that it's such a small communitythat, like, word word gets
around. Like, even, like, thestaff, like, of of the venues,
they work so hard. They work somuch harder than the
(28:15):
photographers and videographers,and sometimes I just see them
being, like, treated like thehelp, and it it just irks me.
It's, like, so sad.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah. Well, I I feel like, yeah, the wedding industry
is, like, its own thing, whichis why I've never I chose not to
focus on it just because, like,that that could be, like, what I
do then. Right? Because, like,you you know the photographers,
you know the wedding venue, youknow the wedding planners, and
the staff too. To your pointtoo, I used to, catering.
I worked for a catering companyfor many years at Suck. That was
(28:46):
so that was that was brutalwork. Just long, you know, long
day and not great pay. But
Speaker 3 (28:53):
The the catering company is like they work the
hardest, and they're the firstto get yelled at by the clients,
and it's just it's not fair forsure.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
But, oh, on pricing too. Like, my wife, the CEO,
always is hard for me to, youknow, you gotta raise your
prices. You gotta charge more.You know? Easy for you to say.
Yeah. But it's like you know,but she's right. Like, you know,
I think there is a perceptionwhere, okay, you know, if I'm
(29:24):
like, with anything. Right? Ifyou're if you're gonna if you
pay a higher premium, you'reexpecting a better thing, and
you almost have, like, moreconfidence that that is gonna
solve your problem or deliver onwhat you're looking for.
Right? So, you know, the higherend on something typically is
like, okay. I know they'reprofessionals. They're gonna be
(29:46):
able to handle it. But if it's,like, really cheap, it's like,
that's kinda what's wrong?
What, you know, what what'd youdo? Like, you know
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Your lowest paying customers will cause the most
problems with your business.They'll have the most they'll
expect the most. Your highestpaying customers will expect the
least and be happy because theytrust your your vision.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
It's so true. Yeah. Yeah. It really is true. And it
is important, like, as abusiness owner myself, like,
just learning all of the thethings that, like, you know,
you're not you're collectingYou're maybe getting like $25.30
cents on the dollar that you'rebringing home right after taxes,
(30:30):
after paying contractors, afterother expenses, right?
Like that. It's like all ofthose things you start learning
as a business owner. Like, wow,I really have to raise my prices
because I I need to eat and Ineed to pay my, you know, rent
or mortgage or whatever. Right?So, yeah.
For most people, this
Speaker 3 (30:48):
is kind of a a hobby. Yeah. They see it as like a
hobby and but to really go fulltime, you have to have the guts
to charge what you're worth.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I've figured that out very re very recently. I I just
went full time with thisbusiness, February 1.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Congratulations. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yeah. So I've been last three years been doing this
as a side hustle and veryquickly realized, you know, late
last year, I was like, okay.Like, we're running the numbers.
I'm like, definitely notcharging enough. Right?
And there's again, it comes withthat perception as well that,
like, if we're gonna be, like,the mainline video marketing
company, we we need to charge apremium. We deliver we're
(31:27):
delivering great res you know,great quality content,
delivering results for forbusiness owners. Right? And so
we gotta we gotta charge that.Right?
So, A %. Yeah. Yeah. We've hadthe opportunity to to talk to a
lot of entrepreneurs as well as,like, with this, like, with this
podcast, and it's been that'slike it's been like an MBA, in
(31:48):
and of itself.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
So you've really positioned yourself as the
mainline videography studio. OrI I don't know if you'd say
videography studio. What do whatwould you consider your
business?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
We call ourselves a video marketing company.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Video marketing. That's a great
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah. Video marketing agency. Just because yeah. I
think, like, videography and,you know, no offense to video
videographers, but I just feellike that term, people just see
that, like, oh, you press abutton on with a camera, and
then you and then you're gone,you know, or whatever. But,
like, we try and be, like, atrusted partner with, you know,
(32:23):
these businesses.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
You can do podcasts. You can do ads. You can do,
like, all these creative, like,things. So I definitely feel
like marketing companies more anaccurate reflection of what you
do. Yeah.
And that's so valuable.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. It's getting more and
more valuable and, you know, Ifeel, like, a little nervous
with, like, some of the AI stuffthat's out there.
Not really, though. You knowwhat I mean? Because, first of
all, you can't replicate thewedding stuff with AI,
obviously. Right? What I do isfeel like not yeah.
(32:58):
Yeah. But I feel like what I dotoo is, like, more journalistic
documentary, more authentic typestuff. It's we're a long way
ways, if at all, from AI beingable being able to take out some
of that stuff, I think.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah. You can instantly tell when it's, like,
an AI Yeah. Ad or something.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Or Some of the b roll, though, like, hey. Like,
you know, if I need anestablishing shot of this, you
know, of this wedding venue,there's probably some day I'll
be able to just put plug in aphoto and I mean, you can do
that today. You can put in aphoto and it turns into, like, a
three second video or somethinglike that. So, but, yeah,
there's applications for it, butI think I'm not too worried
about it.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Going back to, like, wedding wedding videos, the the
idea of wedding videos beingkind of, like, a lower tier art
form. Yeah. I was talking withsomeone at one time, and they
said that they found, like, anold recording of their parents
who passed away, like an oldvoice mail, of of their mom. And
she said, like, that was thegreatest thing that she found
(33:58):
because she got to hear hermom's voice, and she forgot what
her mom's voice sounded likebecause she had been passed for
so long. And she's like, itbrought her so much, like, joy
and, like, the memories juststarted coming back.
And, like, that's my biggestinspiration with my wedding film
business is, like, I wanna getthese people on camera because
(34:18):
you never know how long you havewith someone. I I know, like,
we've we've all, like, lostpeople, and the idea of, like,
having a one on one conversationwith them again, you'd pay
anything for it. Like, it'sliterally, like, priceless. So
the idea that we can providethat on a wedding day, to people
(34:42):
to have that for forever, andmaybe, like, they find some
comfort later on their lifethrough that, that's, like,
kinda what motivates me, to keepdoing this.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah. That's great. I mean, that I agree. Like,
there's so much so many timesthat I feel like, you know, I'd
love to sit down with, you know,my parents or my wife's parents
and just kinda have, like, aninterview with them. And I
always wish that, like, I hadmore of that, like, with my
grandparents and stuff like thatbefore they passed away.
So, like, having those memories,like, kind of, like, solidified
(35:14):
within a family, like, is is soimportant and so cool. So I
agree. Yeah. Like, a wedding daycapturing that wedding day is
such an amazing, you know,product that you're putting
together for them.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
It's a great opportunity to get those people
on on camera.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah. Yeah. It might be the only time
Speaker 3 (35:30):
It's probably the only time It's the only
opportunity ever that you haveto get some of your family on
camera.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
So, yeah, it's it's such a rare thing to have all
these people in a room togetherthat love you. You know? When
when does that happen in yourlife?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah. Not often.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Yeah. That's so cool. So let's let's capture it. Yeah.
You know, weddings are aninteresting combination of,
like, a religious ceremony andan extravagant party, and I
always thought that that was,like, so interesting.
It's such a weird, it's such aweird world.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
You know? What was the most extravagant party or
wedding that you've ever beento?
Speaker 3 (36:07):
You know, I gotta be honest. Like, I've been to so
many nice I I've been to somany, like, expensive, classy
events that, like, theextravagance of it all doesn't
really, like, phase me anymore.I get more, invested when, like,
the family really loves eachother, and you can tell that,
(36:27):
you can tell, like, that thefamilies are really love each
other, and they're comingtogether for the the couple.
That's kinda, like, what whatreally excites me is when they
you you can tell that, like,there's a lot of love in the
room. That's what I, like,always remember.
It's like how how much they loveeach other. Yeah. You know? I
feel like that's, like, thatleaves a mark on me. Like, yeah,
there's, like, been, like,amazing, like, floral you know,
(36:49):
people spend, like, half amillion on just flowers, stuff
like that.
But you remember the vibe in theroom more than anything.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yeah. That's that's great. What about destinations?
Have you ever been do dodestination weddings? Or We do a
few
Speaker 3 (37:08):
destinations a year. One of my favorite destination
weddings we've done is we didthe Smoky Mountains in
Tennessee. That was really fun.You know, there's a there's a
saying in the photographycommunity. It's like, is it
luxury or is it Italy?
Like, basically saying, like, ifyou take any shot in in some of
these locations, it looksbeautiful. Like, Italy is just
(37:30):
cinematic and beautiful. Like,that's why there's so many
photographers in, like, Utahbecause you just take a picture,
and it's like the canyons, andit just goes on forever. It's
so, like, breathtaking. Sodestination destination weddings
are really cool for that in thataspect.
It's like taking your your workto a next level just by changing
the background.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
I mean, there's only so there's only so much beauty
you can extract from New Jersey.You know?
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Hey. New Jersey is actually, like, it's it's
sleeping on some, like, reallynice areas. Jersey gets, like, a
bad rap because, like
Speaker 3 (38:06):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Yeah. And, actually, I was just watching something
the other day because Netflix,you know, is building do you
hear about this? They'rebuilding, like, a billion dollar
Speaker 3 (38:15):
Oh, in New Jersey? Studio. Like in Lenox City.
Right?
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Up north, like for, like Monmouth. Fort Monmouth,
it's like a military base, sothey're converting into a
Netflix studio. And they're kindof, like, breaking it down
because you have the thebeaches, obviously. You have the
beaches. You have, like, Newark,which is kind of like could
could look like New York City,like downtown.
(38:39):
So you could film there, butit's not in New York, obviously.
And then you have I forgot whatthe other city is, but kind of
it's like a Washington DC looklook alike in Jersey.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Like Trenton?
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Trenton, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. So they're kind of
breaking it down all these, likeand then there's, like, the Pine
Barrens, and there's mountains,and, like and there's farmland,
South Jersey. Like, it's got awide variety, and they have
really good tax incentives, forthe filament tree now.
So Jersey's, Jersey's about toblow up, I think.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
I agree. Jersey has been, undervalued. Yeah. You
know? I think we're ready tomake Jersey great again.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah. It's always been like the, like, the like
like, between Philly and NewYork. You know? Just like the
taint between the Yeah. And, butnow I think, yeah, Jersey is
pretty great, actually.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
I'm from Jersey.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
I'm I love New Jersey. You know? I feel like
everyone leaves New Jersey andthen comes back to New Jersey.
So
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I was like because I grew up in Central Pennsylvania,
and so everyone out there isjust, like, white and, like, a
hick. And, like, and it wasawesome. I like my town was,
like I always joke was, like,varsity blues. Like, just just
kind of like if you're seeing amovie, just like just small town
football, like, Friday nightlights. Like, and then I, like,
went to school out inWestchester out out this way,
(39:59):
and, like, there was all thesepeople from Jersey.
And I was like, I've never metanyone from New Jersey. I was
like, wow. Like because and thenmy my whole, I don't know. My
whole perspective was based on,like, Jersey. What is it?
Like, the Jersey Shore show. Oh,yeah. Yeah. And then I was like,
these people are real. Like,this is real.
Like They
Speaker 3 (40:19):
are real.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
You know? But, yeah. I don't know. I like New Jersey.
So, anyways, so what's next forBernardi Films?
Speaker 3 (40:29):
You know, what's next for Bernardi Films is, we need
our Netflix documentary. I thinkwe need a Netflix documentary
about the wedding industry andfollowing around the crazy
people that exist in the weddingindustry because it's a it's a
funny group of people. And Ifeel like if if they had a
camera, if we did, like, areality TV show, I think it'd be
(40:50):
really entertaining.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
About, like, the industry, like, the people, like
Yeah. Photographers?
Speaker 3 (40:55):
Follow, like, the I'm gonna find, like, the the
nuttiest planners and, like, thenuttiest, like, photographers
and just follow them around andjust
Speaker 2 (41:02):
That would be that'd be fun.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I I think that would be really cool.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
Yeah. That's awesome. If you need a producer or
someone to hold a boom mic, I'llI'm happy to do that for you.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
Dude, we got we got New Jersey as, like, the the
film capital of the world. Weneed to make There
Speaker 2 (41:18):
you go.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
I would do I would love to make, I've always wanted
to make, like, a romantic comedyor, like, a bring back, like, a
sitcom. You know? I think thatwould be so fun.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yeah. My my goals, probably not for this year, is
to do a feature, documentary. Ihave no interest in narrative,
you know, movies, but a afeature documentary, you know,
that we that we put together andsubmit to film festivals, I
think. But then also, I'm I'mmanifesting a client win around,
(41:52):
like, a realtor. Like so kind oflike like a selling sunset or
some of these, like, realityshows, these real estate reality
shows.
I wanna do that for, like, abrokerage team around here.
Won't that be fun?
Speaker 3 (42:04):
That would be really cool.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Like, a monthly YouTube show where it's like
you're interviewing all these,like, realtors, you know, kinda
following their lives, themshowing their, you know, their
their homes, but kind ofgetting, you know, the nightlife
and whatnot. So, similar to,like, the reality show that we
do for the wedding, but do thatdo it for realtors. You could do
it for a variety of businesses.Right? So, I'm trying to find
(42:27):
that.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
They'll go downtown.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yeah. Exactly. There's so much you could do.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
I've yeah. I feel like that's gonna be a big
thing. Like, man because theyall wanna be they all watch
Selling Sunset. Yeah. They allwanna be that.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Yeah. And they have the money. You know? Yeah.
Although, yeah, I never got intoreal estate photography or
videography, and I won't justbecause
Speaker 3 (42:47):
So what you're do what you're trying to do is way
above, like, real estatephotography and videography,
which is just, like, how can Iget the cheapest photo video
Speaker 2 (42:57):
That's why I never got it? Doing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
But what you're trying to do is you're trying
to, like, actually make it makethese people, like
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Build a brand.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Yeah. So I think that's really cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
I've pitched a couple of them and they're like,
couldn't believe the price andyou know? But, you know, I'm
still figuring some of thatstuff out. But, like, you know,
I just feel like there's so manyrealtors out there that you how
do you differentiate yourself?Right? And you do that through
content.
It's any business. Right? Youyou need to you need to
differentiate yourselves throughthis through this medium. So
Speaker 3 (43:27):
Yes. A %.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
So, actually, on that topic too, I mean, you you also
do a lot of good, like,breakdowns, like, on your
social. Right? You do some nicereels where you kinda talk
about, you know, what's thatprocess been like? How you
market yourself?
Speaker 3 (43:43):
I'm so glad you asked me about that. Yeah. So I found
out a long time ago that peopleare more interested in watching
how you work over what you putout, over your actual work.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
So by showing, like, how I make the music, people
really respond well with thatbecause they feel like they're
on the journey with you. Andthat's really fun. I I feel like
that's an underutilized tool inthis business. Yeah. People just
think, like, they can post theirphotos, without any context, and
people will just, like, like it.
(44:17):
No. People wanna know the storybehind what you're doing. You
know? They wanna know, like, howhow are you doing that? You
know?
Speaker 2 (44:26):
So They wanna they wanna feel the struggle, you
know, and be a part of theprocess and be, you know, behind
the scenes and everything.Right?
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Yeah. I wanna take you along the journey with me.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah. You know? I mean, I didn't even know that
you composed your own musicuntil I saw, like, a reel of
you, like, sitting at yourcomputer with your guitar. I was
like, holy shit. Like Exactly.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:43):
It it's the difference between telling
someone something and showingsomeone what you do.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:49):
That's really important for differentiating
differentiating your business.Yeah. And the more you can do
that, the more you can showversus tell, the more successful
your social media will be
Speaker 2 (44:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
In my opinion.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Cool. Well, how can people find you?
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Oh, find me on Instagram and TikTok at bernardi
films. You probably seen me. Imake the original music to the
wedding films. We have, like,over 5,000,000 views on, on,
Instagram, so it's been reallyfun.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah. No. That's all. I really appreciate the work
that you do. I mean, it'samazing, like, the quality.
Like, there's I would neverreach out to anyone else like
any other wedding filmmaker. Ithink I just because your work's
so cool and, yeah. I justappreciate it. So, yeah. Nice
meeting you.
I mean, this is the first timewe've ever spoken. So
Speaker 3 (45:37):
Thank you so much. Yeah. Thanks for being on here.
Appreciate it. I appreciate you.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Thanks for listening today. This is an original
production by Shoemaker FilmsLLC. If you enjoyed today's
content, please considersubscribing on YouTube, Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, and whereveryou get your content. Follow us
on Instagram at shoemaker.films.If you're a business either
interested in our services oryou like to be a guest on the
podcast, please get in touch byusing the contact form on our
(46:04):
website shoemaker films dot com.
Thanks again, and we'll see younext time.
This is the Shoemaker Films podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to Shoemaker Films podcast. I'm Dane
Shoemaker. I'm here with LukeBernardi, Bernardi Films. Luke,
how are you doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:20):
I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yeah. Of course. This is this is fun. I think feel
like we started following eachother on Instagram maybe a year
ago or something like that. AndI don't do, wedding films at
all, but I'm just blown away bythe quality of the work you do.
I mean, there's such a widevariety that's out there that
you're getting with weddingstuff, but I feel like these
are, like, these are, like, highend films. And some of them are,
(00:45):
like, reality shows too. Right?Like, I wanna dig into that a
little bit. But, can you tell meabout, you know, how you got
into this?
You know, what's your businesslike? Your little bit of your
background?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Absolutely. So first, I wanna start. I feel like
there's a perception aboutwedding films, that they're kind
of a lower tier art form,especially in the filmmaking
community. I feel like peopleview wedding films as just a
thing you do to make a littleextra money. But, you know, I've
been doing wedding films forabout ten years now, and I've
really just decided how can weelevate the art forms that's a
(01:19):
more respected, form of, like,filmmaking.
And so the way we we do that isthrough original compositions.
So we're making our own music tothe wedding film. We're the only
video company in the world thatmakes our own wedding film
music. And we also incorporatethose reality TV style
interviews. So we'reinterviewing the friends and
(01:40):
family.
We're interviewing the parents,the bridal party, and we're
telling the story from theperspective of the people that
know the couple the most.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
What is that what is that process? I mean, well,
before we get into that, like,how did you what's been the
evolution of, like, when whatwas your first wedding that you
shot, and, like, what has thatprogression looked like over the
last couple years or decade? Idon't know how long you've been
in the business.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So Yeah. So I've been I started filming weddings when
I was in high school. I gotreally lucky. I had a great
mentor in high school, Jeff Ash,who kinda brought me along as an
assistant for his business andkinda just showed me the basics.
And man, my wedding films fromwhen I first started to now,
it's completely, it's completelydifferent, to imagine, like
(02:28):
yeah.
Basically, I've been doing thisfor about over a decade now. And
so I've been working for all thetop studios, just, you know, you
kind of freelance in thebeginning. You're just working
for whoever you can find to giveyou jobs. Right? In 2020, we all
lost our jobs, essentially, inthe wedding industry.
(02:50):
So I use that time to just kindof reflect and be like, I need
to be in control of my ownfinancial future. You know, I
can't be dependent on otherpeople, for my life. You know?
So I decided to start my ownbusiness and just use all the
things that I've learned fromthose past ten years and all the
good things and all the badthings to avoid. And I started
(03:13):
Bernardi films and then theoriginal music thing came in
because I've been a musician mywhole life.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
I'm really a musician that got a camera. Right? So I
was like, how can I work thismusician this like talent that I
have into my films? And so I waslike, why don't we just make our
own music to the wedding film?Because I found that everything
was everything was just toodramatic or either too campy,
(03:39):
you know, with, like, royaltyfree music.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
There's always so much stock free, you know, stock
royalty music out there that,you know, there's probably a
lot, but
Speaker 3 (03:46):
yeah. Exactly. Yeah. I I was it was came out of
necessity.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
So and I feel like your style is partly the sounds
that you use. You know? We're sovisual as, like, filmmakers and
photographers. But, really, yoursound is equally as important to
what your style is. So I'm like,why don't we make our own
sounds?
You know? Mhmm.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Yeah. I always say that, like, video or, you know,
videos are are audio is the mostimportant part. Right?
Especially, like, I do a lot ofpodcasts, so, obviously,
podcasts are gonna be they haveto be audio. You can listen to
podcasts in the car.
But if you're listening to,like, a brand story or any
video, I always start with themusic first and then layer on
(04:35):
the, you know, interviews andthen layer on the b roll last.
So, like, the visual part isactually, like, the least
important part of a video in myin my opinion. So I'm I'm
aligned a % with that thatstatement.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Yeah. When when we watch movies, what the
characters say we're notwatching silent movies. You
know? We wanna hear the thedialogue between the characters,
and I feel like that applies towedding filmmaking as well.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah. We've I feel like, there's definitely science
behind it, but, like, I feellike auditory stuff is, like,
jars more emotions. Like, youknow, you hear something, like,
you know, like the like an icecream truck or something like
that, and that immediatelybrings you back to, like, summer
when you were, like, 10 yearsold or something like that, and
you start feeling nostalgic andand stuff like that. So, yeah, I
(05:23):
feel like audio music is reallysets the tone for for something.
So, do you do do you compose alloriginal stuff for every every
video that you do, every weddingfilm?
Or
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Oh, we do it for the teasers right now. We do we do
occasionally do it for the fullwedding film. That's a bit a bit
more involved of a process. Butfor our teasers that we post on
on Instagram, we're doingoriginal music.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And a lot of it's yeah. I I mean, I gotta go back
and watch some of them, but it'slike it's it's like cinematic.
So you have these, like, pianohits Yeah. And then, like, you
know, these, like, you know,strings and stuff like that. So
how do you, how do you let'sjust go into that.
How do you come I mean, how doyou come up with musical
compositions? I mean, what whattools are you using? What
(06:08):
instruments are you playing? Youknow, what's that process like?
Speaker 3 (06:12):
You're right. So we use a lot of, samples through
Splice, a sample company. Yeah.And we kinda get, like, the the,
like, sounds and theinstrumental hits through there.
But I'm a piano player as wellas a guitar player and a a
vocalist.
So we are composing, like,actual songs with lyrics
occasionally when when we feellike it fits. Yeah. And so we'll
(06:34):
ask couples. We'll be like, hey.What are four artists that you
love?
Or, like, what's the lastconcert that you've seen? And
they'll give us they'll give usartists, and we'll base that
music in that world. So kind oflike a aggregate of all the
artists that they list will kindof make something that's kind of
inspired by that. Yeah. A a lotof videographers, honestly, I've
(06:57):
gotten a lot of negative DMsfrom other videographers.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Then do you know you're doing something good?
Yeah. Yeah. When Pete, you'regetting hate on Instagram.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I get I got a I get a lot of hate from other
videographers on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Like, you're making you're making me look bad,
buddy? Or, like, what?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah. It's like, oh, now we have to be musicians.
I've I get that comment all thetime. They're like, it's already
so hard to make wedding films.Now you you're we have to, like,
score original films.
And I'm like, well, you don'thave to do that, but that's
something that I'm just bringingto the table to differentiate my
business from other businesses.No.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
You that is such a compliment in disguise that,
like, people are coming afteryou. Like, thanks a lot. Now we
gotta, you know, now we gotta beJohn Williams over here, like,
for for these weddings. I'mlike, that's how you you have to
do you have to be different,right, and set yourself apart
and take things to the nextlevel. Like, it's a competitive
field.
Sure. And that's, you know,that's awesome. Yeah. I think
(07:53):
that's great. I'm jealous.
The fact that you're actuallypeople are, like, DM ing you
mean things. That means you'redoing something good.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah. Yeah. I love mean comments on
Speaker 1 (08:00):
the Internet. It's great.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I live for it. Yeah. It's it's so funny because,
like, when you the moresuccessful you get is, like, the
more love you get, but also themore, hate you get. So you kinda
have to have the emotional,like, capacity to not get upset
over every little comment thatyou read on. Yeah.
Especially, like, we had awedding film, last year that got
(08:23):
over a million views onInstagram, which was, like,
absolutely nuts for a weddingfilm. Yeah. And and that the
amount of, like, comments justreading it was just so
overwhelming.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
But that was really cool.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
That's awesome. Well, they're just so they're such
feel good. Like, I've I'veactually done I've done a couple
weddings, and they're great.They're fun. Like, the the
brides were amazing.
Like, it was it was a funexperience and, like, people are
just it's such an emotional dayand just people get, like I'm
not gonna lie. I've watched acouple of your films. I'm like,
oh my god. This is like this islike really good stuff here.
(08:56):
Like, you know, and, like, Idon't even know who these people
are.
Right? You know? So, it's justan emotional day. So, like, I
think everyone and especially ifyou're married or whatever, you
can kinda relate to, you know,you get kinda nostalgic about
your wedding day and stuff likethat. So
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I % agree. And, when we talk about, like, wedding
films being emotional Yeah. Iwould say there's a difference
between videography andstorytelling. Right? So a
videographer will capture anemotional moment, maybe like a
dad crying the first time hesees a bride.
Yeah. But a storyteller willtake the data side and be like,
(09:32):
what was going through your headwhen you when you saw your
daughter for the first time? AndI had this happen at one of my
weddings. He was saying he'slike, when I saw my daughter
walking down the stairs and Isaw her for the first time, I
was thinking back to when shewas three years old and I was
sitting there with my dad, hergrandfather. And we were just
like she was like playing dressup with like all the dresses.
(09:54):
Yeah. And he's like, I I wascrying because I was thinking of
my dad who who passed. And so hewas that's why he was crying is
because he was having thatemotional connection like I miss
my dad. And that made the thescene so much more
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Like emotional is like interviewing him
afterwards.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
How do you I mean, you you gotta plan this stuff
out, right, in advance. Like,hey. Your father of the bride
interview is, like, during thistime. Right? Like, you have to
have this stuff.
Because those weddings areinsane, like, the schedule.
Right? So Yeah. How do youmanage that schedule with, like,
the photographer, weddingplanners? Like, how does what's
(10:32):
that look like?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah. So one of the things that we really started
doing is doing multi daycoverage. So the day before
maybe at the rehearsal dinner,we'll get a ton of interviews.
We'll get all the family tellingthe amazing stories and it
really gets people into thewedding mood. Right?
So we kind of have the storyalready crafted before we even
show up on the wedding day. Sowe kind of like doing a mix of
(10:57):
planned and unplannedinterviews. So plan the day
before. Right? We'll do like aprofessional interview set up
like this, and then we'll dodrunk interviews at the end of
the night.
And I feel like I like the Ilike the dichotomy of, like,
planned, interviews and drunkinterviews. Yeah. Because it
(11:18):
looks a kind of, like, fun mix.You know? That's cool.
People say some wild shit,especially the groomsmen. So
it's some pretty you get somestuff that, like, you can't put
on the Internet. I wish I couldput all this stuff that we get
in the interviews on theInternet, but I would get
canceled.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah. I'm sure. Yeah. Do you give most of the stuff
then to the bride and groom?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Like Yeah. We give the full, uncut interviews to
the bride and groom, and it'shonestly their favorite part of
the wedding video experience.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
That's awesome. Yeah. We had our wedding filmed too.
It was this is back in 2016, so,you know, these were I don't
know if these were camcordersthat the the guys were using,
but it's just it's like nightand day looking at stuff that
you do versus, you know, fromalmost ten years ago. Right?
That was me
Speaker 3 (12:05):
with the camcorders. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
And it's kind of an old concept, the interviews, you
know, because, like, peoplewould come up to the tables and
do it. We're just kind of, like,elevating it a little bit. So
what about, like, when did,like, the reality show style,
like, edits start popping up?Are people asking you for that?
Did you have the idea to pitchto a couple?
Like, how did that
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah. So there's actually a videographer in
Texas, Justin Porter, who Oh,
Speaker 2 (12:30):
yeah. I know him. Yeah. I follow him. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Justin Porter, he's kinda started the reality TV
wedding thing. Yeah. And it it'sa kind of a thing, like, it's an
old tradition that kinda isrevamped. And so we kind of just
our take on it is we do that,but it we kinda do it more in,
like, a Netflix doc style asopposed to, like, reality TV,
(12:53):
because we found that, like,some clients were kinda turned
off with the idea of, like, ourwedding being being a reality TV
show. Right?
Because often, like, what'sassociated with reality TV is,
like, controversy
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Drama.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Shit talking, drama.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
So we wanted ours to be, like, a little bit more
classy.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
So it's kind of like a classy reality TV show. It's
kind of what what I was goingfor.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Was there, I mean, any,
like, any really fun weddingsthat you've done that you you
know, any good stories or funnystories or, you know, things
like that you might wanna share?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Oh, I have a ton.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
So I actually filmed a wedding, last year where
Donald Trump showed up Oh, wow.At the wedding. And so I got
interviews of all the people,talking about, like, their
interactions with him. Likelike, they're going to the
bathroom and, like, they're and,like, Donald Trump walks in.
He's like, you boys are sogreat.
You boys are terrific. Like, thebest dressed guys in the world.
And that was just that wasreally fun to because that was,
(13:56):
like, one of my goals is tohave, like, a president in my
wedding video, and that was,like, one of the coolest
moments. One of my favoriteweddings, that I did last year,
the bride stepped on a beehive.It was nuts.
So she wants she she had thisidea that she wanted to, like,
get a shot of her her and herhusband running through a field.
(14:18):
Right? And the the husband'slike, I don't know if that's a
great idea, like, it's like tallgrass. And she's like, no. I
have a vision.
We're doing this. So they startrunning. We're filming it. And
then she just stops and shegoes, oh, shit. I just stepped
on a beehive.
And then a swarm of bees startattacking all the photographers
and wedding planners and all herbridal party. Everybody got
(14:40):
stung. It was absolutely crazy.So the bride goes back to the
bridal suite. Right?
And she has to take off herdress. Right? And there's bees
still living in the dress, andthey all, like, re attack
everyone. It was the craziestthing I've ever seen, but that's
probably the the most, like,nuts thing.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I can only imagine. Was anybody allergic or
anything? Or
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Thank god. We had to go puff some Benadryl, but Yeah.
Thankfully, no one wasdefinitely allergic.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Can you imagine if she, like, got bit on her face
and just puffed up, like, rightbefore her wedding or oh my god.
That'd be crazy.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
The worst thing I ever heard was a bride getting
food poisoning on her weddingday, and she just spent the
entire day on the can. It's soso sad.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
That's well, this is one you were at?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Or this is not what I was at. This is what I I heard
about, But
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That would be yeah. That would be pretty bad.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
And my lowest moment was when I, crashed a drone at
an Indian wedding. I I thought Iwas trying to get a shot of the
the brat ceremony where they'reon the horse, and they're all,
like, dancing. Yeah. It was,like, they're sent off smoke
bombs. It was, like, the coolestshot.
I was, like, this is the thecoolest shot I've ever gotten.
And then I'm, like, alright. Igot the shot, and then I flew
fly back over the trees, to,like, land.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
And then I clipped a tree, and it got stuck in a
bush, like 30 feet high in theair. I couldn't get to it. I
tried for like hours, to findthis drone.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
So I I leave, at the end
Speaker 2 (16:07):
of the day and I
Speaker 3 (16:08):
go back home and my mom's like, you're finding that
drone. And I'm like, I can'tfind the drone. It's like buried
in like bush. And she's like,no. We're finding it.
And so she we bring likelandscaping equipment to this
wedding venue the day after. Andafter, like, three hours, I'm
saying, like, a prayer to, like,my my, like, grandfather. And,
(16:28):
like, we found if we find thedrone, like, on a cliff, just,
like, there, like, with thegolden rays of light on it, I'm
like, oh my god. We found it. Iwas so happy.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
And you got it? You got the footage? Yeah. Oh, man.
That's awesome.
Yeah. That is always one of myfears too. I've only crashed a
drone once, but I was able toget it, but it wasn't lost. So,
that's cool. I was gonna askyou, do you fly all your drone
footage too?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yourself.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
Yeah. Yeah. We have a ton of, we have a ton of drone
footage of Philadelphia and andeverything. You know? But, yeah,
we use we use drone footagejust, like, as a,
Speaker 2 (17:09):
It's like establishing shot.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Establishing shot. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I think one of the one of
Speaker 3 (17:12):
the big, like, things in the wedding film world is not
to use drone shots first. It'slike a big it's kind of like a
cliche Yeah. That, like, therethere's, like, certain things
about, like really, like, allyou have is your preferences for
your style, and, like, apreference of mine is, like, no
makeup shots in in the film.That's, like, one things we
don't do.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Like, doing
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Like, I feel like every wedding video kinda starts
with, like, just makeup. Yeah.And I'm like, why would a bride
want shots of her before she hasmakeup on?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Just, like, stuff like that. That's just, like,
industry stuff that
Speaker 2 (17:46):
That's a good that's a good point. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Like, why would why would you want that? So we don't
do any of that.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
I do feel like, even with just, like, the stuff that
we do is, like, there's always aa drone shot at the beginning of
the video. I'm like, alright. Igotta stop doing this now. It's
like the establishing shot. It'snot establishing anything.
It's, you know, it has nothingto do with the rest of the
video, but, just drones aresick, though. You know? They're
fun.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
They're so fun when you don't crash them.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah. What do
Speaker 1 (18:14):
you what do you have? Who do you fly?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Mavic Air three.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yeah. With the the two, lenses. Okay. That's really
fun. So we can get, like,telephoto drone shots, which is
really cool.
Okay. I love it.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Nice. So do you do any, do you do any any work
outside of wedding stuff?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah. We do we do, occasionally corporate stuff,
and and, we also make music.Like, I'm an artist. My wife,
Mia, is an, a musician, and Iwrite her her music. Okay.
So we have, like, music onSpotify and Apple Music and
everything.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Oh, nice.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
That's what I'm doing when I'm not doing wedding
films.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
That's what you really enjoy, doing the music.
Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Yeah. Really, I'm just a musician trying to find
Yeah. That's cool. Find my way.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
I, I played guitar for a long time. High school, I
was in a band and, DJed for alittle bit and then was, like,
producing electronic music,like, ten years ago, and I got
out of it. Found this stuff,which I I've enjoyed this
better. But, yeah, I Iappreciate what you do. So So
you do mostly corporate?
(19:22):
Mostly corporate stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Nice. I absolutely love the the work you do. It's
like I feel like it's really,like, a good representation of
the brands.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh, it's awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
In, like, a really a way that doesn't feel like an
ad. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yeah. We don't do a lot of, like, traditional
commercial stuff. Most of whatwe do is, like, you know, brand
building I don't know, like,next generation, like, kinda
brand building stuff, likeYouTube and podcasts and social
media content, stuff like that.And then we'll do a lot of,
like, brand story, like,corporate brand story stuff. But
(19:58):
I haven't done a lot of, like,ads, like, stuff that you'll
see.
I wanna get there. I wanna like,a nice high end ad, like a Super
Bowl ad. I would love to producethat, you know, like, someday.
But, I really like working with,like, entrepreneurs and business
owners and kinda be in theirmarketing arm in a way.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's so valuable Yeah. For, for an entrepreneur
to be the face of their businessand to be a present face on
their social medias. So I thinkthat's, like, where you really
kill it. It's it's such a bigbang for their buck to have,
like, a podcast of them just,like, sharing their opinions and
what makes them unique. So Ithink that's really valuable
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
More so than, like, a traditional
Speaker 2 (20:39):
ad. Yeah. I think we're gonna see more of that. I
hope. Because I feel like Ifound a pretty good niche with
that with, like, founder led,like, marketing, you know, you
know, as they build the businessthat you're kind of, like,
documenting that process.
And, so yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Yeah. It's like there's 20 businesses selling
the identical product. You know?It's like in Mad Men. It's like
you can say whatever you want.
So it's just the message thatyou wanna give out there, you
know, that that distinguishesyourself from all these
competitors, which areessentially making the same
thing they're making. So I Ithink it's it's so important to
be founder led.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yep. Mad Men is, like, one of my ultimate
favorite shows of all time.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
Cool. That shit.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Yeah. Yeah. Before I even got into it, like, in high
school, I was watching. I waslike, man, that's that's what I
I actually got into salesbecause part of that was, like,
I just I thought it was just acool like, Don Draper was, like,
a cool dude. Kind of a piece ofshit, but, like, also cool.
Yeah. So, yeah. What else sowhat's, you know, the music that
(21:44):
you make with Mia, what what'sthat like? Tell me about
Speaker 3 (21:47):
We're we have a big, pop punk influence
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
In our in, Mia's music. It's kind of like
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Do you have a band name or is it Mia or what's the
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Mia Cephalow.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Mia Cephalow. Okay. How about the check check I'll
have to check you out then.Yeah. And you play Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
I kinda do a lot of the writing, and some of the
guitar work, And we have ouramazing producer, Jeff McKinnon,
who, really elevates the the themusic, and we're trying to, like
she we can be the next thing.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah. It'll be fun. Yeah. Alright. Cool.
What's the, do you guys playlive at all? Or
Speaker 3 (22:25):
she so she's in a wedding band called The
Business. There's this weddingband, The Business. They tour
all around, like I
Speaker 2 (22:31):
think I've heard
Speaker 3 (22:32):
live casino. Like Yeah. And, they're awesome to
work with.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
The business is great. Like, if you if you need,
like, a wedding band, thebusiness is, like, gonna keep
the party going.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
So we we we really wanna work together. We haven't
worked together yet Okay. Likeour companies. But
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yeah. You almost have, like yeah. Yeah. So you
have the wedding band, you havethe wedding videography. You
just need, like, a photographer,and you guys kinda and a DJ, and
then you guys are ready to go.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yeah. We we added photography this year to our
wedding video Okay. Just becausewe found that, like, it's just
easier to control the schedule.Right? And Yeah.
A lot of our clients are, like,video first clients. Like, they
prioritize, like, the video. Sowe just needed, like, something
to we just needed to be incontrol of the schedule because
we we find that kind ofphotographers kinda dominate the
(23:19):
the wedding day schedule. Sothat's why we have to do a lot
of our interviews, like, the daybefore or, like, during the
drunk cocktail, like, during thedrunk reception times.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's smart, though. I think
people kinda want that one stopshop sometimes.
Like
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Sure. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
You know, like, you and I know that photo and video
are so different, but somepeople just don't they kinda see
it as, like, one thing. Like, aphoto and video. It's, like, the
same, you know, same camera.Like, I'll be running around
with this thing. So I'm like,hey.
Can you take my picture? I'mlike,
Speaker 3 (23:49):
no. It's like I could, but you're not gonna get
it. So
Speaker 2 (23:53):
This, I can't. That, I can FX three, I can take a
photo with.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
No. That's cool. So do you on a typical day when
you're do you how many people ordo you have, like, a is it just
you or do you have a BCAM? Doyou have
Speaker 3 (24:08):
So we typically have two
Speaker 2 (24:09):
to three people Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
On a wedding day. I have a team of, 10, like,
contractors. Yeah. So it's apretty big team of people that
we, like, rotate in and out. Wehave a great editor.
And, yeah, everyone on the teamkinda, like, believes in our,
like, philosophy of, like, storyfirst, and we're we kinda have,
(24:31):
like we're alignedstylistically. So we can have
multiple we can have, like,three weddings a day, and
they're all kind of consistentacross, like, our style, which
is really awesome.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah. Is that typical that you might have two or three
runnings going on in one day?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Yeah. Yeah. Especially for, like, busy days
like September. We usually have,like, almost usually, on most
Saturdays, we'll have, like, twoor three jobs a day.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
That's that's that's great. Yeah. So how have you
sourced, you know, thecontractors? I mean, are these
they're they're obviously tenten ninety nine employees, but
how do you manage that? Like,how how how did you go about
finding talent and how much haveyou had to develop that train?
Now we're moving over to CEO,Luke, here. Let's talk more
(25:17):
about the business. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Yeah. So it's, it's about half and half, like,
finding people
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And training people. So I've I've trained people, and
I've found people. I find thatthere's, like, pros and cons
with both. So the thing abouttraining people is you can have
them do it exactly the way youwant, so they don't have any bad
habits from, like, othervideography studios. And the
best thing about, like I feellike the key, honestly, when
(25:46):
hiring people is to just be atthe top of the rates for the
wedding videos.
Right? So, like, we're neverpaying people. Like, people
always return my calls because,like, I pay them the most. Like,
we do we do you know what Imean? I feel like, honestly, it
comes down to that.
It's, like, charging enough tosustain your business so that
(26:07):
you can pay your contractors,like, the top rate so that
they'll always prioritize you.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
So we end up getting, like, the best videographers, in
in the area, just because we wepay the most. And they kind of,
like, respect our style, andthey wanna I get I get messages
from, like, people all over theworld, like, wanting to join the
team and be a part of it, whichis really awesome. And I feel
like people like, when peoplesee the results on, like, social
(26:33):
media, they're like, oh, I wannado that kind of stuff because
it's also it's like when we paypeople the most and we also
offer creatively fulfillingwork, it's not just like wedding
videographer stuff. It's likewe're doing interviews and like
all this cool creative stuff,that they feel like they're
engaged with. So that's thecoolest thing about, like,
(26:54):
finding and hiring people,
Speaker 2 (26:56):
I would say. That's awesome. Yeah. I feel like when
you have when your expectationsor you set the bar high and you
pay well and you train people,like, people are are loyal.
Right?
And you deliver a great productand sure you treat people well
and you know? So yeah.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
There's, like, a few things that'll kill a business
that I've seen because I've I'vebeen in this for ten years. I've
seen a lot of video I've I'veseen a lot of wedding companies,
rise and fall. Three things thatwill sync a wedding company.
One, not delivering on time. Soif you're delivering, like, a
year or two years after thewedding, you're cooked.
(27:34):
Two, not not charging enough isthe biggest mistake that I see
in the wedding industry. It's itdon't get me wrong. Like,
weddings are very expensive andpeople you know? But if you
don't charge enough, you don'thave enough money to pay
yourself or to pay youremployees and your contractors.
So if you have too much work,you end up getting burnout, and
(27:55):
then you can't deliver on time.
So I see that syncing a lot ofbusinesses. You have to treat
everyone with respect in thisindustry. I feel like if you get
a reputation of being oftreating people, like, unfairly,
that it's such a small communitythat, like, word word gets
around. Like, even, like, thestaff, like, of of the venues,
they work so hard. They work somuch harder than the
(28:15):
photographers and videographers,and sometimes I just see them
being, like, treated like thehelp, and it it just irks me.
It's, like, so sad.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah. Well, I I feel like, yeah, the wedding industry
is, like, its own thing, whichis why I've never I chose not to
focus on it just because, like,that that could be, like, what I
do then. Right? Because, like,you you know the photographers,
you know the wedding venue, youknow the wedding planners, and
the staff too. To your pointtoo, I used to, catering.
I worked for a catering companyfor many years at Suck. That was
(28:46):
so that was that was brutalwork. Just long, you know, long
day and not great pay. But
Speaker 3 (28:53):
The the catering company is like they work the
hardest, and they're the firstto get yelled at by the clients,
and it's just it's not fair forsure.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
But, oh, on pricing too. Like, my wife, the CEO,
always is hard for me to, youknow, you gotta raise your
prices. You gotta charge more.You know? Easy for you to say.
Yeah. But it's like you know,but she's right. Like, you know,
I think there is a perceptionwhere, okay, you know, if I'm
(29:24):
like, with anything. Right? Ifyou're if you're gonna if you
pay a higher premium, you'reexpecting a better thing, and
you almost have, like, moreconfidence that that is gonna
solve your problem or deliver onwhat you're looking for.
Right? So, you know, the higherend on something typically is
like, okay. I know they'reprofessionals. They're gonna be
(29:46):
able to handle it. But if it's,like, really cheap, it's like,
that's kinda what's wrong?
What, you know, what what'd youdo? Like, you know
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Your lowest paying customers will cause the most
problems with your business.They'll have the most they'll
expect the most. Your highestpaying customers will expect the
least and be happy because theytrust your your vision.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
It's so true. Yeah. Yeah. It really is true. And it
is important, like, as abusiness owner myself, like,
just learning all of the thethings that, like, you know,
you're not you're collectingYou're maybe getting like $25.30
cents on the dollar that you'rebringing home right after taxes,
(30:30):
after paying contractors, afterother expenses, right?
Like that. It's like all ofthose things you start learning
as a business owner. Like, wow,I really have to raise my prices
because I I need to eat and Ineed to pay my, you know, rent
or mortgage or whatever. Right?So, yeah.
For most people, this
Speaker 3 (30:48):
is kind of a a hobby. Yeah. They see it as like a
hobby and but to really go fulltime, you have to have the guts
to charge what you're worth.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I've figured that out very re very recently. I I just
went full time with thisbusiness, February 1.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Congratulations. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yeah. So I've been last three years been doing this
as a side hustle and veryquickly realized, you know, late
last year, I was like, okay.Like, we're running the numbers.
I'm like, definitely notcharging enough. Right?
And there's again, it comes withthat perception as well that,
like, if we're gonna be, like,the mainline video marketing
company, we we need to charge apremium. We deliver we're
(31:27):
delivering great res you know,great quality content,
delivering results for forbusiness owners. Right? And so
we gotta we gotta charge that.Right?
So, A %. Yeah. Yeah. We've hadthe opportunity to to talk to a
lot of entrepreneurs as well as,like, with this, like, with this
podcast, and it's been that'slike it's been like an MBA, in
(31:48):
and of itself.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
So you've really positioned yourself as the
mainline videography studio. OrI I don't know if you'd say
videography studio. What do whatwould you consider your
business?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
We call ourselves a video marketing company.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Video marketing. That's a great
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Yeah. Video marketing agency. Just because yeah. I
think, like, videography and,you know, no offense to video
videographers, but I just feellike that term, people just see
that, like, oh, you press abutton on with a camera, and
then you and then you're gone,you know, or whatever. But,
like, we try and be, like, atrusted partner with, you know,
(32:23):
these businesses.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
You can do podcasts. You can do ads. You can do,
like, all these creative, like,things. So I definitely feel
like marketing companies more anaccurate reflection of what you
do. Yeah.
And that's so valuable.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. It's getting more and
more valuable and, you know, Ifeel, like, a little nervous
with, like, some of the AI stuffthat's out there.
Not really, though. You knowwhat I mean? Because, first of
all, you can't replicate thewedding stuff with AI,
obviously. Right? What I do isfeel like not yeah.
(32:58):
Yeah. But I feel like what I dotoo is, like, more journalistic
documentary, more authentic typestuff. It's we're a long way
ways, if at all, from AI beingable being able to take out some
of that stuff, I think.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah. You can instantly tell when it's, like,
an AI Yeah. Ad or something.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Or Some of the b roll, though, like, hey. Like,
you know, if I need anestablishing shot of this, you
know, of this wedding venue,there's probably some day I'll
be able to just put plug in aphoto and I mean, you can do
that today. You can put in aphoto and it turns into, like, a
three second video or somethinglike that. So, but, yeah,
there's applications for it, butI think I'm not too worried
about it.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Going back to, like, wedding wedding videos, the the
idea of wedding videos beingkind of, like, a lower tier art
form. Yeah. I was talking withsomeone at one time, and they
said that they found, like, anold recording of their parents
who passed away, like an oldvoice mail, of of their mom. And
she said, like, that was thegreatest thing that she found
(33:58):
because she got to hear hermom's voice, and she forgot what
her mom's voice sounded likebecause she had been passed for
so long. And she's like, itbrought her so much, like, joy
and, like, the memories juststarted coming back.
And, like, that's my biggestinspiration with my wedding film
business is, like, I wanna getthese people on camera because
(34:18):
you never know how long you havewith someone. I I know, like,
we've we've all, like, lostpeople, and the idea of, like,
having a one on one conversationwith them again, you'd pay
anything for it. Like, it'sliterally, like, priceless. So
the idea that we can providethat on a wedding day, to people
(34:42):
to have that for forever, andmaybe, like, they find some
comfort later on their lifethrough that, that's, like,
kinda what motivates me, to keepdoing this.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
Yeah. That's great. I mean, that I agree. Like,
there's so much so many timesthat I feel like, you know, I'd
love to sit down with, you know,my parents or my wife's parents
and just kinda have, like, aninterview with them. And I
always wish that, like, I hadmore of that, like, with my
grandparents and stuff like thatbefore they passed away.
So, like, having those memories,like, kind of, like, solidified
(35:14):
within a family, like, is is soimportant and so cool. So I
agree. Yeah. Like, a wedding daycapturing that wedding day is
such an amazing, you know,product that you're putting
together for them.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
It's a great opportunity to get those people
on on camera.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah. Yeah. It might be the only time
Speaker 3 (35:30):
It's probably the only time It's the only
opportunity ever that you haveto get some of your family on
camera.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
So, yeah, it's it's such a rare thing to have all
these people in a room togetherthat love you. You know? When
when does that happen in yourlife?
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah. Not often.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Yeah. That's so cool. So let's let's capture it. Yeah.
You know, weddings are aninteresting combination of,
like, a religious ceremony andan extravagant party, and I
always thought that that was,like, so interesting.
It's such a weird, it's such aweird world.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
You know? What was the most extravagant party or
wedding that you've ever beento?
Speaker 3 (36:07):
You know, I gotta be honest. Like, I've been to so
many nice I I've been to somany, like, expensive, classy
events that, like, theextravagance of it all doesn't
really, like, phase me anymore.I get more, invested when, like,
the family really loves eachother, and you can tell that,
(36:27):
you can tell, like, that thefamilies are really love each
other, and they're comingtogether for the the couple.
That's kinda, like, what whatreally excites me is when they
you you can tell that, like,there's a lot of love in the
room. That's what I, like,always remember.
It's like how how much they loveeach other. Yeah. You know? I
feel like that's, like, thatleaves a mark on me. Like, yeah,
there's, like, been, like,amazing, like, floral you know,
(36:49):
people spend, like, half amillion on just flowers, stuff
like that.
But you remember the vibe in theroom more than anything.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yeah. That's that's great. What about destinations?
Have you ever been do dodestination weddings? Or We do a
few
Speaker 3 (37:08):
destinations a year. One of my favorite destination
weddings we've done is we didthe Smoky Mountains in
Tennessee. That was really fun.You know, there's a there's a
saying in the photographycommunity. It's like, is it
luxury or is it Italy?
Like, basically saying, like, ifyou take any shot in in some of
these locations, it looksbeautiful. Like, Italy is just
(37:30):
cinematic and beautiful. Like,that's why there's so many
photographers in, like, Utahbecause you just take a picture,
and it's like the canyons, andit just goes on forever. It's
so, like, breathtaking. Sodestination destination weddings
are really cool for that in thataspect.
It's like taking your your workto a next level just by changing
the background.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
I mean, there's only so there's only so much beauty
you can extract from New Jersey.You know?
Speaker 2 (37:57):
Hey. New Jersey is actually, like, it's it's
sleeping on some, like, reallynice areas. Jersey gets, like, a
bad rap because, like
Speaker 3 (38:06):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Yeah. And, actually, I was just watching something
the other day because Netflix,you know, is building do you
hear about this? They'rebuilding, like, a billion dollar
Speaker 3 (38:15):
Oh, in New Jersey? Studio. Like in Lenox City.
Right?
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Up north, like for, like Monmouth. Fort Monmouth,
it's like a military base, sothey're converting into a
Netflix studio. And they're kindof, like, breaking it down
because you have the thebeaches, obviously. You have the
beaches. You have, like, Newark,which is kind of like could
could look like New York City,like downtown.
(38:39):
So you could film there, butit's not in New York, obviously.
And then you have I forgot whatthe other city is, but kind of
it's like a Washington DC looklook alike in Jersey.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Like Trenton?
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Trenton, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. So they're kind of
breaking it down all these, likeand then there's, like, the Pine
Barrens, and there's mountains,and, like and there's farmland,
South Jersey. Like, it's got awide variety, and they have
really good tax incentives, forthe filament tree now.
So Jersey's, Jersey's about toblow up, I think.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
I agree. Jersey has been, undervalued. Yeah. You
know? I think we're ready tomake Jersey great again.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah. It's always been like the, like, the like
like, between Philly and NewYork. You know? Just like the
taint between the Yeah. And, butnow I think, yeah, Jersey is
pretty great, actually.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
I'm from Jersey.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
I'm I love New Jersey. You know? I feel like
everyone leaves New Jersey andthen comes back to New Jersey.
So
Speaker 2 (39:37):
I was like because I grew up in Central Pennsylvania,
and so everyone out there isjust, like, white and, like, a
hick. And, like, and it wasawesome. I like my town was,
like I always joke was, like,varsity blues. Like, just just
kind of like if you're seeing amovie, just like just small town
football, like, Friday nightlights. Like, and then I, like,
went to school out inWestchester out out this way,
(39:59):
and, like, there was all thesepeople from Jersey.
And I was like, I've never metanyone from New Jersey. I was
like, wow. Like because and thenmy my whole, I don't know. My
whole perspective was based on,like, Jersey. What is it?
Like, the Jersey Shore show. Oh,yeah. Yeah. And then I was like,
these people are real. Like,this is real.
Like They
Speaker 3 (40:19):
are real.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
You know? But, yeah. I don't know. I like New Jersey.
So, anyways, so what's next forBernardi Films?
Speaker 3 (40:29):
You know, what's next for Bernardi Films is, we need
our Netflix documentary. I thinkwe need a Netflix documentary
about the wedding industry andfollowing around the crazy
people that exist in the weddingindustry because it's a it's a
funny group of people. And Ifeel like if if they had a
camera, if we did, like, areality TV show, I think it'd be
(40:50):
really entertaining.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
About, like, the industry, like, the people, like
Yeah. Photographers?
Speaker 3 (40:55):
Follow, like, the I'm gonna find, like, the the
nuttiest planners and, like, thenuttiest, like, photographers
and just follow them around andjust
Speaker 2 (41:02):
That would be that'd be fun.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I I think that would be really cool.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
Yeah. That's awesome. If you need a producer or
someone to hold a boom mic, I'llI'm happy to do that for you.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
Dude, we got we got New Jersey as, like, the the
film capital of the world. Weneed to make There
Speaker 2 (41:18):
you go.
Speaker 3 (41:19):
I would do I would love to make, I've always wanted
to make, like, a romantic comedyor, like, a bring back, like, a
sitcom. You know? I think thatwould be so fun.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yeah. My my goals, probably not for this year, is
to do a feature, documentary. Ihave no interest in narrative,
you know, movies, but a afeature documentary, you know,
that we that we put together andsubmit to film festivals, I
think. But then also, I'm I'mmanifesting a client win around,
(41:52):
like, a realtor. Like so kind oflike like a selling sunset or
some of these, like, realityshows, these real estate reality
shows.
I wanna do that for, like, abrokerage team around here.
Won't that be fun?
Speaker 3 (42:04):
That would be really cool.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
Like, a monthly YouTube show where it's like
you're interviewing all these,like, realtors, you know, kinda
following their lives, themshowing their, you know, their
their homes, but kind ofgetting, you know, the nightlife
and whatnot. So, similar to,like, the reality show that we
do for the wedding, but do thatdo it for realtors. You could do
it for a variety of businesses.Right? So, I'm trying to find
(42:27):
that.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
They'll go downtown.
Speaker 2 (42:29):
Yeah. Exactly. There's so much you could do.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
I've yeah. I feel like that's gonna be a big
thing. Like, man because theyall wanna be they all watch
Selling Sunset. Yeah. They allwanna be that.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Yeah. And they have the money. You know? Yeah.
Although, yeah, I never got intoreal estate photography or
videography, and I won't justbecause
Speaker 3 (42:47):
So what you're do what you're trying to do is way
above, like, real estatephotography and videography,
which is just, like, how can Iget the cheapest photo video
Speaker 2 (42:57):
That's why I never got it? Doing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
But what you're trying to do is you're trying
to, like, actually make it makethese people, like
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Build a brand.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Yeah. So I think that's really cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
I've pitched a couple of them and they're like,
couldn't believe the price andyou know? But, you know, I'm
still figuring some of thatstuff out. But, like, you know,
I just feel like there's so manyrealtors out there that you how
do you differentiate yourself?Right? And you do that through
content.
It's any business. Right? Youyou need to you need to
differentiate yourselves throughthis through this medium. So
Speaker 3 (43:27):
Yes. A %.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
So, actually, on that topic too, I mean, you you also
do a lot of good, like,breakdowns, like, on your
social. Right? You do some nicereels where you kinda talk
about, you know, what's thatprocess been like? How you
market yourself?
Speaker 3 (43:43):
I'm so glad you asked me about that. Yeah. So I found
out a long time ago that peopleare more interested in watching
how you work over what you putout, over your actual work.
Speaker 2 (43:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
So by showing, like, how I make the music, people
really respond well with thatbecause they feel like they're
on the journey with you. Andthat's really fun. I I feel like
that's an underutilized tool inthis business. Yeah. People just
think, like, they can post theirphotos, without any context, and
people will just, like, like it.
(44:17):
No. People wanna know the storybehind what you're doing. You
know? They wanna know, like, howhow are you doing that? You
know?
Speaker 2 (44:26):
So They wanna they wanna feel the struggle, you
know, and be a part of theprocess and be, you know, behind
the scenes and everything.Right?
Speaker 3 (44:32):
Yeah. I wanna take you along the journey with me.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah. You know? I mean, I didn't even know that
you composed your own musicuntil I saw, like, a reel of
you, like, sitting at yourcomputer with your guitar. I was
like, holy shit. Like Exactly.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:43):
It it's the difference between telling
someone something and showingsomeone what you do.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:49):
That's really important for differentiating
differentiating your business.Yeah. And the more you can do
that, the more you can showversus tell, the more successful
your social media will be
Speaker 2 (44:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
In my opinion.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Cool. Well, how can people find you?
Speaker 3 (45:05):
Oh, find me on Instagram and TikTok at bernardi
films. You probably seen me. Imake the original music to the
wedding films. We have, like,over 5,000,000 views on, on,
Instagram, so it's been reallyfun.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah. No. That's all. I really appreciate the work
that you do. I mean, it'samazing, like, the quality.
Like, there's I would neverreach out to anyone else like
any other wedding filmmaker. Ithink I just because your work's
so cool and, yeah. I justappreciate it. So, yeah. Nice
meeting you.
I mean, this is the first timewe've ever spoken. So
Speaker 3 (45:37):
Thank you so much. Yeah. Thanks for being on here.
Appreciate it. I appreciate you.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Thanks for listening today. This is an original
production by Shoemaker FilmsLLC. If you enjoyed today's
content, please considersubscribing on YouTube, Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, and whereveryou get your content. Follow us
on Instagram at shoemaker.films.If you're a business either
interested in our services oryou like to be a guest on the
podcast, please get in touch byusing the contact form on our
(46:04):
website shoemaker films dot com.
Thanks again, and we'll see younext time.
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