Julia and Alex | Short form film | Villa Ponti, Napa

Happy new year everyone!
I hope you had a great holiday season and that you are ready for what ever 2014 will bring us. I'm very excited with this new year as I see so many opportunities looming, and frankly, I have made my resolution to make 2014 my best year ever since I started cinematt.
One thing I've also promised myself for 2014 is to give more importance to the blog and to give you content you would like to read. It will have the usual and occasional films we shot of course. But I would like to also give you some tips to make your wedding a perfect day. So every now and then I will try my utmost to help you plan your day the best way possible.
Today I'm sharing a film that is dear to my heart as Alex and Julia are one of the nicest couple you could ever meet. Maybe it's the fact that Julia has spent sometime in France and can speak the language, but as soon as I met her it was an instant connection. To top it off my good friend Loic Nicolas was their photographer. Loic and I have been friends since 2009 and every time we shoot together we have a blast. I understand what he needs and he definitely knows what I'm looking for. Having such a chemistry is key to creating a great experience for the couple.
I knew that Julia and Alex wanted a film that doesn't feel scripted and per her own words "fake". It worked out perfectly and as I hope you can see, their personality shines throughout.
A big thanks to my team, Dennis, Miguel, and Jeremiah, you guys did a great job.

Liz and Eric | feature highlight | Healdsburg Gardens, California

As we are wrapping up the summer, and ready to leave to France on Monday for Valentine and Thibault's wedding in Bordeaux, I wanted to share with you Liz and Eric beautiful film. They got married in one of my favorite place, The Healdsburg Country Gardens. I have had the chance to film there a few years back alongside my good friend James, and was dying to do another one there.

This one is a bit particular to me as two weeks prior their wedding I had a scooter accident, and broke my Big Toe, which landed me in a walking boot for the next six weeks. Off course, I had six straight weddings to film to make things even better. So naturally I called Liz and Erick to let them know what had happened, but not to worry I will be there filming their wedding, and will also bring an extra cinematographer.
You see our community of cinematographers in San Francisco is really strong, and my Friend Luke Goodman stepped up to the plate to come help me and be "my legs" on that day. It turned out that the pain wasn't as bad as what I thought and I was able to film alongside Luke, and Dennis.

But I digress. From the moment I met Liz and Eric, I knew we were a great match. They were fun loving, and definitely my kind of couples. Liz had some great ideas to make her wedding as personal as possible, which included but was not limited to shot glasses for favor, Mexican tiles for table numbers, a fun Photo Booth and a dessert station to die for.
I really enjoyed their sunset photo session as those two are so natural and comfortable with each other. It's beautiful to see two people so much in love. Their vows to each other was just a perfect icing on the cake.
Please enjoy their film and don't hesitate to leave a comment or press the like button if you enjoyed it.
Merci et bonne journée


Venue: Healdsburg Country Gardens
Wedding coordinator: Elsa Vera
Photographer: Andrew Scott
Make up and Hair: Hair Artistry by Gabrielle
Caterer: Park Avenue Catering
Floral: Bud Stop
DJ: Diamond Dave
Cinematographer: cinematt

Reva and Mark - Carneros Inn - Napa

When Reva and Mark contacted me last year for their wedding, I was really excited. First they were getting married at Carneros Inn, it was a really intimate wedding, they were working with a great coordinator, and for them it was a destination wedding since they live in Chicago.
As soon as I met them, I knew it was a match made in heaven. Reva was bubbly and definitely excited about having a beautiful film. Mark was very candid and had sparkles in his eyes when he was telling me about their engagement story. Just taking to them I was giddy with excitement filming their special day.
And the day came. The sun took a while to decide to show up but it made their wedding even more special and even better than what i had anticipated. Great friends, great stories with some of the most touching speeches I have yet to hear at weddings, and some good dancing with an amazing DJ
This is their full feature and I hope I will be able to keep you entertained for 20 minutes.
Off course, and as usual your comments are welcome so don't hesitate.
Merci et bonne journee a tous et toutes.

coordinator: Kelly McLeskey-Dolata
Photographer: Alicia Todd
Location: Carneros Inn
Entertainment: Dj Sam Isaac
officiant: Rev. Bill Hutchinson
florist: Julie Stevens Design
cake artist: Inticing Creations 

Teresa and Eric - Calistoga Ranch - Napa

Writing blog is not always easy. Even though I have a degree in journalism, well mostly sports writing, I often struggle with it. But when you have couples like Teresa and Eric to write about, the words come easy, and they just glide on the computer screen. When Eric contacted me to shoot their intimate gorgeous wedding at Calistoga Ranch, I was ecstatic. First, they contacted me because Gene Higa their photographer had told them about me. I always feel so honored when one of my fellow colleague recommends me as it proves that they appreciate working with me, so right off the bat I knew I would felt very comfortable. Moreover, Their wedding was at Calistoga Ranch, which is a beautiful venue in the Napa region, and a place where I had never shot before. I knew it would be fresh creativity juice flowing. Finally, Teresa is the most gorgeous bride with the most beaming smile you can ever imagine... Eric cleans up pretty good as well, but let's face it, the star of this wedding was Teresa.
I really loved spending time getting to know them and establish a relationship with them before the wedding, which makes all the difference in the world when you step in that hotel room, and start filming.
What made their wedding so special to me is that they kept it really intimate. Eric's dad was his best man, and you can see the love of the two shares as they were getting ready at Solage. It was obvious they had a special bound. Teresa had her mom, her sister and her dad alongside while getting ready. It was really great to see Teresa and her dad just giggling and laughing it out while they were getting ready. You can felt the warmth of a loving family. Their officiant was a family friend who had so much personal touches and elements to add to their emotional and fun ceremony. Finally, the attention to details, which I love, was very obvious with a small tea ceremony during the ceremony, which honored both Teresa Chinese and Eric's Japanese Heritage.
The result is this 5 minutes of pure joy with Huckleberry Flint absolute fantastic soundtrack. Please visit their website and/or like them on Facebook. They are amazing, and they know how to bring the party.
I need to give some special shut outs to my team, of Aaron Lee, Tashi Wangchuk and Jeremiah Williams who are all responsible for this piece. And that's another thing I'd like to mention, working with great professional and having exceptional collaboration allow to produce such amazing work. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help and participation.
Bonne journee et a bientot.

Mandy & Jon, Trentadue Winery Geyserville California

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Napa is by far one of my favorite destination to shoot in the Bay Area. Beautiful landscapes, amazing vineyards, breathtaking views, everything is is set up to create an amazing movie. So i was a bit bummed out not to shoot Mandy & Jon's wedding. But thanks to the talent of Dennis and Jordan, I didn't worry about a thing, and boy I was right not to. Here is just a taste, or trailer if you prefer of some of the amzing footage that I got to work with.

Enjoy...

Rachell and Shaun. Villagio Inn, St. Helena, California

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Rachell, and Shaun got married in Beautiful Yountville, on Saturday July 12, 2008. This great couple had invited their friends and family to a wonderful wedding celebration at Groezinger Estate. The place was beautiful and with so many details to capture, from Rachell and Shaun's first time seeing each other, to their cake cutting in the beautiful Barrel Room, there was not a single moment of boredom. Thanks to Dennis and Arthur for helping me capturing great footages. And a special thank you to Kurty and Iris from Kurty photography for working with me again. Here is a taste of their wedding with this highlight teaser. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed shooting it and editing it.