We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Franck Pedretti a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Franck thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

Being a wedding videographer in San Diego brought me so much stories that I could share… There is one that I will never forget, Thomas the Groom who was about to mary his best friend Tiffany since they first met in 4th grade! On the wedding day, after shooting all the details with the Bride, I asked her where was Thomas… She said: “Oh he is next door waiting for you”

I walked in… Thomas was so nervous… I tried to capture shots of him getting ready, but obviously something was off. So I stopped filming and I asked him if he was okay. Having butterflies in your tummy on your big day is something super common. Finding a groom exploding in tears was a first for me. We sat down and I tried to understand what could have been the problem. Thomas told me that he was so nervous to find out if his dad will show up! I asked him if he was invited, which he said yes, of course. I then asked him why he would not show up then… His answer broke my heart: “I did not see my dad for so long, today is the day that I need him and I am just hopping he would show up”.

At that point I had no clue that I was on a mission… We had a big hug, I shared my story with my own bio dad who never really took care of me and I could relate… except that I never invited mine for some reasons ;)

Thomas finally managed to recompose himself. I took all the shots of him getting ready. Poor groom, was by himself. I was the only one being the witness of his destress. We headed to the ceremony which was in La Jolla Shores. I could not stop thinking of his big warm tears, but I needed to stay focus for the day.

The Ceremony started… I asked Thomas to face the Ocean for his first look while the Bride started to walk down the aisle. Thomas turned around and I saw his eyes going crazy looking for daddy… no dad, but the beauty of his future wife managed to transform his tears in a big smile. Ceremony ended, everything was so beautiful. We did the family shots on the beach… and then I went to talk to Thomas mom about the issue we faced earlier. She said: ” I feel bad for my son that still believe his dad will do something for him… I knew he would never show up. Thanks for being there for him at that time”.

We headed to the reception at the Brick in Liberty Station / San Diego… Thomas was finally relaxed as a fresh newly groom, happily married for life. After the first dance, he came to me and say thank you for being there for him… when suddenly he became WHITE!!!! Somebody just walked into the reception and sat by himself at the last table: “Franck!!!!!! My dad is here…!!!!!!” Thomas was shaking… I asked him to go back to the sweetheart table with his wife and let me deal with the situation. I went to introduce myself as the videographer, knowing a little bit of the situation I told him when he would feel the moment to come and see me to record a video message… He ghosted me! I felt so uncomfortable… People start to dance and I went back on the dance-floor to capture the moment. I talked to the mom again who did not notice that Thomas dad’s was there. I told her that I would do anything to have him in the wedding film which she answered : “GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!!!”

After 30min Thomas’s dad, full of tattoos stood up and started to walk away… He was massive! I ran right in front of him and said: “Listen, you cannot come all the way here and leave… I have to talk to you for one second… Thomas dad followed me. We went behind the venue and I told him what happened in the morning… From what I understood, they did not see each other for many many years… He finally accepted to record an audio message for him. We went into my car… I put a mic on him, ran some mic check and I said go whenever you’re ready.

His eyes started to be watery… his emotion was super intense, he pull-ed up a paper and start reading.
I was shocked!!!!!!!! Not only to see that he prepared something and was about to walk away without saying a word… but mainly because his speech started with the exact same words as Thomas’s mum: “Bo… this is dad….” the moment was so unreal. Thomas had no clue, that I was doing this… I warned his wife to make sure she will be with him when they will first watch their wedding film!

I sent the link to watch their film a couple months later… 6’09 later, my phone was ringing, Thomas was in tears!!!!!!
That was a very intense moment for me…. that day as usual, I went beyond over my mission to capture the beauty of a wedding day. Of course you can see this, it’s on film: https://vimeo.com/338484746

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Way more than just a videographer I feel like being a director wherever I am filming a wedding, music video, real estate film, a commercial…. I just love to help people tell their story through my camera! I believe everybody as a story and you can become your own marketing. We have now a client for the last 2 years who is in the restaurant business… he is on subscription with us… Once a month we go up north in Newport beach to capture 4 stories. Laurent the owner tells me what he would like to promote for the next 4 weeks. We take the shots of all the products, then we seat down and start to write a voice-over… the rest is editing and he has been killing it on Social Media. Now people recognize Laurent as being the figure of his own business. Here is the last film we shot for Father’s day: https://vimeo.com/719677033

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I will never thought one day that I will become a wedding videographer. I have been in video production since 2000. As a former professional snowboarder, I first started being in front of the camera for some national TV shows in France. I hosted the Olympics twice, 2006 in Torino/Italy and 2010 in Vancouver/Canada as a sport anchor. I have been on many shows for different channels. I started my own production in 2004. Long story short, in 2014 we got a baby with my wife who is native from San Diego. We were living in Paris, I was under contract with beIN sports… The Charly Hebdo terrorist attack freaked us out and my wife asked me if we could go back and live in the US, back to SoCal. I quite everything, sold everything and took off after 4 months. I started a new business as a VP for a French Underwear company who used to sponsor me when I was an athlete. After 3 years of success, we decided to go back to video productions, being in the temples of weddings in the heart of San Diego. I was missing my creative part of me… I would never thanks enough my wife for pushing me to go back to where I belong! Fun fact, we actually met through that brand, while I was shooting a commercial in Cannes during the French Film Festival dressed as a white bunny! Everything was meant to be…. Once again, everything has been documented, so here is the fun film when we first met: https://www.instagram.com/p/CeF1BCeD8r7/

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dsideprod.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dsideprod
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dside-prod-encinitas
• Other: https://g.page/r/CS2EwIe1wdTUEB0/review

Image Credits
Franck Pedretti, co-owner of D Side Productions / Director – Videographer – Photographer