We recently connected with Kyle Smith and have shared our conversation below.
Kyle, appreciate you joining us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
You know, its funny. I was thinking about this very question not too long ago when an industry group of friends were talking about it. My start in the wedding industry was a little bit different than most and honestly I think my specific approach was extremely beneficial to my growth and development as a filmmaker and as a business owner.
Most other wedding filmmaking owners grew up with cameras. All of their stories sound similar “I was always filming or had a camera in my hand growing up” which couldn’t be further from the truth for me. I never owned a camera. In fact when I started filming weddings I still didn’t own a camera but I had to use a company camera. I started when I had an opportunity to film my cousins wedding. My aunt asked me since I was “artistic”. I had just recently graduated college with a Graphic Design degree and would post landscape photo’s on Instagram (the OG Instagram when it first came out). I was excited and was eager to make something but had no idea how to film or how to edit. I researched some local videographers in the area and came across a brand that was doing some groundbreaking work at the time. I couldn’t sleep one night and sent an email at 1am to the owner to ask about joining the team or shadowing. We would soon meet up in person and I would tell him that I had no clue how a camera worked or how to use particular settings…Fast forward 4 years and I would become the lead shooter for the brand, the lead editor for the brand and soon become a business partner in the development of another commercial video brand.
I had no intention of branching off on my own, I loved the partnership and collaboration I had, it helped with growth and being more creative. The experience and being absolutely passionate about the craft allowed me to learn, grow, try new things, learn from mistakes all on someone elses brand. Many current filmmakers skip the shadowing and employee phase and jump right into business which means more pressure to get things right all the time, make those mistakes that everyone has to make to learn but at the risk of their own personal brand and name taking the heat.
Once it was time for me to branch off and either start my own company or move into a different field I knew that I wanted to stick with filmmaking. I came up with my name, the business process, my approach and right off the bat I knew exactly who I was, who I wanted to be, how I wanted to be perceived and what my goals were…this is not common. Within the first month I was contacting wedding planners to do free work for couples who chose to not have video. This was strategic on my part to do free work knowing the content I’d be getting was portfolio worthy and would essentially put me on the map and establish me as a quality competitor in the space.
My first year of business was in 2019 and I had a full booking and went from free weddings at the start, to charging $5,000 by the end. Fast forward to 2022 and I just booked a $16,000 wedding and I feel like this is just the start of my filmmaking journey. I don’t know many other stories that are similar to mine and honestly I would do it all again.
Shadow, Intern, learn and surround yourself with successful people who are doing the job you want to do. When it comes time to spread your wings you’ll have already gone through the necessary steps and experiences to be successful.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Kyle Smith and I am a wedding filmmaker out of Washington DC. I focus on high end, luxury events here in DC and in the northeast. My passion is to create an alternative option to wedding films; films that are elegant, romantic, cinematic and authentic. We hear these words a lot in the industry and some people abuse them to where they don’t really mean anything but I’ll share a little bit about my approach and what I mean.
My main focus is to create something that is a true reflection of my couples. The way I go about this is by bringing minimal gear, no big distracting camera or me yelling at people to direct them to do particular poses. I just want to be present and to film the moments, both big and small. The heartfelt smiles, the tiny tokens and grand gestures. By being minimal it allows me to exist among guests without them feeling uncomfortable or really even aware that I’m there. I am always looking for creative compositions, where and how light is hitting someone, exposing it and capturing it creatively in camera. Thinking about the final edit and how something could look and play with other subjects. Considering particular elements within the venue or the day that can serve as a 3rd character to the film. Theres no direction, there is no “formula” there are no shots that I have to get over another. It doesn’t have to be too difficult or overly complex. We are there to capture a wedding day. Focus on solid shots, clean audio, and splice it all together in the final edit. It’s often times overcomplicated and I see videographers complain about this and that and weather conditions and guests holding their iphones during processional..Its all part of the day, embrace it.
My goal is to be invisible on the day and create a final product that makes the couple feel like they are in their own film…not a “wedding video”
Many people see 87 and Smith as a classic and timeless brand that executes excellence at a high level. It’s tasteful, and professional from appearance on the day, personal interaction, to final product. I’m proud of the brand that I’ve created and I truly believe that my story is only just beginning. I’m proud of my story and the ability to grow it into something that is reaching couples all over the country and the influence I have with many other wedding filmmakers both here in America and across the world. My goal is to shed light on how to make creative and captivating films without getting caught up in all of the technicalities that can often times slow people down. I love giving feedback and reviews to others to help them grown and develop into a more successful and creative artist.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I don’t know if I am the most qualified to answer this but I’ll share what I did and what I know. I am very involved in the wedding filmmaking communities all over the world and I am active in facebook groups sharing tips, tricks, knowledge and so naturally people are familiar with my name due to somewhat regular activity on those platforms. Other filmmakers are always looking at other filmmakers for inspiration or validation or simply to find others they connect with and so a lot of my followers are other filmmakers that I have naturally crossed paths with. I will also find and seek out creatives that inspire me, that have similar looks and creative visions and will interact with them on their page. I will send out DM’s and simply let people know that I appreciate what they are doing and they will often times follow me after that. It’s a lot of work, it’s relatively slow moving but its fairly consistent and I am not concerned about the number of followers I have. Would I like tens of thousands? sure. I’m more concerned about making money and what good is 100k followers if none of them are turning into sales.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The best part of being an artist and creative and also working for myself is that I get to do what I love for work. Every job is different. The “wedding’ part is repetitive but every film is unique, every couple is different, every location is different which helps keep things fresh and interesting. I get to call the shots both in filming and editing and I get to share my creation, a thing I spent hours on hours of my personal time and poured my heart into to a client who will watch it and send an email with tears in their eyes saying how much they are thankful for what I did. Not many clients in other fields cry happy tears regularly and I think that is special.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.87andsmith.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/87andsmith/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/87andSmith
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwWZIinzRpzPIj_x0sB7JaA