We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tanner Castro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tanner below.

Tanner, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project that I have worked on in the wedding industry has to be the time that I filmed a micro wedding in the SLC, UT mountains early in the morning! There were a lot of emotions that day and it was such a small and intricate group that I was really able to get to know a lot of people. Plus the bride had some harry potter themed stuff so it was amazing to film and incorporate those into their final film!

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

My name is Tanner and I am a Destination Wedding & Elopement videographer based out of Southern Utah! I’ve flown all over the country to film weddings and elopements for couples and craft fun, emotional films for them from their wedding day! I’ve always been passionate about filmmaking and I grew up not having hardly any home videos of me and my family. So I aim to change that as much as possible with the work that I do for couples!

I got into the industry by just being curious and applying what I had learned from my Journalism major. When I filmed my first wedding I realized that I really needed to look at filming things differently than how I learned at school and invested in a stellar online school called Full Time Filmmaker that people have said they learned more than going to film school. It was perfect and helped me to learn how I can craft amazing films for my couples and helped me launch into my career.

I believe that I set myself apart from other filmmakers by capturing candid moments and real moments. It can be common in our industry to use these as buzzwords on their websites but not a lot of people capture the actual real moments because those real moments can sometimes not be the most glamorous or fit with the brand that they have. I lean into those moments and use them to craft my films and make them unique to my couples. Couples come to me because I not only capture those moments but also incorporate them into their films, anything from an unconventional flower girl or guy, random things said throughout the day, to shotgunning with their officiant.

I’m most proud of the work that I do because while sometimes it can be unconventional in the wedding world, it’s special and unique to my couples and that’s why people come to me. They want someone they trust, we chat several times before their day. They don’t want the normal wedding video that’s a montage of music, they want an experience of the day and to re-experience it every time they watch their wedding film. I capture the heart and soul of a wedding day and I make sure that it gets represented well into my couples wedding films.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

If there was any resource that I highly recommend doing early in your career, it’s to learn from other creatives and courses. There are lots out there, but learning from them and taking the courses can really help you go from picking up a camera to knowing the ins and outs of a wedding day and how to craft work that represents you and your brand.

My biggest help was Full-Time Filmmaker and mentorships, if I didn’t have those two I wouldn’t be here today. They really helped me with the business side of things and helped me to incorporate things into my business that I wasn’t doing or even considering.

Two of my favorite things that I have learned from a mentor were: Mental Health as a creative, it can be easy and fun to work for yourself but it can also be incredibly hard. Making sure that you have a schedule, creating a process for working, and still taking time for yourself and having a life can be really hard to juggle when you are a creative entrepreneur. I learned that doing these things can really help with your mental health early on from an incredible mentor.

The second thing was something for my clients. Most videographers in the industry send the film and are done with the client. I learned that not only sending their film, but a gift and some treats are a great way to continue an amazing experience for my couples when delivering their wedding film. Going above and beyond even at the end really helped me to serve my clients better and make the most out of their experience working with me!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I was fortunate that I was raised with the mindset to not go into debt for anything but school, a vehicle, and a home. Because of this, I was able to save money for the gear that I have currently and use what I had access to when I first started out. In my first-ever session, I rented a school camera and whatever gear they had with it, I barely used any of it because I didn’t need it all at first. As I grew as a filmmaker and learned what gear I would need I was able to save up with my part-time job and the money I got from the work I was doing to upgrade and purchase new gear.

The next thing that I did before I went full-time was saving up about 6 -12 months of living expenses before quitting my part-time job. That way I had a good cushion to pay rent, food, and gas while I worked on getting my name out there, networking, and taking smaller jobs as I was building out my business. I have even gotten a part-time job again while in business (thanks covid 2020) to help with bills to continue filming and my business. Currently, I am very grateful to be at a point where I don’t need a part-time job to cover living expenses and such. But it was that mindset to have funds necessary to have the initial capital to get my business going and keep it running.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tannercastrofilms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tannercastrofilms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tanner-Castro-Films-103494434541546
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannercastro18/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCbqwCZJvesz2hON-UaHxfw

Image Credits
All images captured by Tanner Castro Films