Category Archives: About Us

About Us, Wedding Spotlight, Wedding Tips

Why You Should Get a Wedding Video – A Mother’s Day Story

 

As a wedding videographer, I can’t help but say I think a wedding film is essential. But not only because I do this as a professional, but because I know first-hand the importance of capturing all of your family and friends at that one special moment in time.

A friend of mine recently posted about how much her sons loved watching her 19-year old wedding video. It made me think about my wedding video from 18 years ago, and although I am divorced, this video still has amazing value for me. It holds moving imagery that captures emotion like no other medium, and it has had a lasting effect for myself, and my three daughters. It will always serve as a joyous snapshot in time of their family.

One of my fondest memories of my wedding day was the Mother and Son Dance. It was special because of my Mom. She was my rock. She was my biggest supporter, and she was my sole parent after my father passed when I was a teenager. She was what any child would want of a Mom.

My Mom and I shared the love of music. She was very happy to volunteer songs for the first dance. One of her favorite songs was I’ll Still Be Loving You from a lesser-known band called Restless Heart. But when listening to the song, I realized it was more suited for the Mother and Son Dance. Because it was not a popular song, my wedding DJ did not have this in his CD collection (yes, before digital music). Unbeknownst to my Mom, I borrowed her CD and gave it to the DJ shortly before the wedding. After I took it, my Mom noticed it was missing. I obviously denied that I had seen it, but she was convinced I lost it as I was the one person who was always in her CD collection. I had to deny it on more than one occasion, and she was frustrated. It would not have been an easy CD to replace.

Fast forward to the wedding day and our Mother and Son Dance. My Mom had no idea what song I had chosen for us. Once the song Restless Heart started playing, I looked at her and said, “And you can have your CD back after the wedding”. She burst out laughing and couldn’t stop giggling the entire song. It was one of those moments that I will never forget sharing with my Mom and it is captured in the video below. I know how happy she was that I chose that song for our dance.

The reason that moment was so important to me is that my Mom, who was completely healthy and full of life at my wedding was diagnosed with lung cancer the following year. She passed away just 15 months after the wedding. Now, this wedding video serves as one of, if not the best imagery of who my Mom was…her smile…her joy for life. My kids know her and remember her from this fantastic memory. And, on this Sunday and every Mother’s Day that follows, I will think of and treasure my wedding video and a special dance I had together with my Mom.

 

Credits: Videographer: Mike Houle, Photographer: Terry Chenaille, DJ who kept the CD safe – Nino Cuccovia

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Leave your commentPosted by on May 7, 2020No Comments
About Us, Corporate FIlms, Reception Venues

NACE Meeting Recap Film – Pierce House – Lincoln, MA

As wedding professionals, we find it very important to continuously stay educated. Part of that process is to network with professionals from across the wedding and event industry. It helps us stay up-to-date with current trends, and communicate with other vendors to try and make everyone’s job easier on an event day. Last month we had the opportunity to network at the monthly meeting for the New England Chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events (NACE) which was held at The Pierce House in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

In addition to participating at the networking portion of the meeting, JPod Films was asked to sponsor the meeting by creating a recap film of the event. It is the first of two films that we will be creating for the New England NACE group this year. It was a great event to film, as the evening was centered around a variety of team building activities. Yep, the competitive juices came out. Four teams battled it out in activities varying from trivia to straw building. What is that you ask? Watch the recap film and you will see.

It was great to partner with so many great wedding professionals who also sponsored this event. First, there was Kataram Studios as we shared the floor with these talented photographers to capture the event. Rob Peters Entertainment provided the team building entertainment. Our pallets were filled with delicious food from Cava Catering and Events, as well as an outstanding dessert table from Montilio’s Baking Company. Adding to this great event were planner Luba Mitnik-Gankin from Primavera Dreams Wedding Planning and Design, Floral Notes, XO The Girls Event Rentals, Sound City Entertainment and The Gilded Harps.

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Leave your commentPosted by on June 4, 2019No Comments
About Us

Meet Jamie Podworski, Owner of JPod Films

 

We were fortunate enough to have Boston Voyager magazine reach out to us and offer an interview with JPod Films owner Jamie Podworski. It is always a great opportunity to put a face and a personality to our Boston wedding films. We love what we do, and the magazine gave us a great opportunity to tell our story of how things began and what makes us different as a wedding filmmaking company. To read the whole article, click HERE.

But, why stop there? I thought this would be a good opportunity to shed a little more insight on who we are and what makes us tick. Here are five more questions/facts about owner Jamie Podworski.

  1. What is your favorite part of the wedding day? I really have fell in love with the Father of the Bride toast over the years. As a father of three girls, I know that this is something that is coming in my future. I think each father gives great perspective into raising a daughter and the important things that have made them who they are today. So often, Fathers of the Bride also provide great insight to what a great marriage/relationship is made of, and I take great stock in that.
    Courtesy Person + Killian Photography

    Courtesy Person + Killian Photography

  2. COFFEE! I am a huge coffee lover. My local coffee shop is often my first stop as I hit the road each weekend.
  3. I am definitely an active person. I have run two marathons and completed a half-ironman triathlon. I have always been a runner, but I love to cycle and get in some boot camp classes early in the morning as well. Add to that, I still try to skate with the youngsters, as I play hockey in a fairly competitive over-18 hockey league one night a week. Don’t worry…Your long wedding day will not tire me out.Ice Hockey Wedding Filmmaker
  4. Dogs. I am definitely a dog lover for sure. So, my couples who find a way to incorporate their own four-legged friends get bonus points. I currently own a 7-year old chocolate lab named Charm. She is my editing buddy for sure.
  5.  Wedding Dog
  6. What’s the one thing that people are most surprised about when it comes to wedding filmmaking? The post-production process. A lot of people do not realize that everything from backing up footage to editing to proofing all of the edits can be a 40-60 hour process. An additional piece of this process is the selection of music. I spend hours some nights trying to find the right song(s) for each couple. Having the right feel makes a huge difference in the edit.

 

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Leave your commentPosted by on September 28, 2018No Comments
About Us

We Moved – From Newbury Street to Wellesley Hills

 

After two great years in the heart of Boston on Newbury Street, JPod Films has opted for a larger space a little further out from the city. As of March 1st, JPod Films will now call 44 Washington St. in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts our new home.

The new location allowed us to have a bigger space to work and to meet with clients. Although we will miss the hustle and bustle of Newbury St, as well as Thai Basil’s Chicken Pad Thai, our new space is in a great location near the Mass Pike and I-95 Interchange. The new, larger space also provides our clients residing outside the city easier access to meet with us, including free parking options. Additionally, we will be sharing our space with two great event professionals in SD Events and Allegro Photography.

Simple Design Events, better known as SD Events, is a wedding planning company that takes a vision and turns into reality. Owner Tasha Bracken, as well as event Producers Renee Sabo and Priscilla Kwong provide this full-service boutique firm with a strong team of professionals that can handle events of any size.

David and Jo Lee from Allegro Photography are ingrained with our similar Western Mass. ties, before they took Boston by storm just over five years ago. Their images always take advantage of available light and their eye for composure is phenomenal. Add to that their friendly, easy-going personalities, and know you know why we are excited to share office space with them.

JPod Films Office Boston SD Events Client meeting area

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Leave your commentPosted by on March 15, 2016No Comments
About Us

Welcome to JPod Films

 

This has been a whirlwind of a year in the making, but we are so excited to finally make the transition from JPod Productions to JPod Films. We have always been about visual storytelling and the word ‘films’ has always resonated with us when we thought about our final product. So, it was time to create a new website and accompany it with a new look, and of coarse, a new name. But, even with the new look, we are still driven by the same principles to tell each couple’s story in an a way that brings back the anticipation, excitement, subtleties and energy in each of our Boston wedding films.

As part of this journey, we were helped by so many talented individuals including our designer Molly Fabiano. A few years ago, we were lucky enough to be part of the team that filmed Molly’s wedding and we have just kept in touch over the past few years through facebook. When we looked at rebranding, we searched for a graphic designer that had the female touch that connected with our target demographic. Being a former bride, and after seeing some of Molly’s work, we knew Everyday Mojo was the right fit for us in creating our new logo, business cards and stationary.

Secondly, I turned to a former groom in Corey Condardo, who gave us the guidance and expertise for our new website. Corey gave us the confidence to learn enough of wordpress to begin building our new site. Corey and I had a couple of fun sessions of modifying and tweaking the website. as we laughed throughout the process. In the end, we turned things over to Corey to put the final touches on the new updated jpodfilms.com.

Finally, I have to thanks the female influences who guided our decisions along the way. I counted on several former brides and my assistant filmmaker Mia Major for a lot of guidance, as we wanted a look that was appealing to our target market. But most of all, I must thank my wife Alison, who was a huge decision maker in the re-branding process. As the owner of Alison May Public Relations, she just has a keen eye for design and the current trends of our target market. The last thing I wanted was a logo that I thought was cool, but didn’t connect with our target market. She has been amazing support throughout the process from logo design all the way through to the selection of our final packaging for clients. Love you babe!

 

 

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Leave your commentPosted by on April 26, 2015No Comments
About Us

JPod Films Awarded Gold for Wedding Cinematography in New England

 

On Monday evening, JPod Films was honored to win a New England VISTA award for the fourth consecutive year. The Boston wedding film Jen + Brandon was given the Gold Award in the ‘full wedding’ category. This was the highest honor JPod Films has received in the wedding film category. The category is one that best fits our most popular wedding film investment.

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Each year, the New England Professional Videographer’s Association (NPVA) holds the awards in March to honor the best films in New England over the past year. Jen + Brandon’s wedding was filmed in the heart of Boston at the Museum of Science, with the preparations take place at the chic Ames Hotel on Court Street.  The intimate wedding included a duck boat ride for all of the guests and a tremendous photo session that ended the day instead of beginning it.

The NPVA offers a fabulous outlet for JPod Films to improve our craft with many of the other best professional cinematographers in New England. See Jen + Brandon’s full film below.

https://vimeo.com/98898618

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Leave your commentPosted by on March 2, 2015No Comments
About Us, Same Day Edit Film, Wedding Spotlight

Boston Wedding Group – Same Day Edit Film

 

Amanda of Ready Set Film and I had an amazing time collaborating on this same day edit film for the September Boston Wedding Group (BWG) Meeting. The amount of time and efforts that all of the vendors (listed below) put in to making this meeting such a success is both inspiring and humbling.  The meeting was the BWG’s industry-wide meeting featuring keynote Speaker Stacie Francombe, of Inspired Smart Success, who gave a plethera of tips on how to get noticed and published by the media. Edna and her team from EFD Creative Event Planning & Design did a tremendous job creating an elegant multi-floor event. It was the second time we have worked with Edna in the past month and I have to say that I love her and Kacie’s attention to detail. Below is a quick two-minute Boston Same Day Edit Film of the event that was held at the beautifully renovated Marriot Courtyard Downtown on Tremont Street in Boston. The renovated ballroom is elegant and large enough to hold events of many sizes in the Theater District of Boston.


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Keynote: Stacie Francombe of Inspire Smart Success

cinematographers and editors: Jamie, Owner of JPod Productions & a[manda] co-owner of readyset[film]

 

This meeting was sponsored by the following talented vendors:

Cookie Creatives by Jennifer

EFD Creative

Jeri Solomon Floral Design

Peterson Party Center

Person & Killian Photography

Revelation Productions

Winiker Music

 

 

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Posted by on October 27, 2014
About Us, Press

Our New Boston Office – 137 Newbury Street

 

It has been a fun process over the past 10 years continuing trying to grow and evolve our wedding videography business into something much bigger and better. Well, this week a long term goal of ours was reached, as we have opened a new office space in the heart of Boston. Our Boston wedding filmmaker name of JPod Productions can now be found at 137 Newbury Street! We have partnered with five other great wedding businesses from the city to provide a space for our couples to meet us throughout the wedding planning process. When selecting a space in Boston, Newbury Street was always on the top of our list, because we felt that it matched our brand and the wedding films we are trying to produce.  The girls in my office are excited that we are located in the same building as Hotel Chocolat. We will definitely share more pictures of the space in the coming weeks. We are so excited!

Newbury Street Boston Office

Boston Wedding Videographer Office

Boston Wedding Films Meeting Area

 

 

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Posted by on June 6, 2014
About Us, Press

Boston Wedding Videographer JPod Productions honored with New England VISTA Award for Third Straight Year

JPod Productions was honored as one of the top filmmaking companies in New England for the third straight at the annual New England Professional Videographer’s Association’s (NPVA) VISTA awards last night in Dedham, MA. Our short Film, Jennifer + Michael’s Love Story was given the Silver Award in the “other” category. This Boston wedding video captures the story of how Jennifer Singer and Michael Marcus’ paths crossed and the journey that brought them to their wedding day. We premiered their film at their wedding reception just a few months ago. The reaction from that night was rewarding and electric and very similar to the response we get when we show a same day edit film.

Boston Award Winning wedding video

We were also honored and very humbled as one of the other winners, Elena Coyne, thanked JPod Productions Owner Jamie Podworski for inspiring her with a presentation he did in January at the NPVA on creating wedding trailers. Elena said she used the knowledge and inspiration from that night to edit one of her weddings before the VISTA deadline, which was only three days away at that time. That moment definitely defined why we participate in NPVA group, as filmmakers share knowledge with other filmmakers. It not only makes our Boston wedding videos better, but it makes our industry so much stronger as a whole.  

The VISTA awards are a New England-based competition run by the New England Professional Videographer’s Association (NPVA). The NPVA is an organization of not only Boston wedding videographers and corporate producers, but also companies across New England who meet once a month to learn from regional and national speakers who specialize in the film making industry. Awards in the VISTA competition are presented in four categories including “Full Wedding”, “Wedding Highlight”, “Corporate”, and “Other”. The “Other” category is designed for videos that do not fit into the other three categories of the competition.

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Posted by on March 18, 2014