Yamilet + Jordan's Wedding Highlights - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Happy New Year!

For the last day of the year I want to share with you Yamilet + Jordan's Highlights film. I have held this back because they wanted to share it with their family during Christmas before it went online. They said it was wonderful to watch it with all their love ones and relive the day together!

This wedding was simply amazing and fun. Yamilet is from Puerto Rico and Jordan is from New Orleans. They combined both of their worlds for this one of a kind celebration.

Here is what they had to say about their film -

"Well - I'm officially at a loss for words. The job you and your crew did for us was absolutely incredible. You captured any and everything we could have imagined on that day. We can truly say you made us feel like movie stars - just without all the Hollywood drama :) As I said before, I'm genuinely sad that the wedding prep is over and that we don't get to work with you guys anymore......but that's why we have anniversaries, haha. I just want to again thank you for the personal imprint you have made in our life. We will never forget you guys."

So sit back and enjoy their Highlights Film -



Music provided and licensed by www.songfreedom.com

Kelly + Brian's Wedding Trailer

Kelly & Brian contacted me last year about filming their wedding in Dayton, Ohio. Brian is a wedding filmmaker, so I was very flattered that they wanted us to film their day.

Kelly & Brian's wedding took place at Carillon Historical Park. It's comprised of old buildings and antique trains as well as other pieces of Dayton history. It created a great backdrop to a amazingly fun wedding. There will be more to come in the Highlights Film, but first I wanted to introduce you to Kelly & Brian and their beautiful love.

Ali + Spencer's Wedding Trailer - Florence, Italy

Ali & Spencer's wedding in Italy was a dream come true. Ali had visited Chiesa Di San Biagio in Montepulciano, Italy, when she was in college and dreamt of returning to be married there one day. It was hands down the most beautiful church I've ever filmed.

You couldn't ask for a more perfect day, a beautiful wedding in a 15th century church followed by an amazing reception at Castello di Vincigliata!

Ali says it best here -

"The whole week was amazing. Having the group grow each day that went by coming up to the date of the wedding was so incredible. Our dinners got bigger each night with all the guests arriving into town to a final total of 80 people making it all the way over to Italy for our celebration. That was truly amazing in and of itself. If I had to pick one part of the wedding day that was my favorite, it has to be dancing our first dance and having the amazing firework show start in the middle of our dance. That was truly spectacular!"

So sit back and enjoy Ali + Spencer's wedding trailer!



Ali + Spencer's Ingredients -

Ceremony - Chiesa Di San Biagio
Reception - Castello di Vincigliata
Dress: Ian Stuart-UK
Wedding Planner- Monica Balli-Florence, Italy
Photographer- Carlo Giorgi-Florence, Italy
Creative Design- The Pillow Gift Company- PA, USA
Catering- Galateo- Florence, Italy
Wedding Cake- Vivoli- Florence, Italy

Yamilet + Jordan's Wedding Trailer - San Juan, Puerto Rico

I'm very excited to share the trailer of Yamilet + Jordan's wedding! This beautiful wedding took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it was a perfect day!

Event Cinema Workshops in Mexico!

I'm excited to announce two workshops that Kevin Shahinian and I will be hosting in both Cabo San Lucas and Cancun, Mexico. These two day workshops are geared towards event filmmakers and will be taught in a hands-on environment. For more info please visit www.eventcinemaworkshop.com

April + Adam's Xcaret, Mexico Wedding Highlights

What an amazingly fun wedding this was! April and Adam's wedding was held at Xcaret Eco Park just outside Playa del Carmen, Mexico. This 200 acre park had so much diversity, from a turtle filled lagoon, Jaguars, Mayan Ruins to a spectacular underground cave! The ceremony took place at St. Francis chapel followed by a cocktail hour at the ancient Mayan ruins. The guests then walked down a spiral path with warriors blowing into conch shells that led into this giant, amazing cave where the reception was held. It was breathtaking!

We had such a great time working with Adam and April, you can tell that they had the time of their lives as well. I love our couples, they are awesome!

Congrats Jess + Tom

We filmed Jess and Tom's amazing wedding at Lakeway Resort outside of Austin TX this past weekend. It was amazing! Thanks for having us be apart of your big day! Trailer coming soon.

Kristin + Justin's Wedding Trailer - W Hotel Dallas

Kristin & Justin's wedding was amazing! Jordan Payne Events set the stage for another drop dead gorgeous day. The ceremony was held at Highland Park Methodist Church in Dallas followed by the reception at the W Hotel.

Kristin & Justin wrote their own vows, I love it when my couples do this! It gives you beautiful glimpse into their lives and the love they share. After the ceremony the party started at the W Hotel and went on well into the night. After the confetti flew they finished with a flower pedal exit and off to their honeymoon.

Here is their wedding trailer!




Kristin + Justin's ingredients -

Ceremony - Highland Park Methodist Church

Reception - W Hotel Dallas

Flowers + Event Planning - Jordan Payne Events

DJ - Andy Austin

Congrats to Yamilet + Jordan

Last week we had the pleasure of filming Yamilet and Jordan's wedding in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was an amazing day filled with love and laughter with family and friends. Their unique New Orleans Saints theme was awesome, I can't wait to share all the details! We will have their wedding trailer up soon, but for now here are a couple screen grabs from the wedding day.

"City of Lakes" Feature - Udaipur, India

We posted the trailer for this concept wedding film last month. Myself along with 4 other studios spent 10 days in India filming both the actual wedding and staged film scenes. Read more from the director Kevin Shahinian -

"What happens to a dream when it becomes reality?

Does it still exist somewhere, in some ethereal place, waiting to come to fruition again?

Could a fictional narrative capture an emotional state, and the true meaning behind a real, live event with more drama and conviction than a traditional documentary?

These were just some of the questions that arose when I took on the “CITY OF LAKES” project late last year. First, it would become an unprecedented attempt to combine a fully scripted, produced film with Melissa & Samir's real, live wedding, with intention of creating one, seamless film. Second, the live wedding and production would be shot entirely on-location in Udaipur, India over a period of nine days. Third, the skeleton crew I would commission would be made up solely of live event filmmakers from across North America, who would shoot the live wedding events and production simultaneously & exclusively on DSLRs, the Canon 5D MarkII and Canon 7D.

“CITY OF LAKES” is as much a documentary about what it means to return to the birthplace of one’s ancestors, as it is an exploration of the Hindu faith, and the rituals of a Hindu marriage. Central to this is the Ganesh puja, which in simple terms, is a prayer over a fire believed to invoke the spirit of Ganesh, a great deity and protector, who can remove all obstacles from one’s path. The puja is performed several times in the film and carries great significance to the plot and characters in both literal and metaphoric ways.

Melissa & Samir had always dreamed of being married in India. We hope this film helps them cherish that dream. But it could not have been without the acting talents of Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda and Rushad Rana, who were consummate professionals and a joy to work with. It also could not have been without the support of our sponsors: Canon, who provided two pre-production 7Ds and a host of L-series lenses; Tiffen, who provided all of our lighting; and Cinevate, who sent us much needed gear and sponsored an incredible behind-the-scenes campaign viewable at Cinevate.com.

The challenges were immediate, abundant and frequent. At times, we were certain the film was destined for failure; I often wondered if the film was too ambitious to execute. But what resulted was due in no small part to a crew made up of live event filmmakers who deal routinely in making the spontaneous appear staged. We're proud to share Melissa & Samir’s ‘hybrid’ feature, “CITY OF LAKES,” which hopefully achieves more than a documentary, and perhaps at the same time, more than a scripted film.

There is a final question we hope you’ll find difficult to answer as you watch our film. In more ways than one, try to answer:

What is real?

Thanks for watching,
-Kevin




Pacific Pictures presents “CITY OF LAKES”
Starring Melissa Kumar, Samir Shah, Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda & Rushad Rana
Written & Directed by Kevin Shahinian
Produced by Kevin Shahinian & Patrick Moreau
Line Producer Pravin Thakur
Director of Photography Patrick Moreau
2nd Unit Director Joe Simon
2nd Unit Steadicam Casey Warren
Film Editor Kevin Shahinian
Jib Operator Chris Geiger
Set Photographer Amish Solanki

"City of Lakes" Trailer - Udaipur, India

In September I traveled to Uaaipur, India to shoot a concept wedding film with a few of my great filmmaking friends. Kevin Shahinian wrote and directed this movie, it was an amazing experience that I will never forget! This is only the beginning of collaboration filmmaking, and I can't wait to see where this takes weddings.

There are so many ways to tell a story...

And so much a marriage symbolizes. So many questions it tends to raise: What is love? What is faith? It was our hope to explore these themes in a far more dramatically engaging way than we felt possible in a traditional documentary... Perhaps there is more within this story then meets the eye.

In the fall of 2009, Melissa & Samir embarked on an incredible journey to Udaipur, India, to fulfill a lifelong dream of having their wedding in the country of their ancestry. This transcendent place, affectionately called the "CITY OF LAKES," located in the breathtaking region of Rajasthan, would be the setting for their extravagant, three-day marriage celebration, and the backdrop of our unprecedented film production - shot entirely on-location. We believe this to be the first ever live event/scripted concept production 'hybrid' film produced on this scale.

We hope you enjoy the trailer for "CITY OF LAKES" and look forward to sharing the film with you soon.

Pacific Pictures presents "CITY OF LAKES"

View on ExposureRoom

A complete list of cast & crew credits is viewable at PacificPicturesblog.com/blog

Pacific Pictures presents "CITY OF LAKES"
Starring Melissa Kumar, Samir Shah, Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda & Rushad Rana
Written & Directed by Kevin Shahinian
Produced by Kevin Shahinian & Patrick Moreau
Line Producer Pravin Thakur
Director of Photography Patrick Moreau
2nd Unit Director Joe Simon
2nd Unit Steadicam Casey Warren
Film Editor Kevin Shahinian
Jib Operator Chris Geiger
Set Photographer Amish Solanki

Patty + Danny's Wedding Trailer, Key West

Patty & Danny had a really fun wedding in Key West Florida. It was held at Nine One Five restaurant right on Duval St. We spent most of the day filming the preps, first look and photo session. It was really hard making this trailer because we had so many amazing shots!

I really wanted to make a tease of this one and not give away too much, you'll have to wait for the Highlights film to see the story unfold!

Congrats Patty and Danny! Thanks for having us out, you guys are awesome!



Special thanks to Ryan Koral from Epic Motion for coming out to shoot with me!

Patty & Danny's ingredients -

Venue - Nine One Five
Photographer - Tim Wong from Timecut Foto
Hair + Makeup - Marie-Pierre Sander
Dress Designer - Stephanie James Couture