Priya + Veeral's Signature Film

This wedding was truly a special one. You may recognize Veeral from some of my previous work on the blog. I've known him for about a year and a half and met him by doing video work for his company, J. Hilburn. So when he asked my company, Sandbox Love, to capture his wedding... I was VERY honored. And his wife, Priya, is such a perfect match for him. Beautiful, funny, and so warm. Like I said, this was a special one for us to film.



Vitalie, Shaun and I flew out to Rochester, NY for a couple days to be a part of all the Indian wedding traditions. I had never been to that part of New York, and loved it. During some of the off time, we went exploring. I loved all the bridges crossing the river, right through Rochester. Made for a great shot looking down them. Me and Shaun had to bust out a dance.



Also, I just gotta say. I totally dig the way he proposed. Unconventional, unexpected, and super cute. There's a reason why it's called a happy meal.

Hello Glass & Marker

Big News!!! A lot of you may be wondering why my tweets have mentioned me working straight through the night pretty much every day of the week; and yet, there have been no new updates to the Sandbox Love blog or the Jesse Tarnoff blog. Well that's because I've been working on a new little project called Glass & Marker, Inc.



Introducing a new company that I have formed with two colleagues (friends) of mine. Glass & Marker is a video production company for creating web video for a huge range of clients. From small App companies like YAM to the big guys like Yahoo! The company grew organically from the demand for my freelance corporate video work, which has been on the rise.

You may recognize one of the founders of Glass & Marker, Nick Markham. He was my roommate in college, co-worker at Launchsquad, and a big part of the beginnings of Sandbox Love. He's joined Glass & Marker as the Executive Creative Director. The other founder is a friend of mine from way back in the day named Nick Raushenbush. He's a crazy smart guy and will be Glass & Marker's Chief Operating Officer. He brings a much needed analytical mind to Markham's and my dreamscape of creative optimism. He's also an advisor for Forrester Research specializing in Ad Agencies and New Media.

So here is the BIG question. What will happen to Sandbox Love???
We've built up a lot of fans over the last year and a half and I won't leave it behind for one second. While my attention to SBL has been temporarily diverted while getting Glass & Marker going, I will be refocusing on building that company as well. I have hired my brother, Dylan, as the new Sandbox Love manager. Sandbox Love will continue to shoot weddings with the same people we have been; myself, Nick, Vitalie, RJ, Shaun. And the films will continue to be edited by the people who made all of your favorite wedding films in the past; myself, Nick, and RJ. The two companies will interact by operating out of the same office, and by having the SBL editor as part of the Glass & Marker staff. So here is the bottom line: Your wedding films will continue to be great, and I am committed growing Sandbox Love as a company as well.

The process of starting this company has been very taxing; financially, emotionally, and with respect to sleep. But it's also been crazy exciting! Now that it's launched and we've built an engine for it to take off, we're anticipating a steady stream of growth. Thank you to all those who have supported me thus far. I promise to keep working away.

Ben and Betsy's Highlights

Another super beautiful wedding film created for Sandbox Love. Not gonna lie, their vows get me teary eyed.

Ben + Betsy's Highlights from Sandbox Love on Vimeo.

This was shot by myself, big Vitalie, and smooth man Nicky. Major props to my man RJ for putting together a great first cut of this. I then went in and did a ton of polish, color, and editing to give it that Sandbox Love special something. Looks so good. So happy to hear that ben and Betsy love it.

Also, some press! The video and photos posted to Style Me Pretty!

Alia + Josh

Masterpiece? They're all masterpieces these days. So proud of how well Sandbox Love is moving!



Editing this film was one of the hardest tasks I've ever had. I had footage from 4 days of shooting that all had to be packed into a 15 minute piece. Well, I just couldn't make it fit, so it's about 20 minutes. But it's a good 20 minutes. An amazing 20 minutes.

For SO long, I would bring up the project, look through the footage and decide that I wasn't in an inspired enough place to take on what I knew would be one of my best films yet. I had all the tools there, but it was the approach. There were SO many good stories that I wanted to tell. There are some amazing parts to Alia and Josh's story that didn't even make it into the video. Because of that, stay tuned for a little Part II action.

Me and Vitalie shot pretty much the whole thing, with Shaun helping out the first day. As you can see, everything about their wedding weekend was beautiful. I felt incredibly blessed to be part of such a wonderful experience and meet so many wonderful people.

Caitlin + Ben's "Fly Safe Please"

Here is another film I created for Sandbox Love. When Caitlin emailed me about the opportunity to film this incredibly emotional moment, I think I did a backflip in my seat. I was like, OMG I HAVE to tell this story. Check it out, and you'll see why.



Shaun and I went out to Virginia Beach to shoot this one, and what a trip it was. The weather was perfect, the locations were impressive (fighter jets!), and Caitlin and Ben were just awesome to kick it with. You can check out the official SBL blog post here: Caitlin + Ben.

So proud of this one.

Sandbox Love Turns Uno!

So happy to announce that my company, Sandbox Love, has turned 1 year old. It's still a baby, I know. But the more I learn as a business owner and the more experiences we have, the more mature we'll become. I can't wait for another year of amazing memories.



There are a lot of things I will be implementing in the business, such as hiring somebody to run the day to day operations as well as trying to find some more creative filmmakers to join the team. However, we will remain true to what we are... a boutique wedding filmmaking company. Which basically means you're going to see the same amount of attention to detail we've put into all of our films.

And to our fans, thank you so much for encouraging me. Seeing your comments, reading your emails, and seeing the "like" counter go up energizes me every time. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With Love,
Jesse

Kathryn and Ryan's Wedding FIlm

Here is the Signature Film we made for Kathryn and Ryan's beautiful wedding! We shot this in San Francisco and had the whole Sandbox Love team out for it.

Kathryn, as many of you know, is the founder of a fantastic wedding blog called Snippet and Ink. A while back, she saw a video that we made and decided she wanted us to make a film for her wedding.

We got some awesome coverage with this film, including having our film featured on Martha Stewart! And of course, being the big time blogger that Kathryn is, we got some great exposure from Snippet and Ink.

And most importantly, we've made another beautiful film for a beautiful couple. We've captured an incredibly important moment in their lives, and we're so proud to have been a part of it.

Jared and Christy's Wedding Film

Check this. Seriously. The last part of it combines so many camera trinkets it's like a camera connoisseur's vision of heaven. I'm talking a modified 5D with an ultra-violet sensor, a digital harinezumi, car mounted GoPro hero, handheld time-lapse, tilt shift lens. And WHAT!? This is a wedding video? Damn straight.



This is of course the newest film made for my company, Sandbox Love. It was shot by myself and Vitalie Ungureanu and edited by me. The reason I got to go crazy with all of this camera gear is because Jared himself is a camera junkie. He is an amazing photographer and a great filmmaker. Check out his company, Redtail Media. It was fun to film with him; he kept asking us about our little film trinkets. Like my digital harinezumi, a toy video camera that makes footage look like 8mm film. He and Christy also totally played for the camera. Like doing cute little things when they knew we were shooting, so that we'd get great moments.

Such a fun wedding, and so excited for Jared and Christy who really are perfect for each other. Here is the official Sandbox Love blog post: http://sandboxlove.us/?p=204

MORE
Jared and Christy's Love Story!
Jeffrey Neal's Demo with Jared and Christy!

Charlie + Morgan's Wedding

Well, I've been meaning to blog this on my personal filmmaking blog for a while. It's been up on Sandbox Love for a few weeks. But I figured not all of my followers watch my wedding company. So here it is for anybody who hasn't seen it.

Here is the Sandbox Love post for Morgan and Charlie's Wedding. As people at my PR firm like to say, "to add some color to this," Morgan and Charlie's wedding was really a perfect wedding. I cannot tell you how many things about their wedding were right on. I'll try.

First, I LOVED the colors that they picked. That salmony-type pinkish orangish color of the bridesmaid's dresses and the groomsmen's ties was classic and stylish. When I look up at the notes I have pinned on my wall about their wedding, that's exactly what they said they wanted. Well, they got it with those colors.

Second, their families were an pleasure to work with. We showed up very early on the day of the wedding, and I helped Morgan's father set up the rows of benches for the ceremony. Everybody just welcomed us with such warmth, and I think it had something to do with us making the Save The Date video and Love Story for them. Our team had already been incorporated into their wedding, so it was no problem to chill with their families as well.

And third, because Morgan and Charlie are such a young couple, the party was rocking. Hard. Like, rocking REALLY hard. The outtakes that might be included on their DVD are hilarious. It was for sure a fun party.

Also, props to Nick for shooting the wedding with me. As always, killer footage.

Danielle and Dan's Love Story

I shot this with Nick Markham a few weeks before Danielle and Dan's wedding. You may remember them from their Engagement Shoot from a while back. Here is the Love Story that we played at their wedding reception.

Dan + Danielle "Later, San Francisco" from Sandbox Love on Vimeo.

This was made for my freshly launched company, Sandbox Love. We went down to San Jose to film with Dan and Danielle and we had a pretty fun time. When Danielle first mentioned that one of her favorite memories of Dan was when they were eating ice cream on the hood of his car, I just HAD to have images of that.

I also did a lot of vintage cinematography for this piece, using my Digital Harinezumi. It's a toy camera that produces an image that looks similar to 8mm film. I'm siked with the vintage effect that I got with it.

I also think it is worth mentioning that my approach to editing this piece was to use the small moments of when Danielle and Dan speak to each other. I love how they speak with little pauses and in a volume that is really just for them. Super cute.

Morgan + Charlie's Love Story

We shot this with Morgan and Charlie two weeks before their wedding. All of their wedding guests attended the rehearsal dinner at The Lodge in Sonoma, and we had the chance to play this film for everybody there. After a very kind introduction by Charlie, I hit play.



When the lights came up, I looked around and saw so many teary eyes. The applause we received was pretty moving, and I didn't really know what to do. It was great though, it definitely set the mood for a touching and fun wedding the following day. Many thanks to Nick and Vitalie, who shot the Love Story with me for Sandbox Love. It's so inspiring to shoot with those guys, since we all see the world in different shots. When it's all added up, it always comes out well.

Defining The Difference

As my company blog and my personal filmmaking blog start to head off in different directions, I want to define the difference a little bit. Sandbox Love is the company that I have been building for almost a year. On there you will find nothing but wedding related videos. However, on that site I will talk about the couples I get to work with, what I find inspiring about their story, and a little about how the films were made.

On my personal filmmaking blog you will find a lot of videos that aren't related to weddings. It will be videos for the PR firm I work for, films I make with my friends, and any solo cinematography projects I do. I will also post wedding films that I made with Sandbox Love, but in the text I will talk more about how I made those films. More of a behind the scenes if you will.

Allison + Craig Wedding Highlights

Allison and Craig's wedding was such a fun event. Check it!



This was the video I wanted to launch my wedding film company with. The joy, playfulness, and cinematic opportunity at the wedding was exactly the feel I wanted to base Sandbox Love on. For more about the approach to my company, see below or click here.

Going into the day, Nick, Rob and I planned out how we wanted to do most of the shooting. I rolled around with the glidetrack and wide lenses mostly while Rob "rocked" the 85mm close ups. Nick (quickly earning the nickname "Iron Nick") was using the glidecam to get all of the great sweeping shots. The combination of all of this is a magic combo. We should give it a name.

While we were taking a break and restoring some of our brain's creativity, Cassie and Dan at Los Gatos DJ Company played that first song you heard in the video. I turned to the rest of the team and said, "we're using this."

A huge shout out to Ashley Maxwell and her husband Jason who are incredible photographers, super warm people, and quickly becoming friends. We've shot with them before and can't wait to shoot alongside them again.

Announcing: Sandbox Love!!!

It's finally here! I've been building towards launching a wedding film company for the past year, and I've finally got everything up and running. Take a look!



I should say a few things about the company. When I first started working in the wedding video industry, I was a little ashamed of what I was doing. Coming from a top film school, I felt like I wasn't owning up to my full potential; that I should be in Hollywood somewhere making real movies. Then something changed. I had a realization that wedding filmmaking, when done my way, is exactly what I want to be doing.

I get to tell meaningful stories again and again. My films aren't just entertainment... they are memories. I make films that matter. It's inspiring to know that each little cut I make in a film will be there, playing on their screens, in twenty years. Sons and daughters of my clients will grow up seeing these movies, catching a glimpse of what their parents were like on the happiest day of their lives. That I get to use my creativity and passion for this purpose, is truly amazing.

Sandbox Love is a company that strives to hit two feelings. The first is Love. But we're not going for Enya style here, we're talkin the fun, playful side. The cute quirks that make couples unique. Weddings are fun, and we want to capture that energy. The second feeling is Nostalgia. We want there to be a degree of reflection in our films. An air of sweetness, and sensitivity. I believe that feeling to be often overlooked in wedding videos, and I want to see what happens if I can capture that emotion.

Above all else, this is what I want to do. I have found my purpose. Sandbox Love.