Wedding Wednesday: Michael Justin Films

Happy Hump Day, friends! So, I've decided to jump on the "Wedding Wednesday" bandwagon, and for my first installment, I'm going to talk a little bit about Michael Justin Films. I've been working with Michael since 2013 and was recently tasked with finding us a summer intern (if you want deets hmu). With all of the searching, a quickly approaching summer season, and an abundance of free time on my hands, I've been able to do some reflecting, some of which I'll share with you now.

The beginning takes us back to November 2012 when I first stumbled upon "Jackie and Michael's Wedding Film" on Pinterest. Watch it. Seriously. This was back when the video only had about 100,000 views, now it's sitting pretty over on Youtube with over 1.2 million - damn. I like to think this indicates my mild psychic ability to predict trends, more on that later. 

After doing my due diligence (read: stalking), I reached out to Michael asking if I could intern with him the following summer. I might have been getting a little ahead of myself, but that's how compelled I felt by their story. It was only recently that I realized it wasn't the film that was so captivating, but rather Jackie and Michael's love story.  It's the kind of thing that gives all single, potential cat ladies hope for love in the future. By the way, I would be a weird dog lady - I can't stand cats. 

Anyway, a week or so later, Michael replies to my message and was basically like "Chill. It's November. Get back to me around April of next year," except much nicer and more professional. I followed my instructions and in May of 2013 I found myself sitting in the MJF office (aka: Michael and Jackie's living room on the upper west side).

Over the next three months, I worked several weddings with Michael, Donnell, Edison and Kraig. At that point, we were only working on films. It was a three man team and me. Literally. All Michael's emails started with some variation of "Hey guys... and Taylor." Honestly, I love being part of "the guys," but I appreciate the effort. That summer, there was one wedding in particular that I remember. It was a destination wedding and Michael, Donnell and I road tripped to Jamestown, Rhode Island. Since there were only three of us it was an insane amount of running around like crazy. This was the first time I really felt like a really integral part of the team. It was a gorgeous wedding. In fact, all the weddings I've worked or attended have been beautiful. I think what really sets the good apart from the best, are the people. In my experience, the least-stressed brides and grooms end up with the best results, and of course, having the most fun.

At the end of that first season I was sad to have to say goodbye. But mostly I was okay, since I was going back to college to see all my friends and make the most of my liver. I was also okay, because I was confident that my time with MJF wasn't over. I had worked really hard and established great working relationships and friendships. Spoiler alert, I was correct - told you, I'm mildly psychic.

A few months later, knowing Michael and the guys had their first dual, photo and cinema wedding coming up, I mentioned that I would be home if he needed me. I was hired to third shoot for the cinema team and that was my first paid video gig. I did a minimum of twenty different things wrong that day, but Michael proceeded to hire me for the following summer and still, to this day, trusts me to do good work for him.  

Realizing that someone I look up to, sees inherent value in what I do and in who I am, was a critical turning point in my professional career. I have grown tremendously as a creative professional and storyteller since working with Michael Justin Films and I'm happy to have cultivated relationships that will allow me to continue this growth and development.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to surround yourself with good people. People who are good at, and passionate about what they do. People who are kind and generous. I really am lucky to have found a home with Michael Justin Films, I can only hope that more young people find the same kind of happiness and fulfillment in the work they do.

En route to the 2014 Michael Justin Films Holiday Party

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Descendant Records

Listen to this song from The Lone Bellow before, during, or after reading this post and I promise you won't be sorry - unless you have terrible taste in music... (just kidding...but not really...)

In all seriousness, even if you aren't usually a huge fan of folksy American, indie music you have to admit lead singer Zach Williams has some real talent. I thought it was Gavin Degraw's long lost twin brother when I first heard them. If you want to know more about them, and you should, check you their site, thelonebellow.com. I'm a little sad I won't be in New York in March to see them play.

One of the things I love about The Lone Bellow is the way they talk about making music as telling their stories.

"These are true stories. These aren't things we made up. We tried to write some songs that had nothing to do with our personal stories, but we just didn't respond to them...we know each others' personal stuff and trust each other to figure out what needs to be said and how to say it" says Brian Elmquist, guitar player and vocalist. "We do this thing together, and we carry each other. Hopefully that makes the listener what to be a part of it. It becomes a communal thing, which means that there's never a sad song to sing. It's more a celebration of the light and the dark."  

Contrary to what it seems, the point of this post isn't to tell you about the awesomeness of The Lone Bellow, it's to tell you about the internship that I just applied for with Descendant Records, home to... yep! you guessed it, The Lone Bellow and another awesome band called Colony House (check them out too - über talented!!) 

I came across the postion on a job board and after a fair amount of social media stalking I became so excited about the possibility to work for Descendant Records I almost couldn't focus enough to update my resumé. I had the same feeling I got when I first emailed Michael Justin Films about an internship. 

Music is always been a huge deal in my life. If you put my iTunes songs in date order you can probably pretty accurately guess what was going on. That said, I think allowing someone access to your iTunes is one of the most vulnerable things you can do.  

Speaking of vulernability, have you checked out Standbuy.us yet? Just needed to fit in my daily dose of #standbuy because that's still hugely important to me. Ok, I digress...again. 

Even if nothing comes of my application, I am so happy to have found some new music to listen to and a new path that I could possibly pursue for a career. And I highly suggest keeping an eye on The Lone Bellow and Colony House - I predict they're going to continue making spectacular music. 

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