Testimonial From Ivana & Andrew Firestone

Russell, you did such a fantastic job! We are so pleased to have chosen you as our videographer – you were perfect! Without us even noticing you were filming, you captured the essence of our wedding day beautifully. It is amazing work! We‘re so happy we have this video to share with our children someday! Thank you, Russell!

Warmly,
Ivana & Andrew Firestone

Goo Goo Dolls Wedding...Krista & Mike

Just got Skye Blu Photography's blog photo's from Krista & Mike's wedding at Cicada in downtown Los Angeles. Here's the link to her blog for all her pics, Very impressed, take a look.

I was their wedding Cinematographer for Stellar Films and just got my Super 8mm Film back from Spectra Film, wait till you see what my amazing colorist Doug did with it. Coming soon!

Ok, major sidebar for the record....being that the groom "Mike Malinin" here is the Goo Goo Dolls drummer, you might think he'd be a fairly good dancer, naturally, Nooooooope! And I got it all on film, ha-ha! Krista on the other hand is a dancing machine from heaven, seriously I've never seen anything like it before, that girl can boogie. Hopefully their kids will get his percussion skills and her dancing genes.

He gets off the soapbox.

Cheers,

R.

Andrew Firestone & Ivana Bozilovic Wedding

Andrew and Ivana booked Russell Fowler of Stellar Films to shoot their wedding in Super 8mm Film. I think they made a perfect choice having their wedding documented in this beautifully artistic medium. Andrew & Ivana were fantastic, hospitable and gracious. Not to mention extremely photogenic to the max. Every once and a while I thought, wow, this couple is more attractive and have more charisma in person than in any movie, tv show or magazine cover I've ever seen them in. I think the webster's dictionary is right now as we speak, changing the picture for the word photogenic to one with them in it. Yep. So besides, having such marvelous subjects to shoot, and being involved in one of the most lovely weddings of all time, I must say, the Firestone Vineyards people as a whole are top shelf in my opinion. Tonya Szele, their wedding planner and recent former head honcho over the events and practically everything else at Firestone pulled it off in her usual easy-going style and grace. Jill Remy, the current on-site planner for all of Firestone Vineyards, teamed up with Tonya to knock this one out of the park, or "meadow" if you will. All I had to do was try not to faint from all the beauty filling my lens. It was truely a breathtaking day of shooting. They say pictures are worth a thousand words so here are some photos provided by their exquisite photographers "mi belle inc." Enjoy. Oh and you can see a super fun aged clip on the website.......sooooo go ahead and take a look. 

Sally Field Family Wedding Weekend

I'm off to shoot the wedding video for Sally Field's Son tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be able to show you a clip of this very prestigious wedding of Academy Award Winning Actress Sally Field's Son's wedding to his sweetheart Jenny, since I had to agree to sign off on the rights to showing clips on my website, but I can tell you that it's going to be amazing and unique, and that they are a fantastic couple, Jenny is the most darling bride ever. Their phenomenal photographer is Joy Marie and their famous planner is "the wedding planner" herself, Jill LaFleur! Who knows maybe I can talk them into a little tiny clip of their wedding for you, cross your fingers.....

Cheers,

Russell

Joy Marie, Rocks!

So many times this year, I show up to shoot a wedding film and this is what I see. Joy Marie. She also got me hooked on drinking RockStar's during a shoot which I must say, Rocks! Thus the blog title, " Joy Marie, "Rocks"....get it? (Ha-ha) Gotcha! R.

16mm Motion Picture Wedding Cinematography

Little time for blogging lately. Been busy crafting my latest masterpiece. That didn't sound too humble did it? Sorry. What I mean is that 16mm Film is my favorite of all media to work with and that masterpieces inherently belong to this gorgeous film stock. Arguably I presume, but who cares! 16mm is sooooo hot! It's warm buttery lens takes my eye to an amusement park of wonderment and excitement. Oh, don't get me wrong, Super 8mm is cool, very very cool, no question but 16mm film is hot! Smoothe and luscious. I love the 16. I think I'll marry it and guess what?, yep!, film the wedding in........you guessed it, 16mm motion picture film. Ha-ha!

I think the summer heat is making me loopy. Anyway, take a peek at my latest creation on Stellar Films website under; "film clips". The bride is the "Farmer John Hotdog Heiress" and the groom is the head chef at the Dodger Stadium. Ironically, the Dodger Stadium is famous for their "footlong" hotdogs right. Guess who makes the Dodger Stadium's "Footlongs"? Farmer Johns of course. I'm telling you, there's a story here folks, I'm only telling the love story of their wedding day however, in my favorite of all films......16mm!

...............xoxo Russell

I can't help it... I love this car.

1957 Porsche Speedster 356

What drives an artist? I don't know the scientific answer, but I'm an artist, and I'd sure like this sweet ride to "drive" me. (ha-ha) No but seriously, in case you were wondering, the image you see above keeps popping in on my thoughts all throughout the days of my life. Sooooo, don't be surprised if you see your wedding cinematographer, Russell, show up in this elegant wonder on wheels some day soon! - Yep.

x....Russell

Tim Halberg is my Buddy

What can I say, I have sooooo much fun working with Tim and Cheryl, that each time a bride say's, "my photographer is Tim Halberg", I think, Hot Damn, it's gonna be fun! 

In other words, I love my work, and working with a great photographer who's a cool and awesome dude like the Tim, makes my work even better. The clip you are about to see is from a wedding he asked me to shoot of him and Cheryl shooting a wedding. Since I'm so busy editing a million weddings I shot this year poor Tim had to edit it himself and I think he did a very nice job, I'm very impressed....   check it out here: 

http://weddings.halbergphotographers.com/slideshows/Garrett-and-Gina-Super-8/

Enjoy!

R.

Brentwood Villiage Studios Pic's, thanks Joy Marie!

We have a great location in Brentwood Village nestled right between Kirstie Kelly Couture wedding gowns and A-List Celebrity Event Planner Lisa Gorgestani of Details Events. The amazing photographer to the Stars, Elizabeth Messina is showcased here in addition to many of our talented photographer friends work is displayed here for you. 

Talk about ‘location, location, location’. Right across the street is fabulous Italian food, Starbucks, and plenty of amazing shopping. Introducing the newest addition to the Russell Fowler Studios Team, our Los Angeles Account Manager, Jeanette Ulmer. She’s in our Brentwood Village Studios each week wining and dining with high-end planners and photographers. Our studio is a warm and cozy place to visit and enjoy a “cappuccino or sip on some champagne” to quote from Rebecca Stone’s website, (Hi Rebecca). The address is 131 Barrington Place, Suite 200, Brentwood Village, Los Angeles, CA. 90049

Here are some pictures that Joy Marie took on her last visit.

Skye Blu Photography Visits Our Brentwood Village Studios

Danielle Biel of Skye Blu Photography dropped by the other day to drop off two sweet canvas gallery wraps from the Goo Goo Dolls wedding we shot together for Krista and Mike Malinin. Danielle shoots 100% film and I shot their wedding in Super 8 “motion film”. Her photos turned out amazing as you can see. I’m stoked to have her Fine Art in my Brentwood Village Studios for all to see. Click here to see more Krista and Mike photos on her Blog. 

Meet Jeanette and Erin

Jeanette is the Los Angeles Account Manager for Russell Fowler Studios based out of our Brentwood Village Studio. Erin is Kirstie Kelly’s head marketing guru for her couture wedding gown collection. We are collaborating with Erin on some future projects involving Kirstie Kelly Gowns and we couldn’t be happier. Not only are they our next door neighbors in Brentwood Village, but very charming and wonderful too. Nice neighbors to have.

Russell Fowler Studios "New Logo"

We just finished moving into our new studio in San Clemente. It's a beautiful new space with 1600 square feet including a fully funtional photography studio. Simultaneously, we just got all moved into our Brentwood Village office right next door to Kirstie Kelly Designs headquarters and Lisa Gorgestani's A-List Celebrity Event Planning company, Details Events. To simplify matters I'm merging Stellar Films and Bon Vivant Cinema into one Central company, using my own name, Russell Fowler Studios. Hopefully this will simplify the mystery of my comanies once and for all, since so many of my friends in the business have asked me again and again, "what's the difference between Bon Vivant Cinema and Stellar Films?. A new website is being built as we speak. I'll notify you all when it's "live".

Super 8mm Film Short

Krystal & Travis... you're very welcome! What a beautiful wedding you had. I'm so glad you liked the way your film turned out. Marilee Hennings of EverAfter Events did a fantastic job for you guys. I had a good time working with your photographer Kevin Roche also for the first time. Hope we get to work again soon. I just love San Diego Weddings. Paradise Point Resort is very, very beautiful too. Congratulations to you!

Cheers,

R.

Lounge Monkey

The Hahn Estate 

Montecito California

photo: BB Photography by Brian Charette

Planner: LaFete

Guy Kicking Back on Couch: Me

Brian and Brady of BB Photography have been referring their clients to me for their videography and cinematography for quite some time. Little did I know that they have been snagging pop shots of me at work, or rather, while lounging on the job. Ha-Ha! Great! 

The Hahn Estate wedding was truly amazing. Colette and Kaitlin of La Fete Weddings and Special Occasions put on this very lavish and austere wedding ceremony and reception at Hahn Estate. The bride and groom were so much fun and beyond gorgeous not to mention extremely photogenic. When BB puts up photos from this outstanding wedding I'll be sure to link to it for you. 

Ok..., back to the photos below that Brian shot of me chillin' on the couch.... Yep, it's a "video" camera you see there.  As you know, I'm a cinematographer, and I normally shoot with "Motion Picture Film Cameras",  but when I do shoot "video",  I roll with this little baby. Weather I'm shooting Super 8mm, 16mm or even video, Canon cameras are definitely my preference. I've been in love with Canon ever since they sponsored me for producing  my extreme sports "Unleashed" surfing TV Show" for DirecTV pay-per-view. Sooooo much fun that was!  Well as you can see, I love my job! Thanks for the photos Brian. You rule! 

Amy & Larry's wedding film

Film for a Friend

Amy is our friend. She is a wedding photographer in Santa Barbara, a mild giant of talent and grace. She and Larry got married and asked us to shoot a few reels of Super 8mm Film for their wedding, so we did. Larry is a great and funny guy, also a photographer, a great one too. So as their invited guests, we really enjoyed their very touching wedding experience. And a great dinner! Each time I see this film I get choked up, well, ok I cry, there I said it. I'm a big crybaby. But especially when watching Amy and Larry's wedding film. Congrats to you both, have success and love forever. 

xoxo R.

Here is Amy's thank you email. 

"Thank You thank you thank you!!!

We just watched the beautiful film you made of our wedding.  We love it!!! You are a visual master."

xoxo

amy & larry

 Amy Lundstrom

Vita-Bella Photography

http://www.Vita-BellaPhotography.com

info@Vita-BellaPhotography.com

1233B State Street

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

805-962-1092/ office & fax

800-354-0959 / toll free

805-637-1933 / cell

Film Facts FAQ's

Every now and then I get asked, "what is the difference between "Film and Video"? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I love to try to keep it simple, so here is one picture of film....1. Film gets loaded into a very cool vintage camera, 2. artistically composed, hopefully, 3. shot, then 4. developed at a specialty lab for 5. color correction and then 6. telecine transferred to digital tape for 7. editing.

A lot of important factors and steps in there!

Sooooo it's real important that you make sure that you as , "the Producer", or in this case, "the Bride", hire a very good and well established "Cinematographer" to shoot your film along with a very good and well established "editor" to tell your story for you. I think it's further helpful if your cinematographer and editor think along the same lines for cohesiveness. Stellar Films weddings are all shot and edited by me, Russell Fowler. However, Bon Vivant Cinema being my associate company, has well established crews of shooters and editors who handle those weddings. What's the difference? Well, the Bon Vivant Cinema weddings are shot mostly with video with incredible attention to detail as with Stellar Films and I personally review each wedding before it goes out to ensure consistant quality. What you see on the website clips should be what your own wedding video looks like. I'd be glad to make a separate post on this topic, just ask and I'll fill you in.

(SIDEBAR NOTE)...MY SCREEN NAME ON MY CELL PHONE IS "STORYTELLER" - Can anybody figure out why?

Cheers,

Russell

Summer 2008 Wedding Season is here.

What a kicking start to 2008 wedding season. Hands down our best year ever! Meeting so many awesome vendors this year from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Having so much fun. Get to work with great people every weekend, get paid to be surrounded by beauty and love, get fed very well, hume, most of the time, and the list goes on. Mainly "art" is a thing you love to do. Weddings are a beautiful canvas. Work is something you have to do. Weddings are a beautiful canvas. Motion pictures or stills, Film is Forever, memories live well in film. Weddings are a beautiful canvas.

Russell Fowler Studios..."New Blog"!

Hi I'm Russell Fowler. I'm a wedding cinematographer. I shoot weddings in film, Super 8mm & 16mm, occasionally film with video and sometimes video alone. This is my brand spanking new blog for all of my companies, all having to do with capturing images at your wedding. I'm doing business to make it simple under one business entity called Russell Fowler Studios. RFS is made up of Stellar Films, Bon Vivant Cinema and Agency-Studios. The companies are differentiated as follows: 1. My brand new company for photography using associate photographers is Agency-Studios. 2. My lower priced wedding videography company also primarily hiring my long-time associates to shoot and edit is Bon Vivant Cinema. It's lower priced since we offer a conservative amount of film and primarily relies on less expensive "videotape" to capture your wedding memories. 3. My signature motion picture film company, Stellar Films, using only Super 8mm & 16mm Films to shoot your wedding. Sound is however included via digital sound recording separately. 

Please do come by and visit often.

x...Russell