Today we’d like to introduce you to Naomi Raiselle and Jack Brotman.
Jack started his career creating sound tracks for corporate slide shows and videos, working at a very prestigious and cutting edge company called Envision. On the side, he loved, and still loves to dj. Music was always Jack’s first go – to love. His work at Envision expanded to include corporate video production. Naomi started out teaching creative writing and literature. Always a sucker for a good story with interesting characters, Naomi transitioned to working as a couple’s counselor and psychotherapist, teaching yoga and meditation on the side.
Both Naomi and Jack met and later married one another in Brooklyn NYC before moving to Boston where Jack finished his college years at Emerson College. Every now and then, someone who knew Jack would ask him to film a wedding, which he did, meticulously and classically. Sound and interview became the hallmarks of Jack’s work.
Naomi, Jack – please share more of your story with us.
In 2004, as Equal Marriage was being fought in the Massachusetts courts, the couple showcased at the first gay and lesbian wedding expo in Boston – co-sponsored by Bloomie’s Men’s Department and The Lenox Hotel. Several couples took the studio (then, GENERATIONS videostories) hastily printed business cards. Several days later, as Equal Marriage became law in Masaone of the couples called, and asked if we could film their wedding taking place the following Monday, May 17, 2004, the very first day Equal Marriage was law in Massachusetts.
Of course we were excited beyond belief – particularly since the couple was one of the 7 plaintiff couples who fought for the right to marry. Over the weekend, I struggled with conflicting thoughts: I was excited and wanted to film the wedding in a very documentary style, knowing that this wedding, happening at The Arlington Street Church was an historic event, about to be shown around the world on every news outlet.
On the other hand, technology was foreign to me still, and I had, truthfully, never used a video camera. Jack and I looked everywhere for someone else to film with us – however, at this last minute, it came down to Jack and me, and the night before the wedding I had to ask Jack: How do you turn the camera on? We, and the wedding film, became part of history, and we licensed parts of the film to be used in other films about Equal Marriage. After filming that wedding, I was hooked on being able to turn my therapy skills into interview skills, asking the questions of couple and family that piqued my curiosity and interest. GENERATIONS was officially born on that day.
Our brand, right from the beginning, centered around wedding films having characters, plots, and emotions. In 2004, most wedding videos were simply voiceless video captures of the main events, usually in slow motion. We felt that we could do a lot more with the medium, and immediately set to work distinguishing ourselves as wedding film makers, who could find the compelling and moving story in any wedding.
In 2008, we became the first wedding videographers ever to have been awarded “Best of Boston” by Boston Magazine. We were proud, we were happy, and we were determined to keep evolving the medium to one that would garner respect and success in the wedding industry and beyond. Over the years we discovered that our skill set was also applicable to non-profit videography, so that as other videographers entered the wedding market alongside us, we expanded to produce wedding films, our famous Love Stories (picked up several times by The Huffington Post) live streams of weddings, non-profit fundraising videos, and continued to work on corporate projects with such companies as Iron Mountain.
Sound and authentic first person narrative made our projects unique. After watching many couples crash after the wedding, coming down from the high of engagement through wedding, Naomi decided to offer pre-wedding marriage coaching and ceremony planning as well. We had both watched (through the lens) as many couples neglected the importance of the ceremony in favor of the party. Today we have watched as wedding films have grown and evolved as technology has, as well. We are, and always will be, focused on the couple, the family, the friends and the story, and less on the drone shot, the crane, and the slider. While we’ve lives streamed wedding ceremonies to Columbia, Brazil, Israel, Kenya and Greece, so that friends far away could still witness the wedding, we have always maintained that weddings should not become film sets – and have managed to keep our cameras small, using available light whenever possible, and mic’ing everyone and everything so well that we often have multiple sound sources to mix so that the wedding film sounds like the viewer is there with the couple.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Some of the struggles…Novice videographers offering low cost wedding videos and branding them as “wedding films” so that couples really have trouble determining what they want and how much it should cost. Running a business is very different from being an artist (or a therapist!) Charging adequately has been an issue, as has knowing when good is “good enough” – and trying to let go of our inclination to perfect endlessly.
Historically, wedding films have been less expensive than photography. Perhaps that’s because everyone shoots video today. Perhaps it’s still a hangover from the 1970s when wedding videos were edited in-camera and filmed by some guy with a huge shoulder-mount camera, a hand-held mic, and a shot list.
Social media… with increased importance of social media, time now has to be split into sm, marketing, meeting, filming and editing. If budgets were bigger, it would be possible to hire staff to handle some of that. We have, in the past year, limited our wedding bookings to 12 weddings a year – and a couple of love stories. We are looking for the couples who understand why our films cost what they do, and have a deep appreciation for substance over glamor. We like to think of our wedding films as keepsakes for many generations – so that kids, grandkids, will be able to see and hear a little bit about their ancestors and family.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We make films and videos for weddings, non-profits and corporations. Jack also djs and I also do pre-wedding coaching and help couples plan the events and ceremony of their weddings.
We are most proud to be working with some of the finest non-profits in Boston (The Rashi School, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, MSPCC, The Italian Home for Children; Gateways, Art Because, ILEA, NACE); some of the most interesting couples, straight and LGBT; having filmed the first public, same-sex wedding in Ma/US; and some of the most sophisticated corporations, (e.g., Iron Mountain,; Pepsico, Network of Executive Women; GE Healthcare).
What sets us apart is our intimate, authentic style, and our skill in setting clients at ease for interviewing. We create small, indie projects that are character-centered.
What were you like growing up?
Jack: creative, quiet, smart, loved music.
Naomi: outgoing, loved to dance, strong-willed, loved a great story.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5 Coniston Rd, Roslindale Ma 02131
- Website: www.generationscinemastories.com
- Phone: Naomi, social and non-profit – 617-233-9874 Jack, corporate – 617-232-6223
- Email: NAOMI@generationscinemastories.com; Jack@generationscinemastories.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/generationscinemastories
- Facebook: Facebook.com/GENERATIONScinemastories
Image Credit:
Dana Siles, Dana Sile Photography
Marina Sun, Life fusion photography
Jill Person, PersonandKillian photography
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