Pennylane Productions

Check out our new commercial

Featuring creative photographer Ricky Restiano

Pennylane Promo 2009 from Adam Forgione on Vimeo.

I am honored to be named on the prestigious list of Top 25 event filmmakers in the world by EventDV Magazine. The list contains many friends in the industry who I am so proud to be a part of.
Thank you,
Adam Forgione | Storyteller

Click here for EventDV Magazine

This party was completely off-da-hook. Sarah and her family went all out to make this the ultimate event of the year. It didn’t hurt that Sarah’s father happens to own one of the most succesful DJ companies in New York – EJ THE DJ

The most common question we get from a potential client is “How much does it cost?” Now its a very valid question to ask because after all weddings are very expensive and we generally have to keep everything in budget to afford what we want. Well the answer is very simple. We are as much as our clients are willing to pay us. It’s a simple concept of supply and demand. If our product was of low quality, we would not be able to stay in business charging what we charge. Although our average invoices range between $4,500-$10,000 we are able to charge what we charge because people do see the value in what we create. If we could, we would charge 5 times that amount because we honestly feel that what we do is worth that, but we also have to be realistic and charge a reasonable rate within our market so that we don’t price ourselves out of business.

The client knows what their priorities are when they start shopping for wedding vendors. The most important thing may be The Dress, or The Flowers, or The Venue, or The Church, or The Band, etc. What we usually hear from clients is “We didn’t know video could look like this, but its too late we spent our budget and only have $$$$ left. We cannot afford to book you.” Now if video was normally booked in the beginning stages of shopping for vendors, clients would be able to allocate their funds easier to afford our product after seeing high quality imagery that they did not realize existed, but unfortunately video is usually last on the list of shopping. So the answer is “Yes you can afford us. It’s just that you spent more of the budget on other products and services and less on this service.” Video turned into a low priority. And why not? We’ve all seen those 1980’s cheesy videos that everyone hates to watch for 2 hours. Thats whats been shoved in our faces for years. Thats all video is. I dont want that at my wedding. The reality is that more and more wedding film companies are doing more and more amazing work but it is still an industry in its infancy. If produced by the right company, wedding films can look stunning, they can tell a compelling story and bring tears of joy to the eyes of strangers who watch it. How much is that worth to you?

The fact is, most clients can afford a Pennylane Feature Film. It’s just not budgeted correctly in the beginning stages. Although flowers can change a bland room into amazing scenery, they will not last longer than 1 day. The cake will be eaten before the night has ended. The music will stop playing at the end of the night, and the reception venue will have another bride dancing her first dance tomorrow, but we will make you laugh, cry, smile, and feel for the rest of your life. We will help show your children and your grand children, what your wedding day was really like. They will laugh, they will cry, and they will get emotional. If you get emotional watching our films and do not even know the bride and groom, how would you feel if it was YOUR world? What is that really worth to you?

If I could, i would charge $5 for our films so everyone that wanted one can have one. But the reality is I have a family that I would love to spend more time with. I have a beautiful wife and 2 adorable daughters that I love. I told myself along time ago that I would learn how to be one of the best in my industry and make a damn good product that clients would see the value in. They would understand why it costs more than our competitors and if they could afford it, they would book it because they believed it was worth every penny. So I open this discussion up to all former Pennylane clients to help me explain the importance of a memory on film. A memory that should breathe life on the screen. Whether happy or unhappy, please post what your Pennylane film is worth to you now, please tell me how much you would have spent now? please tell me if you would have sacrificed your budget on something else materialistic to afford your film? Or whatever is on your mind. I am deeply curious about this topic.

Louise turned 16 on Jan 23, 2010. We had the pleasure of producing a hybrid Same Day Edit mixed with an option called “Pre Shoot” which we had a blast filming 4 weeks earlier in the streets of Manhattan. We combined the NYC shoot with shots taken from the night of her birthday bash and created this 6 minute feature which was played to a screaming audience.

Pennylane Productions is donating $300 for every booking between Jan 17, 2010 till March 1, 2010. The disaster that struck Haiti makes me think of how lucky we are in America even though we are all feeling the wrath of our weakened economy. It is small in perspective with what the people of Haiti are going through right now. They need our help and we will stand up and do our best in this dire moment.

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross.
Even $5 dollars will change someones life.

Regards,
Adam Forgione
CEO of Pennylane Productions

Adam Forgione landed in Vegas on Jan 5 to catch up with canon at the CES 2010 show. Adam is presenting live along side the interactive documentary he directed for canon a few weeks ago. The documentary will talk about Canon’s new release of EOS, Vixia, and Powershot product lines set in a wedding day setting. You can watch a live stream from Las Vegas of the HD presentation he is performing in here :

CANON CES 2010 “HD SHOW” LIVE – Jan 7-10

Click here for show schedule (Canon HD Video Experience)

Here are some behind the scene shots of the shoot.

Our last wedding of 2009. What a great day. Katie and Brian chose a rockin’ song for this Same Day Edit, “Christmas Eve In Sarajevo” from Trans Siberian Orchestra. Check it.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Lauren and Nicholas got married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. This is one of the most famous and strictist churches in the world. We weren’t allowed to use wireless mics and very minimal positioning. We were able to convince the church to let us use our wired audio systems and it worked perfectly. Not only were their closest family and friends witness to this beautiful ceremony, but 100’s of tourists from around the world were able to experience this moment as they stole a distant glance from the entrance of this historical landmark.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Nina and Tom got married at Holy Cross in Maspeth and continued to Nicotra’s Ballroom (Hilton Garden Inn) in Staten Island. The song “Never Say Never” is so powerful we all thought it would be a great pick for the music.

Photographer : Mariann of Blue Daisy

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Bianca and Neil got married 10.11.09 at St. Patricks in Bayshore and continued at The Watermill in Smithtown. They wanted an intense dramatic movie trailer for their wedding and this is what they watched at their reception.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Samantha celebrated her Bat Mitzvah on October 3, 2009. This was such an amazing experience. They set up a city of luxury tents in the backyard, seemed larger than a football field. They had numerous celebrity entertainers and decor that would blow your mind. Check out a small clip we produced during the event that was handed over to thye client at the end of the night for them to enjoy the next day.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Event Planner : Carrie Gold of Unique Musique
Live Music : Harris Lane
Lighting : Frost Lighting
Floral and Event Design : DeJuan Strou

UPDATE : Just looked at the final list. I am floored we brought home the most CEA’s in the world this year along with my very good friend Jason Magbanua from the Philippines who also brought home 5, but he has super powers so its not fair. Jason is a tremendous inspiration to me and a living legend in our industry, Jason you rock!

UPDATE : I just realized now counting VH VIDEO as well took home 5, an amazing company from Florida who rocked the house. Not fair, you guys always come home with 5 so its no big deal to you LOL. Congrats VH VIDEO, honor to be on the same list with you guys.

So excited, we we’re honored to accept 5 more Creative Excellence Awards from WEVA 2009 in Orlando, Florida last night. I am blown away right now, what a feeling. categories include :

Same Day Edit,
Ceremony
Post Ceremony
Movie Trailer
Highlight Categories

We grabbed another 1st place with this post ceremony at LIVA

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

This was a same day edit we did for Christine and Michael. This is not the usual style. The wanted it to be hilarious and funny so this is what we came up with.

WARNING : contains some male nudity

Amy and Dek got married November 7, 2008. I have to say that this was hands down one of the most emotional weddings i have ever filmed. The connection between their family and friends was amazing. this is the highlight reel :

Wedding Planner : Francesca Leonardini of Dazzling Affairs