As I (Phil) sit here looking back on 2013 to recap everything that we experienced, I realize that I would basically have to write a novel to give due credit to all that has transpired throughout this year. We have truly had an amazing year with several additions, changes, and all kinds of ‘firsts’!  Before I try and hit on a few of them, I want to offer my sincere gratitude to all of the couples who put their faith and confidence in us to capture one of the most important days of their lives. Without you, we would not be able to do what we love on a day-to-day basis! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for enabling us to make a career out of our passion. And to all the wedding professionals that we worked beside, you are simply awesome and it was a pleasure to work with you all!

2013 brought on countless weddings at some awesome venues. If you know us well, you know that we love to film at new and unique locations and this year gave us many opportunities! We had the pleasure of filming our very first beach wedding in Emerald Isle and first multi-cultural wedding at Wait Chapel in Winston Salem. We did our fair share of travel outside of the triangle as well ranging from New Bern, NC, a few stops in South Carolina, and as far north as Frostburg MD to cover our 2^nd Elopement (by the way, we love filming elopements!).

We also began the process of re-branding, which included our new logo that was designed by the very talented Salted Ink out of Wilmington, NC. Sara, of Salted Ink, will be taking on the challenge of our website redesign in 2014 so we are super excited about that as well!

And the additions- where do I begin! I’ll start with Rob….although he filmed several weddings for us in 2012, he took on a more prominent role at the beginning of 2013 and quickly worked his way up to becoming a Lead Filmmaker and heading up his own team! Lucy has joined us as well and immediately impressed us with her filming skills and personality and has teamed up with Rob to create a dynamic filming duo! And Anna…where would we be without that girl! She joined us full time at the beginning of the year and all I can say is watch some of her films. Her passion, desire, and love for what she does are truly evident in every single edit she produces! Happy One Year Anniversary, Anna!

I had to save the best addition for last though….Jess and I had our baby boy, Jacob Parker, back on March 22^nd and he is something else! Look out for his edits, coming soon. Jess took a bit of a hiatus from filming on Saturdays for most of 2013 for obvious reasons, but we are excited that she will be joining Twenty-One Films full time in the spring of 2014!!! (thank you to Christobal from Azul Photography for these priceless images!)

Yes, weddings are our bread-n-butter, however we had the opportunity to be a part of some unique projects this year, including: a behind-the-scenes shooting for Southern Weddings & Southern Bride & Groom magazines, our first ever TV commercial for Forever Bridal, a very close-to-the-heart documentary for the Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue, and several branding films. One of my favorite projects was a promotional film for our newest capability – aerial cinematography. If you haven’t seen the film yet, be sure to check it out!

Needless to say, 2013 has been a year to remember. We have a few more 2013 films to produce and share and we can’t wait to do so! I, as well as the entire Twenty-One Films team, want to wish you all a very Happy New Year and we look forward to an even better 2014!!