Videomaker

Has anybody used Mark at Videomaker? I have him booked for my 12/7 wedding. I've called to make final appointment with him 4 times in 2 weeks and he hasn't returned my phone calls. Any suggestions? Should I go with someone else? Can you recommend anyone good?

Re: Videomaker

Do a search of posts. I remember there was a bad thread of him recently. I personally crossed him off my must see list.

Re: Videomaker

Deb - By the way, welcome to the board!!

Re: Videomaker

Deb I would suggest Bellarino. Phil is a great person. The phone number is (516) 781-7710.

I wanted to visit Videomaker, however the first attempt he never called to let me know he was not going to be at his house. So we showed up and ended up wasting our time. The second attempt I just had a bad feeling after I read the thread on the company. If you are having regrets and are worried, Phil will totally help you out and put your mind at ease.

Re: Videomaker

Hi Deb-
I have been having the same problem. Mark did my wedding on August 24 and we initially got him on the phone about 2 weeks after we got back from our honeymoon and arranged to drop off our honeymoon photos around Sept. 26. He then said he'd have everything ready for us to review in about 2 weeks. We started calling him last Weds. to see when we could meet him and left 4 messages but no calls back.
I had my husband call him from work today and we finally got him on his cell phone. We made an appointment for this weekend, which I hope he keeps.
I had no problems working with him the day of, but I am a little concerned now.
Your best bet is to try him on his cell phone.
Did you give him a deposit? If not, then you are free to get another video guy.
Good luck in reaching him! I know how concerned you must be.
I will post back and let you know what happens this weekend.

Re: Videomaker

Welcome Deb !!!!!!!
I don't know anything about Mark from videomaker personally, but there have been many negative posts about him, and if I remember correctly, I don't remember any good ones. From the look of it, he doesn't return calls, etc. . . and may not be too reliable. But I only say this from what I've read here, I never dealt with him, but you may want to be careful.

For video, I and many of the Brides here are using Wild Rose. Bill and Marie are the best !!!!!!!
You may want to check them out, you won't be sorry if you do

Good luck whatever you decide to do. Let us know how it all turns out

Re: Videomaker

Ugh this guy makes me so mad with the phone call thing, i hate that he gets those of you who booked him nervous, this is why I went with bellarino, deb I would be careful, sounds fishy to me.

Re: Videomaker

DEB,

Hi! I'm a May bride and I have Marc booked as well. I'm going to pull my hair out of my head b/c I have phoned him 600 times in the last month - and I spoke with a secertary (?? - not sure who she was and she said he was busy for the weekend shooting weddings and he wouldn't be able to call me back until after the weekend - and surprise, surprise HE DIDN'T).

I actually defended him when I read some bad publicity on him - which prompted me to call him and get his side of the story and I have never heard from him. I am thinking of driving out to his house and knocking on the door - this is how mad I am. I was SOOOOO careful in choosing the wedding vendors thus far - and I had a tough time with the videography b/c I didn't have a large budget for this specific part of the wedding - but now, I'm FUMING and I've already given him $250 as a deposit and I'm scared he left the country and took off with my money. It's not a huge amount of money but it's a large percentage of the overall cost. I was weary of him b/c I left several messages to meet him - never heard back - then he called me and kept me on the phone for quite a while apologizing with this whole explanation on his new cable-phone system that destroys his messages.

Believe me when I say, I am not a fool and I DO NOT get taken advantage of by a scan. I grilled him for 2 hours in our meeting.

I am outraged and ****ed off beyond words. My wedding is in May and I need to know if I should scout for a different videographer, try to get back my deposit or what. I'm at a loss.

Do you want to team up and try to track him down? This is highly ridiculous that it has to come to these terms but I don't know what else to do.

ANY advice from ANYONE is appreciated. Let me know what you think DEB.

THANKS!

Re: Videomaker

please visit bellarino- he will calm your fears because he is soo professional.

look at his website- click on our brides and grooms and you will see my page he made for us-

i attempted to book videomaker before bellarino and he was totally MIA i said forget it- because i couldnt be bothered with a flaky videographer.

I only had decided last minute 6 weeks before wedding to hire a videographer

Re: Videomaker

NYC-
I'm amazed you got someone to answer the phone at all!
It took us two weeks of trying and we finally got him on his cell phone. I, too, gave him the benefit of the doubt when I heard all the trouble, but when he didn't call back I started to panic. After all, he has the only footage of my wedding.
I wanted to stop by his house, too, but his dog scares me!

My husband and I have an appointment with him tomorrow to look at our video footage. If he's not there, I will help you track him down!

I sincerely hope he's there and he has a good reason for why he hasn't called any of us back. I will post tomorrow and let you know.

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Okay now I am fuming! My Fiance went past Marks house yesterday. The house is empty and there is all sorts of stuff on the front lawn (as if he's been evicted). Still no return phone call from him and even if he does call me back I dont think I want him now. He is basically MIA with my 250$ deposit. I am meeting with Bellarino this Thursday night. Thanks for the advice. Whoever is using Videomaker, Beware, find somone else because it looks like he's gone.

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OMG, I feel so bad for you all who booked him Good luck tracking him down with your deposits, and your footage. !!!!!
Let us know how it goes.

Re: Videomaker

Hi everone-
Good news. Mark has not run out of town. I was at his house today to view the raw footage of my video. He owns the house and is having the inside remodeled, hence all the garbage out front. Believe me, my hubby and I were both a bit worried when we saw that, too!

He's been sick and also helped his parents move out the last two weeks. He's also a single parent and runs the business on his own. That's still no excuse not to call anyone back, but don't bale on him just because of that--it's a small price to pay for a great quality video at such a reasonable price. If the phone call thing is a concern and you will stress about it, then don't use him. I guess that is the price we pay for saving the money. Bottom line is he showed up on time for my wedding, was a pleasure to work with, and has a very good product.

All I can say is I was blown away by the quality of the footage. It was beyond gorgeous, and this was just the raw stuff! Everything was in focus, he got some great, creative angles, and everything I wanted (I gave him a list), plus many moments I had missed. Sound quality was great, too. He made a point not to follow the photographer around so he got things the photographer missed. And having the footage of me getting ready with my family and bridesmaids is priceless--I'm so glad we did that. Also, I suffer from severe motion sickness and can never watch hand held video--but Mark's video was extremely steady, even when he was following me around. He captured 2 hours of really good footage, virtually all of it usable.
Both my husband and I were really surprised and very happy.

We were just as concerned as all of you with his lackness in returning calls, but after seeing the video, I feel much better.
He's supposed to do the final edit this weekend so we can pick up everything Monday night.

He said because of the construction and the fact he's moved his office (it's now in the garage, not the house, which is actually a nicer set up) he hasn't been able to answer his business phone regulalry (whatever). He said the best way to reach him is to use his cell phone, which is how we finally got through to him.

I admit I started to panic after seeing this thread, but then I have to remember that vendors are people, too, and who know what difficulties they are having in their lives? Mark obviously isn't perfect and admits he's not good at returning calls but I don't think it's malicious on his part.

If any of you concerned brides have more questions, send me a forum mail.

Now let's see if he calls us as he promised for our final pick up.

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well i see all these negitive posts for mark from
videomaker and last month i posted he never showed up for my friends wedding and never sent anyone to cover the job he never even called. my friend has a court date scheduled with mark and its this month i will post the date and place of the court date. stay away from mark of videomaker, also we found out he had a different company name a while back and he gotten a bad reputation and had to go bankrupt and start under a different name , i hope who ever is using him has better luck

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ShellMarie -

Thank you for your post - you made me feel 100 times better about Marc.

I found his cell phone number and left a message - a very strong message.

I really thought he did do very good work - his follow up skills are horrific - and he needs to realize that those skills can be just as important as the work he performs.

It's all so frustrating.

THank you to everyone else who has been recommending Bellarino. I've already given him $250 of my money so I really need to try to figure it out and make it work.

EVERYONE - please keep me posted on any new information.

THanks so much!