This has nothing to do with video whatsoever. But it’s cool.

Many of you know we are strong believers in getting out and staying out of debt to win financially. Part of what motivates us is listening to Dave Ramsey – if you Don’t Know Dave check out his website, or on Houston radio station KPRC 950 or on Fox Business Channel weeknights (Houston Comcast channel 234).

So why am I talking about Dave Ramsey? Well, we meet a lot of young couples just getting started in life. If we could wish anything for them, we wish happiness and peace in every form. To that end, we recommend you do something weird - live within your means.

Don’t borrow money. Ever.

It’s weird, we know. It’s not some late-night cable “creative real estate” program or “get-rich-quick” scheme. This is what Dave teaches on the radio every day. In fact, we asked, and Dave Ramsey gave us permission to “re-podcast” one of the more entertaining phone calls from his radio show. The call and his commentary on it lasts about 10 minutes but it is worth the time spent.

Click to hear the phone call!

We delivered two wedding projects and one civic project this weekend, as well as shot a wedding out of town Saturday - and made time to celebrate Dad’s 82nd birthday with family, friends, and neighbors.

We shot Brittany and Cody’s wedding in Spring; one project was delivered to Tomball, one in Texas City, and one shipped today to Colorado. Thank you Chris, Kevin, Beth, David, and Jenny. Making progress, whoo hoo!

If you are one of our wedding video customers, we want you to know we are working very hard to complete your video within 6 months from your wedding date. Depending on the specifics of the project, and the number of projects in our queue, some are taking longer than that. (You know who you are…)

Christie and I are taking a couple of months off this summer from shooting so that we can spend even more time editing some of these long-outstanding videos. (You know who you are…) In addition, we have raised prices and started being more selective about bookings for 2009 and beyond. For the foreseeable future we are going to shoot fewer weddings per month than what we did in 2007-2008.

The quality of experience we have with each couple is very important to us on the wedding day and beyond. Even if you don’t hear from us personally every week following the wedding, you can always check the Edit and Delivery Schedule page on this website to see exactly what we’re working on at any given time.

Eariler in May we had an email from a customer who had just received her video:

“I wanted you guys to know that Matt and I got the wedding videos. It is amazing, great, wonderful, grand. I am so happy to see it. It turned out better then we expected. We got it yesterday and I have watched it 3 times so far. I just wanted to thank you guys again for such a great job.”

So, for everyone who is waiting on your video, it will be worth it. Parents and family are especially prone to Not Liking to Wait. And we understand that, we really do. The only thing we know to do is reduce the number of projects we take on and raise our prices for future work, which we now have done.

(Note to future clients: we are just now getting to the average price points in the Houston area for the award-winning quality and style of work we do, so, we still won’t break your budget. We may even be cheaper than your chair covers.)

Last week we were very proud to be part of Santa Fe’s production of Shattered Dreams. This program involves the dramatization of an alcohol-related crash on or near a high school campus, complete with police and EMS response, emergency room treatment, family notifications, and the arrest and booking of the driver. Tuesday we filmed the crash scene drama, which was played out before the student body in real time. The next morning a wrap-up assembly was held featuring those who played roles in the previous day’s drama, including the “crash” victims, the drunk driver, their parents, and participating law enforcement and medical personnel.

In addition to the real time events of Tuesday and Wednesday, during the weeks prior we met several times with the students, their parents and sponsors, and filmed the additional scenes for the drama.

The final product is extremely moving and emotionally impactful. We entered a short clip from it in the bi-annual Houston Professional Videographer’s Association competion and was awarded a Distinguished Video award. As soon as we get an OK from the school sponsors we will upload the clip here.

For more information on the Shattered Dreams program, visit their website here.

Yes, this is not a misprint. We get calls and emails every week asking us to provide video services for weddings or events for this current season. With very few exceptions, we have no more availability in 2008. So, certainly, call or email to inquire but don’t be surprised if we’re not already booked.

And more importantly, if you are getting married in 2009, don’t wait too long to hire your videographer!

From my friend Earl Chesser in California, compelling information you may not have realized…Thousands of brides every year say they regret not including video in their pre-wedding planning. Now, after the wedding, it’s too late.

According to many members of the professional wedding and event video production community this reaction has been their collective experience when talking with these brides. “Our company is always marketing through direct mail, client referral programs, participating in area bridal fairs and other events,” says Mary Ann Osness of CorElAnn Productions in Southern California. “We get to speak with many newly wedded brides as a result and the vast majority of them tell us they regret not having a video of their wedding day.” Osness says that a good number among this group admit they got portions of their wedding day on video, taken by friends or family.

“They will tell me it’s a good thing to have some of their wedding videotaped, but that often the things they wanted to see the most were not recorded, or that they could not hear the vows, readers or other special commentary due to bad audio,” says Osness.

Our experience here at McKnight Video has been exactly the same. Recently…. Read More »

Here is a new heartfelt Christmas song from pop-rock star Rick Springfield. The song was co-written by Derek Hilland, and proceeds from the sales of the CD go to charity. For more information on the organizations, please visit – American Gold Star Mothers, who are mothers that have lost a son or daughter in service of our country: www.GoldStarMoms.com and Cherished Lives, a memorial website where soldiers’ families can create a free memorial website for their loved ones: www.CherishedLives.com.

We played a very small part in the making of this video and wanted to share it with our friends. We encourage you to buy the Christmas CD, available from RickSpringfield.com.

Here is a highlights piece that includes a unique setting; the reception was at the Tall Ship Elissa in Galveston.

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This is absolutely a true story from a DJ who belongs to WEVA, one of the national organizations we belong to. All names have been omitted to protect the guilty and I corrected some spelling here and there. This DJ is describing the “service” a $500 videographer provided at a wedding he was a DJ for. This wedding was not in the Houston/Galveston market. It’s too bad that this client will get exactly what she paid for, but sometimes we all learn things the hard way.

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…For $500 they (the couple) got unlimited time. It was a two camera setup and for all of the toasts both cameras were focused on the person giving the toast. Forget the cut aways of the bride and groom laughing or crying - they don’t exist. As soon as we got through the celebratory dances, the videographers returned to their table and sat down. And sat.. And sat. All the while they missed the happy couple dancing with people like grandma, granddad, the bride with her mother, the groom with his sister and on and on. About 45 minutes into this the videographer wanders over to me and asks… Read More »

Bill Read, the chief of the local National Weather Service forecast office has been named acting deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

We filmed Bill a couple of months ago giving a hurricane-preparedness seminar during a Texas City town meeting. It is currently being broadcast on Comcast cable channel 16 through hurricane season.

You can read more about Bill’s story here - http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2007/08/local_forecaste_1.html

…and you can view a sample of his hurricane presentation here - http://mcknightvideo.com/download/corporate/SeminarWithPowerpoint.wmv