Why I'm FINISHED filming weddings

This is the end. It's been a good run, but all good things must come to an end sometime. I'm beyond thankful for all that I've learned throughout my time, and I'm excited for what's next.
All I've Learned About Weddings: geni.us/99YIPl4
Filmed this vlog using this: geni.us/yAYVHH
Monthly Coaching Membership: geni.us/o9q1eo
Gear for Sale: geni.us/JxOz
Get in touch: geni.us/08ff
How I Run My Business: geni.us/TZnLTO6

[@josuevasquez6757]

Although you are leaving the wedding business I wanted to let you know that you were one of my inspiration during our start of our wedding business. Wish I would have been able to connect more to have you as a mentor. Blessing on your future success and I will keep watching.

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks my friend

[@DiqaunColeman]

Scott, my man, phenomenal video! I've been filming weddings for the last 4 years full-time in which I shot 200+ weddings and I officially made 2021 my last year filming weddings. Initially I was resisting and trying to avoid how I was feeling internally regarding my lack of interest to film weddings anymore in 2020 but after shooting my last wedding of 2021 on Dec 4th, I'm so confident now that I'm making the right decision to transition out of the industry. It's been a heck of a ride and dude I can literally tear up right now just pondering the journey and reflecting on how far the Lord has brought me. But bro, I wish you all the best on your entrepreneurial journey as your channel has certainly been an inspiration to many filmmakers in the industry including myself. Much sucess, much peace, and many blessings to you and your family. 🙏🏽 I'm definitely sticking around.

[@EricFloberg]

Feeling all of this and navigating a lot of it too. Not ready to say goodbye to weddings yet, but not doing more than 10 a year now. Stoked for you!

[@scottmckenna]

I think we can all relate at one time or another and it’s not my recommendation for everyone to stop it. Just depends on what you want to do in life and career.

[@JDHD2]

"The One Thing" is a great book that kind of tackles exactly what you're talking about in this video

[@scottmckenna]

Awesome.

[@bushboxer]

Amazing book it is

[@jameso7042]

I had my last wedding mid last year and I am completely and utterly relieved. Corporate is the way to go

[@curtiscrow]

Always enjoy listening to you talk out your process. It's incredibly valuable to people like me who enjoy trying new things and starting new businesses. Can't wait to see what you're up to next!

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks man. I’m excited to share some new things and new focus for what I plan to do with this channel in 2022. It’s for you bro.

[@wileyfilms]

Congrats on the long career in weddings and respect your journey!

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

[@adrianzaharia8885]

Good luck on your new journey!

[@MikeEdwardsphotography]

Hey Scott. Loved this! Love seeing the journey of another entrepreneur on a similar path. Healthy things grow and what’s growing needs to be fed and for you that’s SC. Good on you. Good on you for building up other income streams for you and your family. You’re definitely in the path to leaving an inheritance for your children’s children. If you’re ever in San Diego, hit me up. I’d love to buy you a cup of coffee. Blessings.

[@StoryDrivenFilmmaking]

I completely understand. This is exactly why 2022 will be my last year filming weddings. I've also filmed weddings for 8 + years as well, next year seems a great time to move on. For me, it's the editing, I film over 40 weddings a year and I am just burnt out and want to do other things. Looking forward to watching your journey in other endeavors.

[@scottmckenna]

It’s a pretty common theme I see for sure.

[@WatertownFilms]

Excited to see what’s next for you

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks so much.

[@TAPPChannel]

scott leave those weddings videos... Those are super interesting to watch. Don't hurt your channel... That is also one of your channels best fishing rods

[@scottmckenna]

Fishing rods that catch the wrong fish. It would be like throwing in a bait that catches the fish you’re not trying to catch. Makes no sense. I’m not trying to attract more wedding filmmakers.

[@GalIsaev]

hey, your vlogs and story telling are great. very good content, keep it simple and honest

[@Leslie.Bradley]

Regarding scaling creative, what type of commercial videos are you making and how did you start finding clients?

[@scottmckenna]

I talk about this a lot on my channel.

[@CardonaThe2nd]

Smart Move. Love all of it.

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks bro. I hope you’re well.

[@KaceySue]

Excited to see what is next for you in this new chapter of your business journey!

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks Kacey.

[@NowyKurs]

How is the washing business?

[@adrianarias3352]

Random question, what is that app your using to illustrate?

[@scottmckenna]

Haha. It’s just Notability. I use ProCreate when I’m doing more unique style overlays, but I use Notability for all of my note taking.

[@maniprakashphotographyarts]

Hi Scott

[@DDNZ]

You're wasting an opportunity for wealth generation here. Just license your brand and sell a master license to your replacement that they can pay you for out of future revenue then 10% of revenue ongoing. Once you've succeeded at this you can consolidate fragmentation of talent using the same system. The value of the intangible asset here is your recipe for success.

[@RCodyWanner]

really great distinction in here between owning a business and owning a job - also amazing to hear that there’s very little profit in a wedding business (as you explained, there’s pay, but not much profit) - i don’t think anyone realizes this, i think most people think there’s TONS of profit in weddings and we’re basically price gouging - not true at all (also, same in my experience).

[@scottmckenna]

I’ve talked with so many people one on one regarding how much they make filming weddings. So many people will use the excuse of “I make $5,000 to film a wedding and it’s one day of work.” My response is always, “have you ever actually counted the amount of time you spend on a wedding top to bottom. (Meeting with the couple, sending contracts, inputting all the information for the day of schedule, meeting with the couple to discuss the day of schedule, driving to wedding, filming the entire day, driving home, importing all the footage, backing up all the footage, culling the footage editing the footage, coloring the footage, audio, music licensing, uploading the footage to a place that you pay to have it uploaded, sending the footage, waiting to hear from the comple, making revisions on the film, re uploading, re sending, and paying monthly to keep that storage space full of their footage). That $5,000 is a very small hourly fee if you actually divide it up. And that’s all saying that you make $5,000 per wedding which is high for most. The average is more like $2,500-$3,000. All the same work involved, half the cost. Your profit is TINY. Then if you hire people to do all that for you, forget about it.

[@ramymelhem]

You were my source of knowledge when I fist got started 2 years ago. I don't know how many times I went through your BTS films, writing down notes as I tried to figure this out when I barely knew anything about camera settings. You were my life saver and my films ended up looking incredible because of the takeaways. Thank you for all you've done and I wish you the best in your next chapter. I'm excited to see what else you've got coming up.

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks so much Ramy. I appreciate you following along, and I'm so glad to hear the channel has been useful.

[@JSBCINEMA]

You were one of the first youtubers I watched to gain confidence in filming weddings and to know what gear best benefitted you. Thanks to you, we have made a sustainable and hugely rewarding side gig that has become our main gig and allowed us to be more financially free. Looking forward to seeing your future projects!! 👏 filming weddings have allowed us to look professional and legit and have opened the door for many business gigs now. It's a blessing man, thanks again!!

[@anthonyc1883]

Also bears mentioning for those wondering why Scott doesn't just simply hire a team, is that in addition to what he said about there being very little profit for him in the end, he as the business owner would still be responsible for the forms, filings and expenses of keeping the company legal and in compliance with any tax obligations such as sending out 1099 forms to his contractors. Plus, as the non-hands on owner, he still might have a certain liability to cover, too. Despite the fact he'd hire independent contractors, do you think a bride or family who had footage lost or botched wouldn't also seek compensation from 4LC in addition to those independent contractors? Of course she (they) would. Like Scott said --- just not worth it.

[@scottmckenna]

Spot on. Too much stress

[@kalef1234]

seems like a natural progression, tbh. I hear commercial work is great money!

[@scottmckenna]

It’s great money, but more importantly, it’s ongoing and it doesn’t have a cap.

[@joeym4090]

Hi Scott. I came across this video. Thanks for the input. People say I should do wedding videography or at least charge for videos. I know it's not as easy as it seems and it has challenges and even more when there are financial priorities etc. I noticed you had the came-tv lights in this video? Do you have light recommendations like for receptions? I will check your channel just wondering if you had a video on it. Thanks.

[@triedtruefilms1126]

2022 will be the last year we film weddings. We are honestly just tired of the editing, haha. Going to try and transition into photography... (not weddings) so that we can still remain creative and profitable but WAY less stressed. Thank you for sharing all of your wedding content, though! Learned so much.

[@scottmckenna]

I hear ya. It's a lot of work for sure. Without a lot of reward haha. Best of luck in your new journey. Please keep following the channel and keep in touch.

[@jackzdroneandphotos8398]

Tho i started shooting film wedding .. everything you said is true👍

[@davidcasjim]

Brou! Just today I starts watching the behind the scenes of a wedding in 4k and this thing pop up

[@HFDWHALERS97]

Always loved your wedding videos, Scott, as a wedding videographer myself, but have really enjoyed seeing your journey as you get away from them. I totally get the profit talk about when you have a bigger team with weddings, which is mainly why I like being the head guy in what I do by filming/editing myself and just having second shooters help out. Definitely a lot of work but it's been going great and I'm glad to see things on your end are too! You're a great resource for a lot of people! Happy Holidays.

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks for the kind comment. It’s not a bad business to be in at all, you just have to be able to do it yourself with a very small team to make profit.

[@rizilowbatt5127]

Everyone would quit their main job when youtube can give them bunch of money 🙃. That's make sense

[@scottmckenna]

If you’re saying I’m quitting weddings because I make enough money on KZbin, that’s funny.

[@Scott_Alexander]

All the best in your future endeavours. I was personally following for the wedding stuff.

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks for following

[@ColeDeRuse]

Funny timing. I leave today to film my last wedding tomorrow. Commercial only moving forward

[@EverWhereFilms]

I was wondering why I wasn’t seeing much from you anymore. Good luck on all your new ventures man.

[@scottmckenna]

I’ve been here still

[@machiavelli4428]

Omg your story sounds exactly word for word like mine. I quit for the same reasons

[@scottmckenna]

Probably a similar story for many.

[@yungnavz]

Much love bro continue winning

[@Brian-Hansen]

Interestingly enough, I’ve been shooting professional video for about 25 years. And right now I’m actually booking more weddings than normal probably because the amount of wedding videographers that are getting out of the business. It’s full circle. I never thought I would filming as many weddings as I am now, but I’ll take it! A little bit of a break from corporate video is it good for my soul right now.

[@scottmckenna]

There’s definitely nothing wrong with weddings for sure. Just not something I’m interested in anymore.

[@Brian-Hansen]

@@scottmckenna Right on. You are completely correct on the profit disappearing in weddings if you are not the one actually doing the work. Sub contracting the wedding production AND editing just zaps all the available cash. I was in a corporate rut for sure, shooting the same video content for the same clients for 10 years, and weddings are fresh right now.

[@scottmckenna]

@@Brian-Hansen Absolutely. If you are the one running the company, and filming and editing, you can make great money in the business. You just have to have a passion to do it.

[@wonderfullymademedia]

You should just make another page to transfer all of the wedding content and leave it.

[@scottmckenna]

Nah.

[@droneman5450]

although wedding filmmaking came back 10x in 2022, it's good you had the other company because 2021 would of been a struggle, very lucky timing. Some of this channels wedding videos gave me my start in the industry. I do understand the income cap limit for weddings though. Commercial work has limitless opportunity.

[@superzero4250]

Actually, I originally watched your channel because of your choice of camera. At the time the GH5. When you switched to another system, that is when I essentially stopped watching. This video randomly showed up in the side bar, and I only clicked on it to check in to see what this channel had evolved into. For me, it is interesting to witness through KZbin what a content creator thinks they need to accomplish the end result. Personally, to me it all seems the same, just the tools are different. What is very clear to me, is that it does not matter what system one uses. It is all basically on par. The difference really is the person plus subject matter, and the integrity with consistency in which one does that thing, that thing they do… Bon Chance in your future endeavors… …

[@mcandy007YT]

Can you maybe put your wedding videos on not listed and make it only available to purchasers of your wedding course? I watch your weeding videos regularly. I understand your decision! Good luck for the future.

[@scottmckenna]

If you’ve purchased my course, I’m happy to give you some access to them. I was just thinking about putting it on my course actually.

[@MrDavid1pittman]

I stop doing weddings two years ago and never went back.

[@FENIXDRONES]

Hey Scott why don't you become a broadcast company and when are you going to buy the Mavic 3

[@theloftyviews]

Hey Scott! I’ve been following you for years and your videos really helped me get started in the wedding business. I’ve been looking into getting into the commercial but I’m having a hard time penetrating the market. Can you make a video explaining how you got into the commercial business?

[@MartinVanDerSande]

Make friends and connect with marketing agencies. Its a great source for commercial online video ads.

[@derekmack]

Guess that’s an unfollow then, I get that you want to move on but removing videos in the hope it drives sales of your course, is this in the ‘how to hustle’ videos coming next?

[@scottmckenna]

Removing the videos is not an attempt to sell courses. If i was trying to sell more courses, I would have removed the videos a long time ago. It’s an attempt to get people that are only interested in weddings to realize this isn’t the place to come anymore. Just being honest. Sorry to hear you’re not interested in the rest of the journey. When you stop filming weddings one day, you’ll understand why I left it.

[@a.g.productions5090]

We understand you are moving on but please dnt delete any of the old wedding film making content. You would rather create another new channel.

[@scottmckenna]

Already gone. Thanks for following along.

[@TimandLauren]

Love anything ya do man. Good for you brother

[@PristineAutoDetailing]

Very cool!

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks for following along.

[@busbyrobert3980]

Thinking out loud on a video can more beneficial (and cheaper) than paying to go to a psychiatrist. Hey it all seems like a plan. You got this.

[@scottmckenna]

I agree haha.

[@captoncm3]

Second

[@PaulFeinberg]

First!

[@PaulFeinberg]

I saw this coming for a while. You know I will watch whatever you put out! Great stuff man, can’t wait to see what’s up your sleeve now lol 😂

[@Justin_Cowley]

Never give up on what your tying to do in life. Thank you for all you teaching.

[@scottmckenna]

Absolutely bro. Keep pushing forward.

[@vadovelocity9831]

Scott like your wedding videos i would just say pls don't take them down since it's good content it's something that you created and made. It's history it's value notes, journey and growth. Just write a caption or something that tells everyone new that has found your wedding content and that's starting your journey letting them know that there is an ending and it's ended its not continuous anymore. To follow along to your next journeys. It's a life series everyone should watch and grow with you. Happy new year's for the record this is my first comment this year! Thank you.

[@scottmckenna]

Thanks for the comment. I’m not going to have them on the channel but I appreciate the thought.

[@vadovelocity9831]

@@scottmckenna is it gonna be on another channel? I haven't finished them all yet lol

[@scottmckenna]

No it’s not. Sorry.

[@vadovelocity9831]

@@scottmckenna thx :/ do u have a estimated time for ill try to see as much as i can before its down.

[@scottmckenna]

They are all down already except for the long one with 1 million views. All the rest are already gone.

[@kencampbell5855]

Hate to hear this. I am one who subscribed to this channel for wedding tips. You remind me of a fellow I know who was a emergency room RN then started a photography business, then started a lawncare business then trucking company, then excavating business, now he makes woodworking items. It appears what you really like to do is start new businesses.

[@scottmckenna]

Correct. I love building things for sure.