Joth Riggs
The Big Picture: A Little Perspective
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on 02-01-2010 at 02:53 AM (1069 Views)
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Well, it's a new year. And with the new year comes new opportunities. One that I have been honored with this year is the opportunity to share my perspective on the wonderful world of wedding cinema as an EventFilmmaker.com featured blogger. My name is Joth Riggs of Whitestone Wedding Films and I have been an event filmmaker in Southern California for five years. And while I don't think my opinion is any more or less significant, I do believe it may be unique in this industry as someone who spent more than a decade working in Hollywood making movies and television shows for all the major motion picture studios.
After getting my bachelor's degree in film & television production in 1992, I cut my teeth as a production assistant on Paramount Pictures' Pet Sematary II. From there I went on to work on the sitcom Coach at Universal Studios before landing the choicest gig in Hollywood; working for Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment. From there it only got better as I was accepted as a member of the Director's Guild of America and went on to work on nearly 70 different movies and TV shows as an Assistant Director, working along side some great (and not so great) directors on projects such as Starship Troopers, End of Days, Baywatch, Party of Five and C.S.I., just to name a few. I was also nominated for a DGA Award in 2001 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television for TNT's James Dean. If you're curious, you can check out my imdb page, or for a complete filmography you can go to my website at WhitestoneWeddingFilms.com.
The next question you may have for me is....'why the heck are you shooting weddings?' Am I right? I'm glad you asked. This question brings me to the real point I want to make with this blog. Life is short - don't blow it. There were several reasons I stopped working in the film industry (although not entirely, as I'm currently in pre-production on a feature film shooting in India as a 1st A.D. - but that's for another blog post). All of my reasons for stopping boil down to one word...FAMILY. While I thoroughly loved working in the film industry it was absolutely not conducive with raising a family, and as a husband and father of two beautiful little girls, I couldn't bear to see all of that sacrificed on the altar of ego to the almighty studio. Not to say that it was an easy decision to make, but it was made a whole lot easier when I discovered the potential of wedding cinema. A world where we creative types can get our fix with beautiful imagery and passion for a delightfully appreciative audience each and every time. A world where we make all the creative decisions that go into a project. A world where we have great freedom to run our own business and set our own hours. A world where there are no 16+ hour days on a set, no meal penalties and no forced calls. I am now truly blessed to be able to live in a world where I can have all of this and be able to do it with my daughter on my lap and my dog at my feet. What more could I ask for?
I hope you'll take this opportunity with me to appreciate what we have here. To appreciate this industry that has come so far in the last several years and is poised for even more potential in the future. I'm grateful to be part of this community and look forward to forging ahead to the next level. After all, we get to make movies for a living.
Joth Riggs
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