Australia Seeing Video Start-Up Boom
Wedding directors, doctors and funeral directors in Sydney and across the AU are seeing videographers and camera people in their events, as the country sees a boom in small businesses that record important events, ranging from births, to weddings, and even funerals.
One such business is the $1.4 million C2 Films, the brainchild of Marcus Theodor, which specialises in weddings, says that demand is growing thanks to the more sophisticated demands that customers now have, not just for their weddings, but other key events in their lives.
He, and others, say that their businesses are booming, as more and more Aussies demand keepsakes of the most intimate moments of their lives, as well as to let them see important events even though they’re on the other side of the globe.
According to Ibisworld, in the AU, the professional photography service industry has a total value of $1 billion, while the video post-production service industry values at about $531 million.
The average wedding video package in Sydney and Melbourne can cost anywhere between $2,000 to $10,000, with options for the video crew to be active for 16 hours. Common additions like specialised drone footage or same-day video turnaround also cost hundreds, added to the usual bill.
Some, like Belinday Jane, started out dealing primarily with weddings, before specialising in funerals. She says that businesses like hers let people see events if they’ve missed it.
Funeral Cast’s Scott Gorman says that funerals have become more performance-oriented events, orchestras, pigeons and the like. He says that filming memorial services and eulogies is high-stakes, with demand coming from a lot of people in different situations, sometimes from people stuck on the other side of the world. He says that services like theirs provide closure, which is really important.
Sometimes, demand comes from people who’ve been together for decades. Regardless, it’s a high-stakes business, with a lot of families generally unfamiliar with funeral videos. As the service becomes more commonplace, familiar to funeral directors in Sydney and across the country, however, businesses can’t afford to make mistake, as the brand takes a serious hit if the audience’s needs aren’t met. Gorman says that if something goes wrong on site, people will expect a lot of back-up.
