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A marriage studio has closed its doorways leaving a staff of photographers and videographers with out 1000’s of {dollars} in owed funds and a whole lot of {couples} with out imagery from their massive day.
South West Picture and Movie, operated by Lee Brewer, immediately ceased buying and selling final week leaving some {couples} scrambling for a photographer for his or her weddings and others questioning when they are going to see images from their massive day.
Videographer Sam Richardson was one of many many subcontractors that Brewer used to meet his appreciable bookings and he tells PetaPixel in regards to the awkward mess he has been left in.
“It has affected me massively. I’ve spent the final week selecting up the items and dealing with the remainder of the staff attempting to assist as many {couples} as attainable to retrieve images or movies and make new bookings,” says Richardson.
“In my opinion, I’ve simply been attempting to get the movies I’ve shot for {couples} to them and the association we make is ‘pay what you possibly can’ as a result of I’m out of pocket and so they don’t need to pay twice. I’m taking up new bookings for this yr and subsequent yr for affected {couples} matching the value that they had agreed beforehand.”
South West Picture and Movie, based mostly within the U.Okay., has blamed the pandemic for its finanncial woes with an electronic mail despatched to clients stating: “It’s with upmost disappointment we wish to inform you that South West Picture and Movie, formally Lee Brewer Images, has ceased buying and selling. We are going to not have the ability to present any of our companies to you at your marriage ceremony.
“We now have tried so laborious the final couple of years to outlive the COVID-19 pandemic. The monetary implications have confirmed an excessive amount of for us to recover from.”
Richardson believes that the enterprise haD gotten “in over its head” with excessive outgoings on issues like ads, salaries, and gear.
“The size he was attempting to run it and what they had been attempting to pay for had been massive. I didn’t assume the value was excessive sufficient to pay for the prices,” explains the cameraman.
“From what I perceive, it obtained to the purpose the place folks had been paying in full for subsequent yr and that cash was going instantly to pay for the gear and overheads for the right here and now.”
It’s attainable that the enterprise was hit with an enormous tax invoice that it was unable to pay due to the mass cancelation of jobs in the course of the pandemic.
The U.Okay. tax authorities has provided month-to-month repayments to many picture companies, however it could be that this recurring invoice was just too steep for the marriage agency to deal with on high of all the opposite related prices.
The case echoes that of Glasser Pictures, a marriage agency that closed its doorways final yr, refusing to supply shoppers refunds. They’re now going through a civil lawsuit in North Dakota.
To see extra of Sam Richardson’s work go to his web site and Instagram.
