Meet David Horner | Pastor and Wedding Videographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Horner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I got married, I was working as a pastor and wanted an additional source of income for my family – a side hustle. I had been doing freelance work for a marketing company making a little bit of money but not much. One day, I stumbled across an old spreadsheet that listed the amount of money I made one year while in high school doing real estate videos. I realized that hourly, I would make way more money if I worked for myself instead of working for someone else. Not long after that, a friend of mine from church asked me to shoot her wedding video. I rented some equipment, did the video, and it went over pretty well. After that, I started shooting more weddings – around 10-12 per year. It’s the perfect amount of work to supplement my income and give me the time I need to focus on pastoring, being a husband, and being a father.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Creating wedding films is certainly an art form. To me, it is all about re-creating the emotion of a wedding day in a visually stunning masterpiece. This takes more than just technical knowledge and knowing how to get the right shot. It requires you to be able to piece together a story that will take a person on an emotional journey. As a pastor, one thing I am constantly thinking about is how to present Scripture in a sermon in a way that will make sense and compel the hearers to be moved emotionally and practically. I do feel like this translates into video, since my goal is also to present content in a way that compels the viewer emotionally and, at times, practically. This requires intention and strategy. I also have a background as a musician. I understand the power of music and what it can add to a video if it is used as more than just a background track, but instead as a story mechanism.

I’m excited that I get to work with couples to capture their wedding days. This is the vast majority of the work that I do in my business. There are few more important moments in a person’s life than when they get married to their spouse. So I count it as a privilege that couples entrust me to capture such and important moments. There’s nothing more exciting than hearing back from a couple about how they love their film, how it made them cry, and how they will cherish it forever. I’m proud to create content that my couples and their families will look back on for life – perhaps even generations in the future will watch these wedding films!

It hasn’t been easy to get where I am today. It of course, takes a tremendous amount of focused energy to foster the technical skills, people skills, and business skills needed to have your own business. These things don’t just appear over night. I have the type of personality that becomes fixated on what I’m interested in. Thankfully, this personality trait was a tool that helped me learn the ins and outs of using a camera and editing videos. I also have a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and had a lot of experiences in college that gave me a basic idea of how to run a business. However, to be honest, I feel like I could own and run my business whether I had a college degree or not. Most people learn what they need to know on the job. It’s all about drive, perseverance, hunger, and willingness to learn and adapt. College degrees don’t mean much unless you are willing to put in hard work.

I never went into debt to start my business. I bought all my camera equipment from the ground up with cash I made from jobs. I started out by renting and then used my first few jobs to buy my own camera and lens. Every time I made a video, I bought another piece of equipment until I had what I felt like I needed. The creative part of me wanted to keep buying equipment and have the latest and greatest. But the business part of me eventually realized that I would never make money if I was always buying new gear. So I eventually learned to be content and realize that the equipment I have is getting the job done. I only buy new equipment now if it will make my life incredibly easier or my videos way better. And this simple practice has helped me make a lot more profit.

One challenge I ran into was running out of time. I realized that it took me about 10 hours to shoot a wedding but around 20-30 hours to edit it. That meant that the average wedding video would take me about a full work week to complete. Shooting only took about 25% of that time so editing was where I was getting backlogged. Since this is my side hustle, I wasn’t finding a lot of time to do the editing I needed to do. I started having some unhappy brides and grooms who were waiting 4-5 months for their films. I was constantly stressed and feeling burnt out. I knew what I was doing wasn’t sustainable. So I reached out to an editor named Chris Rodriguez at Emissary Wedding Films. Hiring an editor is the best possible thing I could ever do for my business. I have so much more time to focus on the things I want to focus on. I can take more weddings and spend more time shooting which is the best/most profitable use of my time. I still am fairly involved in setting the direction of every edit and putting the finishing touches on, but having someone to do a lot of the work in between has been so helpful and freeing.

As far as my brand goes, I want to be known as a high-profile wedding videographer in my area. If a bride and groom are price-hunting, they probably won’t be interested in booking me. My goal is to create something that will make a couple cry when they watch it back and say, “Wow, he really captured US!” I work with people who value quality and see their wedding film as a long-term investment that will be worth it when they watch it back 10, 20, 30 years from now. I want to work with the couples who watch my films and recognize the care and effort that goes into each one. I want to work with the couples who don’t just view me as another vendor but who see my work and say, “I want you.” I want to work with couples who want their videographer to make them feel special on their wedding day. I want to work with couples who value the little moments of emotion and who want to make time to capture the stunning visuals.
I like to come home after every wedding and sleep in my own bed, get up, see my wife and son, and work at my church. For these reasons, I don’t do a lot of travel films. But I want the people in my area to think of me when they ask, “Who is the premiere wedding videographer in Evansville?” That’s the brand I’m building.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well to be honest, Evansville Indiana is not exactly known for it’s social scene, haha! But it is a bigger city than most people think (3rd largest in Indiana). If someone came to hang out for a week, I’d want to get coffee and doughnuts at Parlor Doughnuts (I know the owners really well – it’s a top quality spot). Bru Burger would be a must, as well as Pangea Kitchen and Cafe Arazu. We may get some Ice Cream on Frankilin street at Milk & Sugar. I’d take them to walk down by the river in downtown Evansville and also, to walk on the riverfront in Newburgh (city next to Evansville). If it was summer and I had a friend with a boat, maybe we’d even go boating on the river! If it was fall, during the first week of October, we would definitely go to the Fall Festival which is Evansville’s claim to fame. We would probably visit the USI/Burdette walking trail (my wife and like to walk!). Maybe we would go to a concert at the Ford Center or watch an Evansville Otters baseball game at historic Bosse Field (where they filmed the movie, “A League of Their Own”). We’d probably drive 1.5 hours one day to hike at Garden of the gods and another day, we might drive 2.5 hours and spend the day in Nashville.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I dedicate my success to Jesus Christ who has given me the talents, abilities, and opportunities needed to do what I do. I also dedicate it to my wife who has supported me by encouraging me, shooting videos with me, and helping me with my business. My family who has instilled in me the mindset needed to own a business. My friends whom I toured with in a band for many years – these were the years where I learned how to use a camera. I also learned some great things from the Full Time Filmmaker course.

Website: www.davidhornerfilms.com

Instagram: @davidhornerfilms

Facebook: facebook.com/davidhornerfilms

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQOARe7wh4662AxlsBYvsYA

Image Credits
David Horner