Who We Are:
Old North Film Company produces cinematic wedding films with an emphasis on storytelling.
We have been filming weddings since 2014 in Chicago and the surrounding areas. We’ve grown into an award-winning production company that produces over 300 weddings a year in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
We're excited to expand our team of creative, friendly, and eager videographers as we move into our 2026 wedding season!
This contracting position is an opportunity to be a part of our creatively driven team while also developing and fine-tuning your own skills behind the camera.
Check out our work!
www.oldnorthfilmcompany.com
The Job:
Old North sends out two “shooters” on wedding days: a Lead Shooter (or 1st Shooter) and Second Shooter. We have openings in both positions, and would love to hear about what interests you.
Lead Shooters carry leadership responsibilities for scheduling and day-of shooting, as well as fostering relationships with clients and other vendors such as the photographer, wedding planner, and the venue coordinator. Our Lead Shooters have mastered our visual style and have exhibited leadership, problem solving, and the interpersonal skills necessary to consistently meet our quality standards.
Lead Shooters…
- MUST have great communication skills and are required to have at least one phone call with our wedding clients per wedding as well as emails with wedding planners, photographers, second shooters, and Old North. We try to keep these emails to a minimum - but we expect our contractors to keep updated on emails and be punctual in responses.
- are expected to plan and communicate as necessary with Second Shooters to coordinate for the upcoming wedding day.
- Are expected to prepare thoroughly for the wedding day with all equipment necessary, checked and double-checked.
- Are expected to carefully import memory cards soon after the wedding day, and subsequently upload all footage to Dropbox by the following Tuesday after a wedding weekend - and double-checked that it’s all imported and backed up.
Second Shooters are responsible for assisting the Lead Shooter by capturing cinematic, candid footage of the bride, groom, bridal party, guests, and other details that help tell the story of the wedding day. Other responsibilities include:
- Communicating well with the Lead Shooter, Old North, and from time to time, the clients, wedding planners, and photographers.
- Are expected to prepare thoroughly for the wedding day with all equipment necessary, checked and double-checked.
- Are expected to carefully import memory cards soon after the wedding day, and subsequently upload all footage to Dropbox by the following Tuesday after a wedding weekend - and double-checked that it’s all imported and backed up.
NOTE: All videographers begin as a 3rd shooter for their first wedding as part of our training program, with a pay rate of $25/hour.
Who We are Looking For:
We love weddings! Weddings are one of the most important days of our clients’ lives. You don’t need to be a romantic, but you do need to respect this and treat every job with that understanding. Oftentimes our clients feel like you have become a friend over the course of the day and treat you more like a guest than their videographer. We think this is such an honor and hope that our videographers feel this way too. We (and our clients) know that when you’re at a wedding, you’re at work…but if you truly feel like this is just “another job” or you are begrudgingly working weddings because it pays the bills, we and our clients will notice.
Qualities We Value:
- Student Mentality. You may be a top-notch professional, but we value those who are eager to learn our style, who accept criticism, and who ask good questions.
- Able to balance professionalism with friendliness. Weddings require this difficult balance - not everyone can master this.
- Attentive. Present. Not on your phone during all the in-between moments in the day.
- Relating well with vendors, holding your tongue and being cordial with difficult vendors (not gossiping or back-biting), connecting and building relationships with photographers, planners, venue managers, etc.
- Roll with changes and updates that come from Old North about shooting style, gear, dropbox, formats, etc.
- Eager to improve technical performance and asking for input from Old North.
- Dress well according to our suggestions, with good hygiene, etc.
- Represent Old North and consider yourself as a part of our team.
- Willing and eager to share your insights on video techniques, gear suggestions, editing suggestions with us.
Requirements:
- Access to a Vehicle.
- Experience with 4k filmmaking
- Understands Video Principles (Shutter, ISO, Aperture, Framing etc.)
- Equipment (see below)
Only Required for Lead Shooters:
- Experience with Camera Stabilization such as Sliders, Steadicams, and Gimbals
- Experience with basic Audio, such as Zooms or Tascams
Equipment:
We never want the lack of equipment to deter a great candidate from shooting with us! However, eventually we expect all of our team members to have a full set of their own equipment.
Compensation:
We pay Lead Shooters $90 / hour according to our wedding packages. These average at 9-10 hour days ($810-900 / wedding).
We pay Second Shooters $45 / hour according to our wedding packages. These average at 9-10 hour days ($405-$450 / wedding).
Please understand that you will find yourself working hours outside of the package hours. Whether talking to the client, preparing for the wedding, driving, arriving early, staying a tad later, or importing/uploading footage. We try to keep these outside hours to a minimum, but they will vary wedding to wedding. These outside hours are not compensated. Please keep this in mind as you consider your compensation as a whole.
Additional considerations
-parking and mileage during the wedding package hours are reimbursed. Driving from your home to the wedding location and back is not reimbursed within 60 miles.
-Oftentimes videographers are fed dinner and given a short break on the wedding day. Sometimes lunch also. Other times, none of the above are given. We expect our team to be prepared for both scenarios with snacks and water packed as needed.
-50% of our weddings tip anywhere from $50-$250.
Opportunity For Growth:
After shooting 2-7 weddings with Old North and showing you have all the technical know-how as well as the personality required, you may be eligible to Lead Shoot.
The Hiring and Training Process:
If your reel and application appear to be a good match, we will reach out for a short video interview. If this goes well, we will invite you to one of our training workshops. These double as a 2nd interview. These workshops are free, highly beneficial cinematic training sessions.
We will then schedule you for your first 2nd shooting wedding job.
How to Apply
When applying,
- PLEASE SEND A LINK OF YOUR VIDEO WORK. DO NOT only send a resume. Vimeo links are preferred or a link to your personal website.
- The following is a list of video content we prefer to see, in order:
- Cinematic Wedding Footage
- Highlight videos of events
- Short Films, Narrative, or Documentary Footage
- Cinematography Reels (nature, city, people)
- Miscellaneous video content shot and edited by you
If you send videos that you worked on with a team or group, please give specific notation of your exact role in the production, specific shots that you filmed and responsibilities that you held etc.
- Optionally, write a brief note to us, telling us about yourself and your interest in working with our team.
**Only applicants that send examples of previous work will be considered.**
We are looking forward to your application!
Job Type: Contract
Pay: $45.00 - $90.00 per hour
Work Location: On the road
