about us
Highway 61 Films
Wedding Videographers in Chicago
Highway 61 Films is a highly regarded and award-winning team of wedding filmmakers based in Chicago and working with couples in many destinations. Our vision is to shape an honest wedding film with all of the elements from your memorable fete.
We are a boutique wedding video service that edits all of our films in-house, as some wedding filmmakers often contract that part of the work. Either Jason or Jake are at every wedding. Even on the day of a wedding we are starting to construct the edit in our head. As we have learned and grown through the years we have continued to move forward with new techniques and methods to tell better stories.
We are eager to get to know people. When this happens we are on our way to making an evocative and effective film. Communicating with our wedding couples in a clear , thoughtful and timely manner is always top-of-mind. Every interaction is an opportunity to build on a meaningful relationship.
We offer tailored quotes to suit different budgets and wishlists, including trailers, full highlights, ceremony edits, drone coverage, raw footage and other options. We often build custom packages to make sure couples are getting exactly what they want.
Our couples have praised us for our innovation, creativity and authenticity. They have appreciated our high-touch approach and the way we capture the nuances of their wedding event that they said were important. We often get complimented by couples and their parents on how comfortable we make them feel and our disarming presence. We have close relationships with many planners, photographers and venues whom we work with. If you are looking, we can certainly offer recommendations.
We were founded by Jason Monroe in 2009. Jason has over 15 years of experience in the wedding business and over 25 years of experience making films in several disciplines. Highway 61 Films is made up primarily of Jason and Jake Preedin. Jake has been capturing weddings with Jason as a lead and second videographer since 2012. Jake is a regular full-time photographer, but he lends his video talents almost exclusively to Highway 61 Films.
Outside of the wedding day, our favorite things are cycling, fishing, going to MLB games and visiting National Parks.
Take a look around. Think we might be a good fit?
"For those asking,
do i need a videographer??
The answer is Yes!!"
“Yes, you need a videographer. And yes, you need Highway 61 films. We enjoyed every detail from planning with Jason to receiving the email that our trailer and feature film was ready. I especially loved the raw footage that we purchased on top of our package. IT IS WORTH IT! We couldn't imagine not having Jason at our rehearsal dinner too and are so grateful we had him there to film our wedding weekend.”
-Romantic London House Wedding
Values
INTENTIONAL - We meticulously craft your wedding video to ensure every moment is thoughtfully captured and well preserved.
ARTISTIC INTRIGUE - We like to imagine a wedding in a way a couple may not have initially thought about. We want you to be in awe.
HIGH-TOUCH - We do encourage couples to be invested in how they want their video to come together. Although, you can be as involved or uninvolved as you wish.
PERSONABLE - We fancy ourselves as down to earth and pretty cool people.
RESPECCT - We honor our couple’s traditions and wishes, paying close attention to what they tell us.
EMOTIONALLY SUSPENSEFUL - We work hard on creating a compelling and emotive narrative.
Process
DISCOVERY - We start with you reaching out via email or a phone call. With your desire for a consultation, we get to know each other a little bit.
CONTRACT - Based on your wishlist for inclusions for your wedding videos, we will send a contract with your selected package. We often build custom packages and most a la carte options can even be added on after an initial booking and execution of the contract.
PRE-PRODUCTION - We continue to learn about you and your event leading up to the wedding. We work in concert with your planner on the day of details. We are, even, often doing site visits and walk throughs with your complete vendor team.
WEDDING DAY - We take great care in our approach to your wedding from working with the photographer to being intentional with all of the intel we’ve gathered about you through the calls, emails and questionnaire.
POST-EDITING - We follow up shortly after the wedding with next steps before we dive into the edit. We may continue to ask some questions through post-production before we send your edits online. You are always allowed to make a round of changes before we finalize your full compliment of deliverables.
What about you?
Think we might be a good fit?