Capturing The Romance

By Larry and Elaine LaSota Owners, Profile Productions and Kaua‘i Wedding Videos

Larry LaSota mans the camera as a couple exchanges vows in a beautiful setting at St. Regis Princeville Resort

Filming what could potentially be the happiest day of a couple’s life is one of the greatest perks about Larry and Elaine LaSota’s Profile Productions and Kaua’i Wedding Videos business. And several decades of experience working in Hollywood television – Larry as a sound mixer, Elaine as an actress – contribute to the pair’s unique style of wedding day video memorabilia.

Tell us about your business.

Elaine LaSota: There was a cable TV show Larry was going to work on that was supposed to be filmed here in 2000 that never happened. So a friend of Larry’s suggested doing wedding videos.

Larry LaSota: The show we came to do wasn’t there, and so we needed to work and thought, ‘Hey, what the heck.’

Elaine: Our business combines the directing and video-shooting skills of Larry – who has a great eye because he’s been at the top level of Hollywood TV production – with mine, as I have the actor’s eye and look for emotional peaks and romance of the story.

What sets your business apart?

Elaine: The videos we do most often are around four to six hours with a couple

of crew members. We start with the bride getting ready – who has on a microphone, as does the groom – and go through the ceremony and into the reception. We sometimes include a love story, where the couple is interviewed separately and they tell us how they met. The thing that I like best about what we do, as an editor, I like to be presented with the footage as it occurred and make a story out of it.

Elaine LaSota films a couple as they ‘seal it with a kiss’ on a Kaua‘i beach

Larry: The technical quality and creativity also set us apart. We try to be non-invasive, shooting from oblique angles to create a better atmosphere, so to speak, on video and not have it be so posed.

Elaine: But certainly our years of experience working in big TV really sets us apart.

What motivates you to get up and go to work?

Elaine: We have the best job in the world.

Larry: It’s so much fun. It’s the antithesis of what we would go through for 14 hours a day in television.

How has the wedding industry changed since the economy shifted?

Elaine: The small weddings tended to put the brakes on. The real high-end ones just kept going. The middle ground – about 60 people – was a little ebb and flow, but they’re coming back. And they’re still getting the best flowers, the best wedding coordinator, the best photographer and the best videographer. So business has been pretty good. We were a little concerned last year, though, because normally we’re booking a year out and we were looking at this big, black abyss. But all of a sudden all these weddings were popping up with sometimes only a month’s notice, which is really unusual.

What is your business philosophy?

Larry: To give them more than what they thought they were going to get.

For more information visit profilevideoproductions.com, kauaiweddingvideos.com or kauaiwedpro.com.