Meet Alisha Cerny | Wedding and Lifestyle Filmmaker

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

Hi Alisha, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The relationships I make with clients and fellow industry vendors is by far the most important factor behind my success. I make a genuine effort to get to know clients on a scale where we’re comfortable with each other and so excited to work with each other. This ensures that they are happy to have me around them during the most intimate parts of their wedding day, and can trust that I’ll tell their story with authenticity and intention. The vendors you work with are so important to have good relationships with as well, because you all want to be successful. And we want to serve our clients to the best quality. So to work with each other rather than against each other is key. In the long run, you’ll have a happier experience for everyone involved, and you’ll want to keep having those experiences with those vendors on future projects. So many of my clients come from vendor recommendations, and that’s because they want to keep working with me. We can all produce the best product when we’re excited, lift each other up, and encourage each other. Those vendors will also help me out during the day of a wedding. If I need to move some flowers off the head table to see the couple during speeches better, for example. The planner and I will work together to find a good spot for them for it to still look good, and so we can see the couple’s faces. That’s just a small example, but it’s a way to show us working together. Through communication we came up with a solution that works for everybody.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a wedding and lifestyle filmmaker based in Lincoln, Nebraska. I set out to create heirloom films for people to remember the biggest times in their lives. Whether its their wedding day, a birth of a new baby, an anniversary, or just plain telling their own love story. I tailor make my films to fit each individual person. The biggest compliment my clients tell me is how well I captured the feeling of the day. It’s not just the pretty picture perfect moments that tell a story well, it’s all the little in between moments. The quick hug a mother gives her son after they’re done taking pictures. Grandma and Grandpa holding hands during the ceremony. Friends and family hugging, laughing, and drinking as they gather together, dressed up, ready to celebrate! All the vibes and feelings felt on a wedding day can be felt through those in between moments. Capturing those special moments are what get me the most excited.

Growing up I always got out the camcorder to film just everyday life things going on, or make music videos with my friends. I loved (still do) watching home videos. I would die if there were more video of my parents when they were younger. To be able to hear their voices, see them interact with their friends, and just be more than just my parents. What a gift to be able to see that! So I think I’ve always had a connection to video over pictures because of that added level of hearing and movement. And I’d say I’m a pretty sentimental person, so I’ve also always had a connection to telling someone’s story as a way to preserve all those moments throughout a person’s life. So when college came around I didn’t totally have a clear path to how I wanted to translate my interest for video and storytelling, and eventually chose a path toward broadcast production. After college I worked as a director at our local news station in Lincoln, Nebraska, and one of the newscasts I directed even won a Heartland Regional Emmy (by far the coolest trophy I ever won). Then in 2016, my husband’s cousin was getting married, and I had a nice-ish camera, so she asked if maybe I wanted to film her ceremony, just so she had something recorded on her wedding day. So I took it a step further and borrowed a lav mic and audio recorder from a friend and took my one camera, and filmed their own day from beginning to end, and made a 13 min film of their wedding day. I. Freaking. Loved. It. I was always intimidated by weddings. I thought there was no way I had the skill to pull off filming a wedding day and editing a whole wedding film together. So I think the fact that it was for a family member, and she wasn’t expecting anything more than the ceremony gave me the freedom I needed to just try it out. And that was the feeling I was searching for in finding how I wanted to tell people’s stories. It still took me a few years to finally find the confidence to believe that people would want to hire me to tell their story, however, and I officially formed my business, Alisha Cerny Films, in January of 2019. That was scary to actually put a name to my business, because that officially meant that my endeavor could fail, but there have always been bookmark moments in my life where there was a leap I was going to have to take, and my intuition told me to do it, and they always turn out to be life changing leaps for the good.

Some major lessons along the way are to not get lost in the comparison game. I started my business in my later 20’s, and for some reason that hung me up, because I thought I was behind all these other successful filmmakers simply because of my age. It is so important not to assume your worth or your success because of minute details like how old you are when you start a new endeavor. Another lesson is to speak up, and do the thing that scares you. I’m already an introvert, so when I was just getting started, I was much more of a fly on the wall when filming, and never really participated in the filmmaker community. I slowly learned to speak up on shoots to get that unique shot you’ve been thinking about all day, and to go to a workshop here and there to connect with those in your community.

What do I want people to know about me and my story: I formed my business 3 years ago, and I still am figuring things out. I still get into ruts – questioning my creative talents, not getting a lot of bookings, in an editing slump. But there is always something amazing to come! Maybe it’s a song that inspired you, or friends that gave you the time you needed to take your mind off things. I take pride in my positivity and I believe it’s taken me so far in my business, and life in general. So I guess what I’m trying to say, is to keep your positivity and trust in the service you out there to provide. We are all going to struggle, and after that struggle we are all going to thrive.

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.
Ok so my best friend actually does live out of state, so she hasn’t been up to date with the “Nebraska scene” in a bit.

Sunday we would go to the College View area for the Sunday farmers market. First we’ll grab some coffee at The Mill, a local coffee shop in Lincoln. Then we’ll go walk around the market and grab some local produce and flowers. Then we would go walk the shops in that area, because they have the cutest boutiques! Final stop there would be at a bakery called Goldenrod Bakery. It’s the cutest little corner shop you ever did see, with sweet treats to grab and go!

Monday we’d go to the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo. The coolest zoo in the country, imo. Went a lot as a kid and their exibits truly feel like you’re in whatever ecological environment it’s supposed to be. They have a rainforest, an aquarium, a skyfari, and the desert dome – probably the most well known exhibit – amongst so much more.

Tues – Wed we’ll go camping in the outskirts of Omaha near the Platte River. One of these days we’ll go tubing down the river. Always a good time. Grab some good friends, good music, good drinks and just float for a few hours. Usually there’s a sandbar you can stop off at to grill some food, maybe play some sand volleyball or a game of bags.

Thurs, let’s just pretend it’s June and the College World Series is going on, we’ll go walk around the tail gates. CWS time is always a good time. People from the 8 teams that are there for the CWS, of just plain baseball fans set up tailgates, and lots of people just walk around hopping from tailgate to tailgate. There are also great downtown breweries and restaurants getting in on the CWS fun. The area’s always buzzing during CWS time and it’s fun to just be amongst it.

Fri we’ll go to the dog park in Lincoln. There’s a nice large one with a creek for your pup to cool off in, and it’s a nice spot to walk around. At night we’ll go walk around the haymarket area, which is downtown Lincoln. Lot’s of cool restaurants and bars.

Some of my favorites are The Tavern, The Other Room (it’s a speak easy that only like 12 people are allowed to be in at a time), and VS Arcade Bar – super well made drinks, and legit old arcade games! While we’re down here we should probably also grab ice cream at Ivanna Cone. Fresh churned ice cream and waffle cones, it always smells amazing!

Finally Saturday, if it were the fall we would be going to tail gate and go to the Husker Football game in the morning and then the Husker Volleyball game at night, but since I said it was June we are going to attend a dinner put on by Nelson Farms. They hold seasonal dinners for about 30 people on their family farm. Each season is a different menu, based on whatever they are harvesting at that moment. It’s literally farm to table, and an amazing experience. So great to get a big group of friends together for. Bring your own drinks, eat out side, and enjoy a super fresh food experience!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband has always supported and never questioned my journey towards starting my videography business. I can’t thank him enough for that!

My RMR girls Sam Areman, Amanda Leise, and Ali Evans! As I came into the industry they all became fast friends, and were a great support system as I navigated my way through the wedding world, and running a business! Now we all cohost a retreat every fall together called Rocky Mountain Retreat, where creatives can come and restore their creative energy through community, styled shoots, and replenishing your overall wellness. These ladies speak my language, and are always an inspiration to me!

Kelly LaFleur of K. LaFleur Films and Kelly Rudloff of A Final Take are both female filmmakers, also based in Nebraska. They were so willing and ready to give advice, and were also so inspirational to me. There are not a lot of female filmmakers around in general, let alone in our state of Nebraska, so the fact that they highly value community of competition and encourage me to keep learning and growing is so invaluable.

Website: https://www.alishacernyfilms.com

Instagram: @alishalcerny

Facebook: @alishacernyfilms

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7LD9DyG0_3lChHpjdVqKTg

Image Credits
Trin Jensen