Meet Sam Shumeev

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

Hi Sam, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I think any immigrants are leaving their home country because they can dream a little bigger and strive for realizing their highest potential. Sam was too talented for our hometown of Orenburg in the middle of Russia, I could see that he outgrew most of his colleagues and was too limited by most of the projects available on the market for videographers. I immigrated to the US in 2005, and got my citizenship, then I moved back to live in Russia for almost 10 years where I was running my own business, it was a dancing and swimming studio for children and adults. That’s how we met with Sam, he filmed a commercial video clip for my business. In 2020 he proposed to me, and by that time I had already been thinking about moving back to the US. When we applied for his immigrant visa, the political situation in the country changed, and I was worried, our documents would get stuck in the Embassy forever. However, our case got expedited, and in 2021 we moved to Florida. Sam became well known locally as a very professional and talented videographer who also happened to be a very nice and reliable guy, and that was how he started this business. At first, he worked with some partners, then by referrals, and now we are making another step of launching our own wedding photography and videography company, the BowTie Wedding Studio. Sam is also running the 2D Production, this company is specializing in commercial photography and videography, interviews, reportage, documentary, blogs, instagram and other social media, and etc. Our personal interests are traveling around the world, we usually rent a car and just explore. Sam is filming our trips and then creates short reels for our Instagram account @shum_trails and even big movies for our YouTube channel. The mission behind what we do is to show the beauty of the World, people, their lives, and inspire others to dream big, feel love and be grateful. We want to expand out business so that we have more time to launch other socially meaningful projects that we have been thinking about lately.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think that Sam and his team of photographers and videographer (whom he carefully selects to meet our company’s standards) share professionalism and a very creative vision. Our signature style in wedding videography is combining a cinematic style, creating beautiful slow-motion scenes and setting up professional lighting for each separately, that makes you feel like you’re watching a movie, with a documentary style, capturing moments as they happen naturally and without direction, showing the real vibe, a behind-the-scenes look at the way your day unfolded, often with moments even couples missed. Watching Sam’s work is like watching a movie: at times it’s so beautiful, romantic, and smooth, at times he somehow manages to capture and edit together some hilarious moments, combined with the music that fits just perfect, and then he can convey authentic emotions with the help of adding real speeches, sounds from the set. All of his clients mention that he is so easy to work with, he is always there but never intrusive or on the way. He is always dressed according to the occasion. He is very respectful and so easy to interact with (I remember, one time one of his employers paid money to another employer to let him work for his event just because he is that good). He understands his clients’ vision almost immediately, he always brings exactly what people had envisioned or beyond (sometimes clients don’t have a clear vision, but I think the most important thing is that Sam can feel them and convey their vibe, it’s all about mutual energy on the set and on the screen).
Also, as a kid Sam was trained in dancing, painting, and music. He used to create huge wall murals. That added artistic perspective to all his work. Later in his career he worked a lot for big industrial companies creating documentary films about them. I think that also expanded his skills and helped him chisel his own style combining aesthetics and factual sequence.
As for me, I have 5 different backgrounds: a linguist, a bankruptcy lawyer, a choreographer and business owner, and a psychologist. So, obviously I am in charge of storytelling, plots for videos, speeches, and etc. And I like to think of myself as my husband’s business coach. He doesn’t think so, but I know that behind every successful man there is a strong woman who believes in him. When we met, he was a graduate student working for a local social media company. Then he worked for a restaurant and food chain creating photo and video content, and working as a freelancer filming serious documentary movies about different big plants and industrial companies in Russia. I think his experience shaped him into an entrepreneur who is not devoid of romantic life perspective.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love camping, biking, hiking, and paddle boarding! We love spending time in nature. But honestly Florida is a little too hot for us and too flat and tropical. The landscape is the same here. So, we would prefer to jump in a car and drive towards Great Smoky Mountains, check out a cute city of Helen, Asheville Atlanta, on the way back stop in Savannah and Charleston. Camp in Fort Clinch State Park on Amelia Island, and if it’s a season, check out luminescent plankton on Coco beach. We love organic cafes with homemade food, and we try to cook ourselves on fire when we travel, because I am also a nutritionist, and we don’t cook on seed oils and use only whole food for our meals.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Of course, we want to thank our parents for giving life to us, believing in us and always supporting us. We both have siblings, I have a sister, and Sam has a brother who also happens to be a videographer because as a kid he was inspired by his big brother who was his mentor. We are both very grateful to our siblings for their support and help! And a big shoutout goes to our friends back in Russia, who believed in us and cheers for us even now watching us grow though not personally but on social media. And we are very grateful to God who gave us each other. I think our best achievement is that we are a very strong team bringing different qualities to the table that each of us separately just can’t have. Sam is very reliable, determined, dedicated, organized, thoughtful and prudent as a Taurus. I am his engine, the fire that fuels his drive, I push and he rolls. I am too impulsive and too extravagant at times, and his earthy little bit retraining power helps to balance my desire to have it all right here and right now. I get inspired and carried away, he can get the essence and bring it to life. And obviously, the love we share for each other, which is as close to unconditional as possible between a man and a woman, helps us see through any differences or disagreements we sometimes have. We are each other’s biggest assets, friends, and soul mates.

Website: https://bowtiewed.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bowtie.wed

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/BowtieWeddingstudio/61563112303006/?sk=about

Other: https://2dproduct.com

Image Credits
Jeanne Quintero
Showtime Photography