We retained Hawthorn films for our wedding video, at first had great content and communicated well until he received retainer... We were two weeks away from our wedding and he didn't respond to our questions. I quickly looked at his latest reviews and saw that he had moved out of country! We communicated that we weren't comfortable with him not being present on our huge day and sub-contracting the work out, he apologized and promised to return our money but needed time to "collect from other weddings to return our money"

It's been 6 months later and still no response after multiple attempts. It's safe to say that he is a scam artist and very unprofessional.

Luckily enough we managed to secure a reputable videographer within 2 weeks of our wedding & to date we are still waiting for communication and our refund

He moved to a different country and changed his contact info. He did not tell his clients this, nor did he change this on his website/social medias. I know of at least 2 brides he has ghosted, and I feel the same is happening to me. One bride was to get married in May, he never showed. He just replied to her emails a few days ago. Has yet to give her her money back, even though no service was provided. He has an excuse for everything, and he will use a different one for different brides. He told one girl he has had construction issues, but told me he was a victim of ATM fraud. I am trying to get my money back. He is completely sketchy, do NOT trust him.

SAVE YOUR TIME, SAVE YOUR MONEY, do NOT hire this company.

Working with Augustine has been a complete nightmare.
We contacted him in June 2020 and booked him for our September 2021 wedding.
Initially there were no red flags since he was very responsive, eager to get our deposit which can be common with some vendors but we gave him the benefit of the doubt since we liked his portfolio.

1- once he received our deposit he completely ghosted us, wouldn’t respond to any of our emails or touch base with us regarding any details. It turns out he got up and left to Romania, didn’t bother to give any of his booked clients a heads up. Repulsive.

2- after tracking him down he finally responded to our emails assuring us that two other videographers would be present on the day of to cover our date.
They showed up and we’re pleasant enough, this gave us some relief. Mind you he was very selective in regards to what he would respond to via email.

3- after the wedding he became VERY responsive again, we figured the worst was over. He didn’t hesitate to remind us that our final balance was due, SEVERAL TIMES. Obviously we were hesitant to send it without the finished product in our hands… Nonetheless we decided to comply with the terms of our contract even though he already hadn’t.
-no final day edit to start

4. He assured us the final product would be sent in 6 weeks MAX, this is mid September.
After countless emails to remind him to send it, he ended up sending us a “draft” in JANUARY. JANUARY.
This was COMPLETE TRASH nothing like his portfolio, he didn’t even capture us walking down the isle, and barely captured important moments and formalities.
We asked him for all of this footage and made of list for him so he knew what we wanted edited/swapped.
It is now June 2022, we have no footage of our wedding day and Augustine stopped responding completely.

Coming from someone who is in the industry, this is DISGUSTING. I’ve heard of vendors being difficult due to covid etc. but this is another level of scamming/taking advantage of people. I never thought I’d be dealing with a nightmare like this myself.
He has put such a damper on this whole experience, it’s been so stressful from start to finish…

I have decided to get together with the other couples he did this to and file a serious report against him. People like this need to be flagged so that no one else goes through this heartbreaking experience.
If I could rate this company negative 5 I would.

I would not recommend Hawthorn Films to anyone! I saw the recent bad reviews and I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt anyway. DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS ME.

Save your time and your money. A wedding video is supposed to capture some of the most important and significant moments of your life. You spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours planning this day. At the end, you want to know that you hired a professional to capture it all. THIS COMPANY IS NOT IT.

Working with Augustin has been horrendous. Here is what happened, and what you can expect:

1- The worst communication I've ever seen.
I sent several emails that were left unanswered and left voicemails that were also ignored. When I did get any answers, it was days, if not weeks, later.

2- Low quality workmanship. Seriously. That wonderful online portfolio is NOT what you will get.
I was shocked when I saw the delivered video. Not only was the quality of the footage of low quality, but the colors were all over the place, the transitions were mostly just a fade to black and there was no creativity whatsoever.

3- A product delivered way past the agreed upon date. A vendor who does not care about your time.
Do you want to work with someone who’s words are worthless? Someone who promising and doesn’t deliver? See the timeline below with actual messages from Augustin:

Aug 30, 2021: "It should take about 4 weeks to finish the edit." (BY SEPTEMBER 27TH)

Sept 27, 2021: "your videos are almost ready! I will be sending them tomorrow."

PAST DUE DATE

Sept 30, 2021: "Its been a busy time of editing several projects. I hope to export your videos today, they are amost done."

October 7, 2021: "The feature film is coming tomorrow for sure, I am just working on colour grading!"

Oct 14, 2021: 3 WEEKS PAST DUE DATE, I RECEIVED A 10 minute video. That’s right. The full feature length movie of one hour was reduced to a 10 minute video. It had all the same clips from the highlight reel and a few clips unprofessionally slapped together.

At that point, we spoke on the phone and I reiterated what I wanted in the video. I even sent a fully details email with everything we had discussed.

October 19, 2021: "I have started working on your list of changes, and I can promise that by Friday at the latest they will be done and I will send it to you."

By October 24th, I started asking for a refund.

He sent me a 36 minute long video the next day. If anything, it was worse that the previous one. All he did was add clips. He didn’t change anything. I don’t think he even edited the video himself.

4- A vendor who does not actually listen to you. He didn't even take notes when I described what I wanted.
Augustin enthusiastically agreed to my video vision and said that it was not a problem. After I received my first video that was far from it, I found out that he hadn’t taken down any notes. Not only that, but he subcontracted the work to someone else and didn’t share any of my instructions.

5- A vendor who will not try to fix the problem and instead provide plenty of excuses.
It always felt like I was never a priority, even when I expressed how frustrated I was. Instead, I got told that he was working on other projects. I asked for a partial refund so that I can pay someone else to actually edit the footage, and he said “I have done my best with the footage recorded on the day, I cannot provide a refund after already completing the work.” That’s true, except that HE DID NOT COMPLETE THE WORK.

If after reading this you still want to do business with this company, just flush your money down the toilet and call it a day. At least you will avoid the headache and stress of dealing with Hawthorn Films. More important than the money though is the memories that you will not have captured and will not be able to share with your loved ones. Do not say that you haven't been warned.

I'm still waiting on my refund.