Sheboygan Falls’ Double Vision Films celebrates milestone

Stacey Harrison

Contributor

September 22, 2025

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – Two Sheboygan Falls sisters turned their childhood love of making movies into a career – and are now celebrating 15 years as the driving force behind Double Vision Films.

“We always had a love for film,” Jessica Schmitt-Reynolds said of her and her sister, Lauren Schmitt. “It was something we always did when we were little.”

Fitting their company’s name perfectly, Jessica and Lauren are identical twin sisters – and neighbors – and run the business out of their homes in Sheboygan Falls.

The sisters said Double Vision Films offers everything from pre-production to shooting to editing the final product.

These days, the duo said most of their work focuses on commercial and corporate videography – producing a range of content, including instructional, how-to, training and fundraising videos, as well as “about us” pieces for local nonprofits.

Jessica said they also shoot the occasional wedding.

How it started

Jessica said her and Lauren’s love for film started when they were young. 

“We were the house that neighborhood kids would come over [to] on the weekend, and we would make short movies,” she said. “That was our thing.”

The twins said they decided to go to college together at Indiana University, where they became “immersed in the whole film world.”

“We interned at Paramount Studios… we absolutely loved it…,” Jessica said. “[After graduation], we decided to move back home because we really wanted to use film to promote what we love in Sheboygan County and everything that we love about our home state.”

Jessica said that early passion eventually grew into something more, and in September 2010, they decided to turn their hobby into a career, officially launching Double Vision Films.

“We just kind of knew from the get-go, ‘We’re going to do this. We’re going to do it our way,’” she said. “And we knew we loved working together.”

Though they had never started a business of their own before, Lauren said one might say it was in their DNA.

“Our family owns a fifth-generation construction company and [our] mom had her own massage therapy business,” she said. “So, entrepreneurial stuff was very big in our family.” 

With help from their family, the sisters said they filed for their LLC and had gigs lined up before they even moved home from college.

“Each of us excels in certain aspects of the business,” Jessica said. 

However, though their creative skills were solid, Jessica said the logistics of running a business were a whole different story.

“The business ownership part of it was a big kick in the pants when we started,” she said. “We studied film, we didn’t study business… Luckily, we had family, friends and community members who helped us out and mentored us along the way. That’s something we’ll be forever grateful for.”

Company growth

Like many small businesses, the twins said Double Vision Films went through growing pains – and at one point, Lauren said the future felt uncertain.

“We had moments,” she said, recalling when Jessica moved to Arizona for two years. “We were debating if we should keep going with it. It was definitely becoming more of a side project for us.”

During that period, Lauren said they were both juggling other full-time jobs.
“When Jessica moved back, we just kind of decided that we were gunning it,” she said. 

Jessica said at that moment, it was “all or nothing.”

“We [started] going hard… and [decided] this is going to be our only job,” she said. “We quit all of our other side jobs.”

The sisters said they decided to see where that took them. 

“And then, the COVID-19 pandemic happened,” Jessica said. 

The sisters said the pandemic ultimately proved to be “a great thing” for their business.

“We tripled or quadrupled our numbers over COVID-19, because everyone switched to virtual,” Jessica said. “All businesses switched to virtual training, fundraisers, instructional videos… for us, we just exploded.”

Lauren said they were fortunate to have built strong relationships over the years with many large businesses and nonprofits in the Sheboygan Falls area, thanks to volunteering and community connections.

During the pandemic, she said those businesses turned to the sisters “down the street” instead of flying in a company from out of state. 

After the pandemic, the sisters said many of those companies turned into regular clients and began spreading the word about their work.

“I’d say word got out,” Jessica said. “We have been fortunate that we really haven’t had to pay for any marketing for our business. We just kind of rely solely on word of mouth.”

Building on their growing client base, the twins said they’ve been running Double Vision Films full-time for the past five or six years.

“The fact that we are doing this together makes it so much better and easier,” Lauren said. “I don’t have to keep on her about projects and stuff.”

Jessica said the same goes for her sister and together, they handle every aspect of their business without additional staff.

“We like the thought that you know when you book us, it’s the two of us that you’re getting,” Lauren said.

Though they occasionally bring in other local filmmakers for extra help on shoots, Jessica said “our business is just the two of us, and we love it.”

Work, life, loyalty

Both sisters agreed that managing the balance between work and personal life has been the greatest challenge.

“We have to really set a schedule for ourselves,” Lauren said. 

Since becoming parents, the co-owners said they have both grown increasingly mindful of how they spend their time.

“For us, it was more [about] making sure we set that time for ourselves with our families and being able to have our business and also not have it all be about work,” Jessica said. 

Part of this awareness, they said, involves understanding their own limits.

Lauren said they’re straightforward about pricing and deadlines, and if necessary, refer clients to other talented videographers nearby if they don’t think they can meet a client’s timeline needs.

The duo said in the last 15 years, what has surprised them the most is the loyalty of their returning clients.

“We always love when we get repeat clients, but when people recommend us to other people, that’s like the biggest thing for us,” Jessica said. 

When sending off the final product, the sisters said they feel like they’re sharing a piece of themselves and hope the client appreciates their effort.

“We’re our own worst critics,” Jessica said. 

In addition to their work, the sisters said they also make it a priority to give back to the community.

“We like to donate things to [local] nonprofits,” she said. “We have a drawing every year for International Women’s Day that we donate a free ‘about us’ video to a woman-owned business in our area. We pick a name out of a hat… We’ve had our business for 15 years, and we’re very big promoters of other women-owned businesses in our area.”

A look toward the future

After 15 years, the twins say the most enjoyable part of their venture has been working together and being able to steer the business in the direction they choose.

“I get to work with my best friend every day…,” Jessica said. “I feel fortunate. I love what I do… We’re our own bosses. We don’t have to go up a corporate ladder to get things approved.”

Looking ahead, Jessica said they hope to develop more structured retainer clients and expand those offerings.

“We’d love to start doing and offering more,” she said.

But more than anything, the sisters said they want the experience to be enjoyable for all.

“We love it,” Jessica said. “We hope other people love it.”

To learn more about what Double Vision Films has to offer, head to doublevisionfilms.net.