Family Legacy Film

Bring one person’s life or your wider family history to the screen. A bespoke documentary weaves interviews, photographs and home videos into a story for your family to watch, share and pass on

from $1,995

Your Family’s Story, Captured and Treasured

A photograph captures a moment. A home video preserves a voice or gesture. An interview explains who was there and why it mattered. Brought together, these pieces can tell a family story that no single recording could convey.

Family Legacy Film creates a bespoke documentary about one person’s life or a wider family history. We begin by agreeing on the story you want to tell, the people who can contribute and the photographs, recordings and documents available to draw on.

Interviews are then shaped around that story, and the material is edited into a connected narrative. Voices, images and significant moments are brought together with attention to pacing, clarity and each contributor’s perspective.

You receive a professionally produced film that gives your family’s archive context and its memories a lasting form, ready to watch together, share with relatives and pass on.

What your Family Legacy Film includes:

A Plan for Your Film
Together, we define the story, its focus and the people who will contribute. Your family material is reviewed to identify the photographs, recordings and documents that can help tell it.

Purposeful, Personally Guided Interviews
Conversations explore the experiences, relationships and details at the heart of the film. Thoughtful questions help contributors speak naturally while gathering the material needed to build the story.

Your Family Archive Woven into the Story
Photographs, home videos and documents are placed alongside the interviews, connecting personal recollections with the people, places and moments they describe. Any digitisation or restoration needed is identified and scoped before production.

A Carefully Shaped Documentary
The material is edited into a coherent narrative, with attention to pacing, sound and visual presentation. Titles, captions and agreed music support the story while preserving each contributor’s meaning.

A Private Film to Keep and Share
Your finished documentary is delivered privately as a downloadable digital file, ready to watch with family, share with relatives and preserve for future generations.

Your Family Legacy Film Package

Every Family Legacy Film is tailored to the people, story and material involved. The inclusions below describe the starting service level, from which the package can expand to suit the needs, ambitions and complexity of your project.

3 × 45-minute filmed conversations
plus 3 hours of research and preparation in total
From $1,995

Family Legacy Film takes your recorded conversations into a full documentary production. Interview excerpts are woven together with photographs, home videos and historical records to develop the story, introduce the people and connect events across generations. Carefully paced editing, music, titles and refined sound create a film your family can sit down and watch together, while preserving the character of the people telling it.

Every film is individually planned, with its style and scale shaped around your story. Films start at $1,995 for an approximately 20-minute documentary, supported by three hours of research and preparation in total and three 45-minute filmed interviews. This starting scope incorporates up to 20 photographs or document pages and up to five selected home-video clips, totalling five minutes.

To bring older material into the film, the starting price also includes scanning up to 20 photographs and digitising up to three home-video tapes, with a combined allowance of six hours of footage. Tape formats and condition are checked during planning. You receive digital copies of the scanned photographs and transferred recordings to keep alongside your film.

A longer documentary, additional interviews or a larger archive collection can give a more extensive story room to unfold. Your proposal confirms the creative approach, inclusions and total price before work begins. Any additional digitisation or specialist restoration is quoted for approval.

A private preview and two rounds of feedback give you a voice in the final edit. You receive both the finished documentary and the lightly edited interview recordings as digital files, preserving the fuller conversations alongside the film created from them.

An Image is Worth a Thousand Words

Family photographs and home movies let your family see the life being described: the childhood home, a wedding day, a grandparent as a young adult. Paired with someone’s recollections, these images gain meaning that might otherwise be lost, revealing who was there, what was happening and why it mattered. Letters, documents and historical records add context, helping connect individual memories into a fuller family story.

The material is selected and edited to work with the voices in your film. A photograph stays on screen long enough to notice its details. Home-video footage lets a remembered scene play out. Documents draw attention to the words or facts that matter. Each piece has a purpose in the story.

Start with the items you feel belong in the film, along with any names, dates or memories attached to them. We agree on the final selection during planning. Scanning for up to 20 photographs and digitisation of up to three home-video tapes, totalling six hours, are included in the starting price. Any further digitisation or specialist restoration is agreed and quoted before work begins.

Your Questions, Answered

  • Your Family’s Story preserves research-informed conversations as lightly edited interview recordings. Family Legacy Film takes those conversations into a fully produced documentary, selecting and connecting interview excerpts with photographs, home videos and historical material. Story structure, pacing, music, titles and refined sound turn the recordings into a film to watch and share. You also receive the lightly edited interviews, so the fuller conversations remain yours to keep.

  • Either. Your film can explore one person’s life across several conversations or bring together different family members’ memories and perspectives. Films start with three 45-minute interviews, with additional sessions available for larger projects. The contributors and interview arrangements are agreed during planning.

  • No script or rehearsal is needed. A planning conversation establishes the people, experiences and themes you want the film to explore, and gentle questions guide the interviews.

    A support person is welcome. You can pause, skip a question or take a short comfort break without reducing your recording allowance.

  • The starting scope accommodates up to 20 photographs or document pages, plus up to five preselected home-video clips totalling five minutes of supplied footage. These might include family photographs, letters, certificates or recordings connected to the story.

    We agree on the selection during planning. Larger collections can be included in your quote, and you should own the material or have permission to use it.

  • Your film can begin with the originals. The starting price includes scanning up to 20 family photographs and digitising up to three home-video tapes, with a combined allowance of six hours of footage. Tape formats and condition are checked during planning to confirm suitability.

    You receive digital copies of the scanned photographs and transferred recordings alongside your finished film. Together, we select the images and up to five video excerpts, totalling five minutes, that best support the documentary. Additional scanning, tape transfers or specialist restoration can be arranged, with any extra cost agreed before work begins.

  • You do not need a large archive to make a meaningful film. Your recorded conversations provide its foundation, and even a handful of significant photographs can bring people and memories into focus. We plan the film around the material you have, rather than requiring you to fill an allowance.

  • Yes. You receive a private preview and two rounds of revisions within the agreed brief.

    The first round focuses on the story, interview excerpts, sequence and archive selections. The second allows for smaller refinements, including captions, names, dates and editing adjustments. For films involving several relatives, please provide one combined set of feedback per round.

    New filming, substantial new material or a change in direction may require an additional quote. Any extra cost is agreed before work proceeds. Errors introduced during production are corrected without using your revision allowance.

  • Your film will usually be ready within 4–6 weeks of the final interview and receipt of all agreed archive material. This includes documentary editing, your private preview and two rounds of feedback.

    The delivery schedule is confirmed in your proposal. Larger productions may take longer, and delays in receiving material or feedback may move the completion date.

  • Films start at $1,995, with an individual proposal setting out the agreed production, inclusions and total price.

    Work begins after acceptance of the Terms and Conditions and payment of a 50% deposit. The remaining balance is due before delivery of your finished files. Any additional work is priced and approved before it begins.

  • Please give at least 48 hours’ notice to reschedule without a charge. Your deposit carries across to the replacement booking, subject to availability.

    If illness or an emergency arises closer to the session, contact us as soon as possible so we can discuss the arrangements.

  • You receive your finished documentary, lightly edited interview recordings and digital copies of the photographs and tapes digitised for your project through private digital delivery.

    The files are yours to download, keep and share with family. Download instructions are provided, and we recommend keeping a backup in a separate location.

  • Your interviews, archive material and finished film are treated as private client material. Everyone participating must consent to being recorded and included in the film.

    Nothing is used in public examples, promotional material or social media without separate permission.