Their voice, their face, their laugh. Kept.
A professionally filmed and edited documentary of a life, made remotely anywhere in the US and Canada, or in person, at home, with a director and cinematographer.
A parent or grandparent with stories the family keeps asking for. A couple marking fifty years. Yourself, after a milestone birthday, while the details are still yours to give. Families often commission a Legacy Film around a retirement, an anniversary or a diagnosis, any moment when it becomes clear that the telling should not wait.
The finished film is chaptered, childhood, work, love, family, the things they believe, so it can be watched whole or dipped into for years. If the person you are thinking of has died, the Memorial Film is the companion product, built from interviews with family and friends.
Remote, or in person.
Remote
- ·Prepaid recording kit shipped to the door, lavalier microphone, light, phone mount, with a 15-minute setup call
- ·Two remotely directed sessions (about 3 hours in all) with a professional interviewer
- ·30–45 minute chaptered film plus a 3–5 minute highlight film
- ·Up to 40 photographs woven into the film
In person
- ·One filming day at home, up to 4 hours of interview, plus scenes of home and daily life
- ·A director and a cinematographer; two cameras, professional lighting and sound
- ·60–90 minute chaptered film plus a 3–5 minute highlight film
- ·Up to 60 photographs woven into the film
Week counts shown for a remote film; in-person films run to week ten.
Consultation and planning
Free, thirty minutes. We recommend remote or in person, set dates and plan chapters, the people, places and turns the life took. For remote films, the recording kit ships prepaid the same week.
The sessions
Remote: two directed sessions of about ninety minutes each, your interviewer guiding by video call. In person: one filming day at home, the interview in the morning, scenes of home and daily life after.
The edit
Editors shape the conversations into chapters. Photographs are scanned, restored where needed and woven in, with licensed music and colour and sound finishing. Originals are returned by tracked post.
Your review
You watch a private cut. Two rounds of changes are included, and nothing is shared with anyone until you approve it.
Delivered, and yours
A private streaming page for family, downloadable masters and an archival USB drive by post. Once the balance is paid, the copyright is assigned to you.
- ·A quiet, comfortable room, the kitchen table is usually the right one
- ·Photographs, if you have them; we scan and return the originals
- ·An hour with a family member to plan chapters, names and places, so we spell everything right
| Additional remote session | $650 |
| Additional filming day | $2,950 |
| Second subject (a couple) | $950 |
| Home-video digitisation | from $40 per tape |
| Raw footage drive | $600 |
Payment. 50% deposit to confirm dates, the balance before final delivery, or three equal monthly instalments.
Travel. Included within 60 miles / 100 km of a service city; billed at cost beyond.
Ownership. Full copyright and every master file are yours on final delivery. Until payment is received in full, copyright remains with Existenz.
What if my mother is camera-shy?
Most subjects are. Our interviewers talk with her, not at her, the camera becomes furniture within minutes. She can see the questions in advance if she wants, anything she'd rather not keep stays out, and a family member can sit just off camera.
Remote or in person, which should we choose?
Remote suits most families: it is gentler on the subject, works anywhere, and the shipped kit records beautifully. Choose in person when you want scenes of home and daily life, the garden, the workshop, the hands, and a longer finished film. The consultation will give you an honest recommendation.
How is the film delivered, and who can see it?
A private streaming page you can share with family by link, hosted for the first year, then $49 a year or $195 for five years, plus downloadable master files and an archival USB drive by post. Nothing is public unless you choose, and the copyright is assigned to you on final delivery, once payment is received in full.
