Legacy Films | Family stories preserved
I love people. And I believe everyone’s life story is fascinating.
Legacy films are a way to preserve your family’s history forever. They’re documentaries that tell the life story of one person or an entire family.
These films capture the essence of the interviewee’s personality in addition to their story, and distill that into a film that their loved ones will cherish. It often turns out that even complete strangers find the films entertaining.
Spotlight legacy film: Marguerite Johnson (Full Film)
Marguerite Johnson lived an incredible life. She had her own radio show in the 1930s and 40s. She raised 6 children while moving around the U.S. during World War II. And she generously gave her time to children in need well past her 100th birthday. Her greatest legacy is her family, including her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And as you’ll see in the 45-minute film, she also had incredible wit and boundless love for the people around her.
This legacy film was made for Marguerite’s family, with Marguerite conducting a 4-hour interview at the age of 104 with her great-granddaughter, Kendall. Her daughter Bonnie and son Ted were also present to assist with details. Her family then rallied to collect photos and other archival material to complete the film.
“This beautiful legacy film of my grandmother, Meg, will be forever cherished by our family. Its completion shortly after her death is the gift we all needed with which to remember her. James lovingly captured her wit, spunk, and wise reflection as she shared the story of her life. His attention to detail in weaving together interviews, family photos and music has made this a true celebration of her life. I know we will return to it often to hear her laugh, listen to her storytelling, and share with future generations. We are so grateful!”
- Debbie Jo Rock, Marguerite’s granddaughter
About Me
I’m James Andrews. I’ve produced and directed films for places such as the National Park Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, Microsoft, and many more that you can read about on my homepage or watch on my videos page.
I film roughly 250 interviews per year, conducting around half as the interviewer myself. Doing this since 2014, I’ve developed a pretty good sense of how to use interviews to tell a great story. Before my career in film, I was a news reporter and science writer, so storytelling has been my jam for a very long time.
I’ve long felt that legacy films should be a more common thing for people to do. After my parents retired, I took the time to film interviews of their life stories, and it was such a rewarding experience that I feel a lot of other people would love to do it as well.
The Process
Initial call: Each project starts with a free initial call where I learn a little about your family, the subject of your film, and what sort of film you’re hoping to make. We then schedule a pre-interview and I spend some time tailoring my question list to your project.
Pre-interview: A pre-interview is a phone call or video call where we run through a lot of questions about your subject to get to know them better and figure out what their story is. These calls usually take around 1 hour.
Pre-production: I spend some time outlining the story and planning my final question list, and we schedule a time to film in-person. On your end, this would be an ideal time to gather any photos or videos of the subject that your family has.
Production: We film the real interviews and any other accompanying scenes. Anything can happen during this stage, but it’s important that we’ve done the groundwork to prepare and we generally know what the story is going to be thanks to pre-production.
Post-production: We combine the interviews, archival photo/video, music, and any other material we shot into a film that you love. If you don’t love it, we keep working at it. Generally, we go through two rounds of review and revision before the final cut.
Final cut: You have a film that your family will keep coming back to.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A legacy film is a documentary that tells the life story of one person or an entire family. It captures not just the stories and history, but also the essence of the interviewee's personality, creating a film that loved ones will cherish, and hopefully even strangers will find enthralling.
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From initial phone call to final cut, the full process typically takes 3-4 months, but it can be as quick as 6 weeks or as long as needed to get the film right. The main variable is how quickly we schedule to do the in-person interviews.
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For a short film (30 minutes or less), filming the interviews typically takes 2-3 hours, or up to 4.
For a full film (45-60 minutes), filming the interviews takes 3-4 hours, but can go up to 8 if needed for multiple subjects.
Feature films (90-120 minutes) allow as much time as needed for all interview subjects, with additional filming days available.
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I live in Seattle, so travel within a 3-hour drive of Seattle is included at no additional cost for a single filming day.
I am personally available to film anywhere in the world with reasonable travel costs.
Trusted freelancers are available in many locations to conduct interviews without travel fees.
Bottom line: If you’re interested in making a legacy film with me and you live anywhere in the world, I will do everything I can to make that film happen within your budget.
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Families need to collect any archival materials such as photos and videos that they would like to see in the film.
Ideally, families will share this material with me before we begin the post-production stage.
I am flexible in helping with this how I can. For past projects, I have personally borrowed family photos albums to take them over to the nearest photo/copy center to get them digitized before returning the albums to the family on the same day.
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If you’re happy with an iPhone version of this, you absolutely should do that!
This is a service for people who don’t have the time or interest in doing it themselves, or for families who want a more polished, premium film than they could make themselves.
Perhaps the greatest selling point of making a legacy film with me is that it gets done. These things take time and expertise to do well.
The #1 reaction I hear from people when I tell them about legacy films is “I wish I had done that when I had the chance.”
I think of legacy films as similar to wedding videos. Sure, you can film your wedding on an iPhone, but a lot of people opt for something more special. Celebrating an entire life story is a pretty special moment.
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I think any time can be the right time to do a film of your family, but a key time would be shortly after retirement for a family member or couple. Retirement is a great time to reflect on your life’s journey and celebrate everything that got you to where you are.
Legacy films can celebrate entire lives, or be more specific to focus just on a career, or a family tradition, a family home, or anything else you can think of. There are no rules here!
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Yes. The Full Film and Feature Film packages accommodate single or multiple interview subjects, allowing you to capture stories from various family members, friends, or colleagues that will weave together in the final film.
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Legacy films capture the interviewee's personality, wit, mannerisms, and essence in a way that preserves not just what they said, but who they were. As demonstrated by Marguerite's film on this page, they often become cherished keepsakes that families return to repeatedly.
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Yes. Additional scenes and b-roll footage can be added as an optional add-on to heighten production value and round out the storytelling, making the film more cinematic and extra engaging (in my opinion).
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Everyone’s story is fascinating, and to their family, it’s priceless. We only have so much time to tell our story in-person. Legacy films are a way to preserve our loved one’s story.
In my opinion, legacy films should be as common as wedding videos. Not everyone films their wedding, but a lot of people do because they want to preserve the moment. Legacy films are a celebration of an entire life, capturing the essence of the person for their family to hold onto as a keepsake.
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Yes. This is actually one of my most common project types. We combine interviews with living family members, plus archival photos and video, to preserve the life story of a loved one.
Relatedly, I do this type of work for law firms in wrongful death cases. Part of those projects includes family members and friends remembering stories about the deceased, and bringing them to life through descriptions of their personality alongside existing photos and video.
Legacy Film Pricing & Details
A legacy film can take on any form, but here are a few starting packages:
Short film | $4,495
Up to 30-minute film
One interview subject, up to 4 hours of filming
Life story interview mixed with archival photos, videos, and music
Full film | $7,495
45- to 60-minute film
Single or multiple interview subjects, up to 8 hours of filming
Life story interview mixed with archival photos, videos, and music
Optional add-on: Additional scenes/b-roll to heighten production value (i.e. make it extra cool)
Feature film | $12,000+
90- to 120-minute film
Single or multiple interview subjects, with as much time as needed for everyone
Life story interviews and documentary filming mixed with archival photos, videos, and music
Additional filming days optional
Highly recommended add-on: Additional scenes/b-roll to round out the storytelling and heighten production value
Remembrance film | starting at $4,495
For remembering and celebrating those who have passed on
A mix of interviews with living family members and friends, plus archival photos and videos, to preserve the life story and legacy of a loved one
Can be done as any of the packages listed above
Remote film | starting at $2,495
Interview conducted over video call, or interview filmed by family member and sent to us
Life story interview mixed with archival photos, videos, and music
Travel expenses
I live in Seattle, WA. Travel within a 3-hour drive of Seattle is no additional cost for a single day of filming. But our crew is available to film anywhere in the world with reasonable travel costs. In many cases, trusted freelancers are also available to conduct the interviews at no additional travel cost.