01
The focus
A family’s history can cover many lifetimes. Choose a starting point: a move to a new country, the home where relatives gathered, a shared tradition or the lives connecting two generations.
Your Life, Filmed · Personal documentaries
Family History Documentary Films in Lake County, IL
Help the next generation understand where they come from. We bring family interviews, photographs and home videos together into a documentary that connects the names in an album with the lives, voices and memories behind them.
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Planning a family history documentary
Agree on the story before choosing the participants.
02
The voices
Include people who can explain different parts of that history. A documentary can begin with one relative who remembers the story; more participants are helpful when their perspectives add something specific.
03
The audience
Think about what younger relatives will need explained: names, relationships, places and why a particular event mattered. Include the details they will need to follow the story years from now.
Documentary packages
Match the production to your family history.
A focused family story can fit Short Documentary. Signature accommodates up to two participants; Extended accommodates up to five, with more filming time and archive material. The film’s scope determines the right starting point.
Short Documentary
15–20 minutes · One focused chapterFrom $4,500Signature Documentary
30–40 minutes · A fuller life storyFrom $8,500Extended Documentary
45–60 minutes · More chapters and voicesFrom $14,500One filmmaker handles the interview and editing. Each tier can tell one person’s story; additional participants depend on the package allowance. Setup is separate from interview recording time.
Compare filming time, archive allowances and deliveryInterviews and archive
Connect the memories without losing each person’s voice.
Separate interviews allow relatives to describe their own experience. Everyone does not need to sit in the same room or agree on every remembered detail. We plan questions around each participant’s connection to the subject.
Photographs, letters and short home movies help establish people and places. Add names and approximate dates where known. We can record a family’s recollections, but specialist genealogy and independent historical verification are not included.
Extended Documentary
Room for a broader family account.
From $14,500, Extended Documentary includes a 45–60 minute finished film, up to five interview participants, up to eight total filming hours across two days and up to three Lake County locations. One filmmaker operates two camera angles during the interviews.
The package includes integration of up to 150 photographs or short clips, lightly edited individual interview cuts, a private gallery, HD master, sharing copy and a caption file for the finished documentary. Printed-photo scanning and additional production work are quoted separately.
Typical completion is 14–18 weeks, depending on scheduling, archive readiness and feedback. Discuss a reunion or intended viewing date before booking.
At-home filming in Lake County, Illinois
Coordinate filming around where relatives will be.
Share the participants’ Lake County locations and any dates when relatives will already be together. We can discuss separate interview times, the quietest available rooms and agreed family-interaction footage within the filming allowance.
Before we begin
Questions about your documentary
How many relatives can take part in a family documentary?
The Extended Documentary package includes up to five interview participants, with up to eight total filming hours across two days. We discuss whose perspective belongs in the film during preparation. Additional interviews are quoted separately and depend on the production schedule.
Do all family members need to be in the same room?
The documentary can bring together separate interviews and family-interaction footage. It does not require everyone to answer questions together. We plan the interview order, locations and any shared scenes before filming. The package includes up to three Lake County locations.
Can old photographs and home movies be included?
The Extended Documentary includes integration of up to 150 photographs or short clips. We help identify materials that explain a person, place or event in the interviews. Printed-photo scanning is a separate addition; tape conversion, complex restoration and other specialist work need to be discussed before the proposal.
How long does a family documentary take to complete?
The typical completion estimate is 14–18 weeks. Scheduling, the readiness of family photographs and clips, and the time taken to return revision notes can affect delivery. Share any birthday, reunion or other intended viewing date before booking.
Will our family documentary be published online?
Drafts and delivery are private. Your family receives personal viewing and sharing rights as described in the agreement. We do not use the film or footage publicly without a separate written release.
Your documentary starts here
Bring your family’s story together.
Tell me whose memories you would like to connect. We can discuss photographs and other voices afterward.
No booking commitment. Just a conversation.
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