A focus on the past and present can help you influence the future
By Nico Docherty, Family History Films
A Film About You, Not Just Your Ancestors
The films we create are about you and your family. They are a chance to preserve your story and guide future generations. Of course, ancestry will always be central to what we do. Investigating family rumours and discovering new and fascinating stories in your family’s past is an exciting and fun part of every film.
Yet our films are also an opportunity to focus on you. We interview you, your parents, your children and any relatives and friends you would like to be involved in the project. We build this around your convenience, filming at your home or a place of significance to you.
Many of our clients choose to host a family reunion, and invite our team along to capture it. These can be exciting, celebratory days for everyone but more than that, they are a chance for you and your family to tell your story to future generations. How you got to where you are today, the lessons you have learned and the things that are important to you.
Our team prepares for a family interview
Succession Planning
This is where succession planning comes in. Capturing your story and your ideas is not just about sentiment. Many of our clients have business interests that they created or took to new levels. Their children may already be involved or may need to be prepared to take responsibility.
As businesses and other assets expand and grow, it can be hard to maintain the core philosophies that made your idea so unique and successful at the start. We help preserve the story of how that success was achieved and set it in context; the humble beginnings, the challenges overcome, the trials and tribulations along the way. These lessons are invaluable tools for the next generation and help to protect and enshrine your legacy.
Your children have the responsibility of carrying your name and your heritage forward. The context behind the family’s success can be remote to the next generation. Our films give them that story in an emotional and informative package. It is an invaluable resource.
Taking over the family firm can be tough
Who Controls the Past Controls the Future
Ok, George Orwell may have had corrupt regimes in his mind when he coined this phrase but the truth of it sticks. The past helps us understand the present and influence the future.
On the rare occasion that you get that old photo album out, how often are you left wondering who that great-grandparent or distant ancestor really was? What were their priorities and their hopes? We knock down that communication barrier. Our archiving team will digitise your family assets (from the box of photos to the VHS not watched since 1995) and render them accessible at a click to current and future generations. On top of that, our films and books allow you to have a direct and unfiltered conversation with future generations. You do not have to be a mystery to them the way your great-grandparents may have been a mystery to you. This is something that no prior generation in history has had the privilege to achieve and it allows you to guide and help the people that will take your legacy into the future.
Looking at a photo isn’t quite the same as watching a professional interview
Each of our projects is unique and the balance struck between a focus on you and past generations of your family is entirely up to you. You can discuss the shape your book, film or archive would take via email at jonb@myfamilyhistoryfilm.com.