The Portrait Film
One life, explored in full. The film traces their life's journey and the people, lessons, and values that shaped them. It is the most personal film we make.
Put an extraordinary life
on film
Family history almost always reaches the next generation secondhand, retold and slowly lost. We capture yours at the source. What you keep is an heirloom documentary, told first-hand for future generations. You share the story. We'll take care of the rest.
Find your film
How you frame your story is as essential as what you say. Here are
the types of stories that families most often commission.
The Couple's Story
Two lives, and the story of how they became one: how they met, what they built, and the bond that still holds. This is where your family began.
The Family Story
A family is more than the sum of its members. The film spans generations, telling the family's history in the voices of the people who carry the line forward. This is who your family is.
The Family Gathering
Built around a reunion or a milestone, the film captures the family exactly as it is right now. We turn a single day into something everyone can return to long after it ends.
A Film of Your Own
If none of these feel quite right, we will craft a film in whatever form your story asks for. Possibilities include stories about a family business, an estate or a place of heritage, a lifelong craft or passion, a philanthropic legacy, or a multi-year biography. Tell us what you picture, and we will build it.
Every detail, expertly handled
For most families, this is the first time in years a parent is asked to tell their whole story, and everyone gathers to listen. Our whole process is built to understand the real person beneath the story. Often, that's a side of them even the family rarely gets to see.
The First Conversation
We begin with a relaxed discussion about your hopes for the film and the person at the center of it. Our work before filming is to understand them as fully as we can. We return with a proposal, schedule a date to film, and send a simple kit to help you gather photographs and keepsakes.
The Filming
We come to you, at home or wherever feels easiest, and quietly set up cinema cameras, lighting, and sound. The day plays out like a long, relaxed conversation. Most people forget the cameras within minutes and settle into the rare gift of being asked, at length, about their own life. We film the spaces and keepsakes that tell their story, and scan everything you've gathered, so nothing precious leaves the house.
The Edit
The long, careful work begins. Our editors shape hours of footage into a film with a true emotional arc. They structure the story, curate the music, and tune the sound and color. Afterward, the finished film is yours to keep as an heirloom, alongside a private archive held in your name.
Get in touch
Each film takes months of careful work, so we work with a limited number of families each year.
Our Commissions
Whatever the story, you choose the scale of the film.
The Classic
a portrait, filmed in a day
The essential commission. We film over a single day at home, centered on an easygoing, in-depth interview, and shape it into a complete feature-length documentary with your photographs woven through, finished to the same standard as every film we make.
The Signature
a broader story, over several days
The bigger picture. We film over multiple days and bring in the voices of family members and friends closest to the film's subject. We weave their memories together with your photographs and personal media into a longer documentary, richer for every voice in it.
The Premier
a major motion picture, across days and locations
The epic. Our most elaborate production: a sweeping story shot over several days and locations, shaped in close consultation with the family, with deep archival research, full restoration of old film and photographs, and the opportunity for many passes of refinement. A few each year, by request.
Every commission is delivered as a feature-length heirloom documentary, with a short film to share and a private archive of films held in your name.
We agree on the final commission together, and a deposit reserves your place in the schedule.
Questions families ask
Most often, a son or daughter commissions it for a parent or grandparent. But any life is worth telling, including a couple, a mentor, or yourself, captured now for the people who will one day wish they had asked.
Yes. We film at home or wherever they're comfortable, with a small, personable crew. We build the whole day around them. Most people forget the camera within minutes.
Very little. You gather photographs, and we send you a simple kit to help you sort them. We take care of the rest: the planning, the questions, the filming, and the edit. The day is built around the person at its center, so all anyone has to do is sit and talk.
A finished documentary, packaged as a physical and digital heirloom, with a short film to share and a private archive of your films held in your name. All of the original footage is stored too, available on request for a fee.
Most films take about three months once we begin: enough time to plan, arrange schedules, film without rushing, and craft a polished edit, with a few revisions if you'd like them.
Yes, wherever the story lives. Any travel is folded into the price we agree together, so there are no surprise costs along the way.
Yes. The film is yours, and we never share it or show it publicly without your permission. Discretion is part of what you are paying for.
Film is what we do best, so it stays our focus. When a family would like a companion book or other keepsakes, we'll arrange them through trusted partners.
Films begin at $19,000. The final price depends on the story's scope and the work it involves. On the first call we'll give you a clear sense of the likely cost, then send a written proposal with the exact figure, agreed together before anything begins.
We call ourselves Prima Persona, Latin for “first person,” for a reason: our whole business rests on capturing real people in their own voice. We never script, clone, or fake anyone's voice, image, or likeness. We use software only for ordinary cleanup, like reducing background noise, balancing color, and restoring old photographs. The authorship is human from the first question to the final cut, and we put that in writing in your contract.
Send a message through the form below. We'll write back to arrange a first conversation, which is always free and without obligation. If it feels right, a deposit holds your place and we begin to plan.
Start your family's film
Tell us about the person whose story you would like to keep. Share a little or a lot, and a real person will write back within a day or two. The first conversation is relaxed and always free.
Thank you.
Your message is on its way. We'll write back within a day or two.
For anything else, you can email us at theprimapersona@gmail.com