questions families ask

A legacy film is a cinematic life story film built around a professionally guided recorded interview, family photographs, music, and careful editing. It preserves a person's voice, memories, humour, and the stories only they can tell, in a film your family can watch, share, and pass down. Unlike a written history, it keeps the person themselves: the way they paused, laughed, and told a story that only ever sounded right in their own words.

A legacy film is usually created while someone is still here to tell their own story, in their own voice. A memorial video is typically assembled after a death, often from photographs and music alone. Both have their place, but only one captures the person speaking. Families who wait often tell us they wish they had recorded a voice while they still could.

Recording on a phone is always better than not recording at all, and we encourage families to start there. The difference is in what happens around the recording: thoughtfully prepared questions, an interviewer who knows when to follow up and when to wait, professional sound and image, and careful editing that shapes hours of conversation into a film your family will actually sit down and watch. Phone recordings tend to stay on phones. A legacy film gets passed down.

Most often it is created for a parent or grandparent, commissioned by adult children who realise there are stories they do not want to lose. It is also made for spouses, for older adults who want to record their own story in their own words, and for families facing illness where time matters. Many families choose a milestone as the reason to begin: an eightieth or ninetieth birthday, an anniversary, a retirement, or a reunion.

Almost everyone says this, and almost no one means it. What they usually mean is that they do not know where to begin. The right question changes that. Ask about a childhood kitchen, a first job, or the neighbour everyone remembers, and the stories arrive on their own. Drawing those out is the part of this work we know best.

Every life we film turns out to be remarkable, and rarely for the reasons the family expected. The most treasured moments are almost never the milestones. They are the small details: a saying, a habit, a story about a truck that should never have made it home. A life does not need to be extraordinary to be worth preserving. It needs to be loved.

As a baseline, there are four stages. We begin with a discovery conversation about whose story you want to preserve and what matters most. Then we plan together, preparing tailored interview questions, deciding who will be present and where filming will happen, and gathering photos and home videos. Next we film the interview, along with the details that bring a life into view. Finally we edit the film, share a draft for your family to review, and deliver the finished piece. This process is customized to each family and their desired film.

Wherever your loved one feels most themselves. That is often a family home, a living room, or a kitchen table, and sometimes a care home, a farm, or a place that holds meaning for the family. Comfort matters more than a perfect setting. People tell better stories where they feel at ease, and we bring everything needed to make any room work.

Nathaniel Puffalt, the founder, personally guides every film. Sometimes that means he asks the questions himself, drawing on a decade of documentary interviews. Other times a family member is the right person to ask, in which case we set up the equipment and wait in another room while the two of you talk. We decide together during planning, because the right choice depends entirely on the person being filmed.

Most people are, for about the first ten minutes. Nothing is scripted and nothing is rushed, which is usually all it takes. Preparing the questions in advance means no one is caught off guard, and if a family member being in the room helps, we plan it that way. Almost every person who dreaded the camera ends up asking whether we can keep going a little longer.

Questions written for that particular life, not from a standard list. Working from the discovery conversation, we prepare topics covering childhood, family history, work, love, difficult seasons, humour, values, and the things they hope their family remembers. You see and confirm the questions before filming, so nothing is a surprise, and anything a family would rather not raise simply is not raised.

Interviews usually run a few hours, with breaks whenever they are wanted, and are shaped around the person's energy rather than a schedule. For an older subject we often film in shorter stretches. The plan is set during planning, once we know the person and the depth of story you hope to capture.

This is one of the most common situations we handle. The person whose story we are preserving is here in the Prairies, while adult children are often in, Vancouver, Toronto, or farther, and the whole process can be arranged remotely, from the first conversation to reviewing the finished film. Distant family members can take part in the planning, suggest questions, and view a private draft online before the film is complete.

No, and please do not let disorganised photos delay you. Most families come to us with albums in closets and prints in boxes. We help identify which images matter and how they will be used, and we film photographs, letters, heirlooms, and handwritten notes as part of the process. Starting the conversation matters far more than sorting a shoebox.

Yes. Your family reviews a first draft and can request refinements before delivery. This step matters to us. The film is meant to feel true to the person it honours, and the family knows better than anyone whether it does.

Yes. Music shapes how a film feels, and we work with you to choose something that suits the person and the story rather than defaulting to something generic. If a particular song mattered to them or to the family, tell us during planning and we will talk through how to include it well.

Legacy films with In My Day Films begin at $5,900. The final investment depends on the depth of the interview, the amount of family photo and archival material, the filming location, and the length of the finished film. Custom family documentaries, which may include several interviews across generations or filming on location, are quoted individually after a conversation.

Because it is a production, not a recording. The investment covers a discovery conversation, interview questions written for one particular life, a professionally guided filming day, the filming of photographs and meaningful details, and the editing that turns hours of conversation into a film your family will watch for generations. Most of the work happens after the camera is off.

Yes, and many families do exactly that. Brothers and sisters often share the investment in preserving a parent's or grandparent's story, which makes it a gift the whole family gives together and keeps together. For a milestone birthday or an anniversary, it often replaces gifts that would have been forgotten by spring.

We create legacy films for families across the Canadian Prairies, with filming based in Saskatchewan and Alberta. If your family is spread across the country and the person whose story you want to preserve lives in the Prairies, that is common and easily handled. Travel beyond our usual area can often be arranged, so it is worth asking.

With a conversation. It is private, unhurried, and costs nothing. We talk about the person whose story you want to preserve, what your family hopes to keep, and how the process would work for you. You do not need to have decided anything, or to know exactly what you want the film to be. That is what the conversation is for.