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Prima Persona
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Family stories,
told firsthand

Create a stunning feature documentary that
turns life stories into
lasting family legacies. You share the story. We’ll take care of the rest.

Watch a Feature Film

You share the story. We’ll take care of the rest.

Watch a Feature Film
Watch a Feature Film
  • Filmed in your home
  • Feature documentary
  • Every photograph restored by hand
  • Your story in your own words
  • A private premiere
  • Kept for generations
  • Human-authored, never AI
  • Three months, start to finish
  • Made for one family

Family history almost always
reaches the next generation
secondhand, retold and
slowly lost. We capture
yours
at the source. Prima Persona
produces private
heirloom
films,films,
told firsthand
for the
generations that follow.

01 / 04Consultation

We begin with a thoughtful discussion about your aspirations for the film and the person at the center of it.

Letters, photographs, a frame and dried flowers spread across a wooden desk

Step 01

Consultation

  1. The first conversationIn an introductory call, we learn about your family and offer guidance on what your project can look like.We get to know your family.
  2. Creative planningWe write a creative proposal, framed around your family’s unique stories and mission.Shaped around your family’s stories.
  3. Setting a dateWe schedule a convenient day to film. If there’s a special occasion like an anniversary or milestone, we’ll build the entire timeline around it.Every detail, planned for you.
  4. ConfirmationA deposit books your place, and your dedicated team is assigned to the project.Your place and your team, reserved.

The timelineThe whole process takes about three months, from confirmation to delivery.

02 / 04Filming

We come to you and quietly set up cameras, lighting, and sound. The day plays out like a long, relaxed conversation.

A cinema camera filming an interview in a library

Step 02

Filming

Before the day

  • QuestionnaireWe send a quick survey to better understand the people we’ll interview.About the people we’ll interview.
  • MementosWe guide you through gathering photographs, home videos, and keepsakes.Photographs, videos and keepsakes.
  • ResearchIn consultation with your family, your producer researches your story, drafts questions, and plans the interview day.Weeks of research shape the questions.

On the day of filming

  1. Setup. Our team comes to you and discreetly creates a film set in the room of your choice.Quietly, wherever suits you.
  2. The interview. Your producer guides a conversation around your family’s memories and stories.A relaxed, guided conversation.
  3. Supporting visuals. We compose cinematic scenes of your daily life, along with the people and places they treasure most.Their places and details.
  4. Cataloging. We digitize your photographs and keepsakes on-site at archival quality, so the originals never leave your home.Prints digitized on site.

03 / 04Crafting the story

Our post-production team shapes hours of footage into a film with a true emotional arc.

A color grading panel and an audio interface on a wooden editing desk

Step 03

Crafting the story

  • StoryOur editors tailor a riveting narrative from your own voice and memories, bringing your unique story to life.Our editors tailor a riveting narrative from your own voice and memories, bringing your unique story to life.
  • ArchivingYour photographs are restored, digitized, and incorporated into the film.Restored and animated by hand.
  • GraphicsCompelling graphics and animations are crafted to enhance the narrative flow of the film.Animated to carry the story.
  • MusicWe curate a score for the film and cut it to the pulse of every scene.Chosen for the story.
  • ColorEvery shot is color-graded to a unified cinematic finish.Every shot is color-graded to a unified cinematic finish.
  • SoundThe film is mixed in a professional sound studio for every viewing format, from the web to televisions and home theaters.Mixed in a professional studio.

04 / 04Custom Delivery

We deliver the documentary as a physical and digital heirloom. The film is yours to keep for future generations!

An open family album with an old portrait, beside white lilies on a lace-covered table in afternoon light

Step 04

Custom Delivery

  • The feature filmYour documentary comes home as a physical and digital heirloom.A physical and digital heirloom.
  • A short filmWe produce a standalone short film to share with family and friends.Cut separately, to share with family.
  • Your personal archiveWe follow a rigorous procedure to catalog all research materials for you to view alongside the film.Every photograph, kept in your name.
  • Portrait Photographs OptionalHeirloom portraits shot on set and printed to accompany the film.Portraits, made on the filming day.

  • All original footage and materials. Preserved for you, available on request.

  • A private premiere (optional).Optional If you’d like, we can arrange a screening for your family and friends.

The timelineThe whole process takes about three months, from confirmation to delivery.

We design every commission to be a deeply rewarding experience for the whole family. Along the way, we uncover the stories, lessons, and values that define your family, and shape them into a captivating narrative that’s shared across generations.

Find your film

Our films are custom-crafted to celebrate your family with the warmth, wit, and intrigue of your favorite documentaries

The Biopic

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.

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 History

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 it 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 occasion into something everyone can return to long after.

A Film of Your Own

If none of these feel quite right, we will craft a story around your specific vision. Possibilities include films about family businesses, places of heritage, lifelong passions, or philanthropic legacies. Tell us what you picture, and we will build it.

Our commissions

Whatever the story, you you choose the scope of the film

Every commission includes

  • A feature filmA 40+ minute film, packaged as a physical and digital heirloom.
  • A short film to shareCut separately from the feature, for sharing.
  • The family archiveWe create a private family archive of your photographs,
    letters, and mementos, restored and catalogued.
  • Concierge serviceThoughtful, hands-on attention from the first call through delivery.
Begin Your Film

A biography, filmed in a day

The Portrait

The essential commission. In a single day at home, we capture an easygoing, in-depth interview and cinematic scenes of their daily life. We shape it into a feature documentary with your restored photographs woven throughout, finished to the same standard as every film we make.

From $35,000

A broader story, over several days

The Chronicle

The bigger picture. We film over several days and add interviews with family and friends, along with extensive on-location footage of your family. In post-production, specialists join the team to build elaborate graphics, animation and sequences from your photographs and home movies, and we refine the film around your feedback.

From $55,000

A major motion picture, across days and locations

The Provenance

Our most ambitious production: a sweeping story shot over many days and locations, guided by investigative research into the people, places and times that shaped their life. Our team works closely with your family at every stage, building the film to whatever scope the story calls for.

Upon request

Every commission includes

  • A feature filmA 40+ minute film, packaged as a physical and digital heirloom.
  • A short film to shareCut separately from the feature, for sharing.
  • The family archiveWe create a private family archive of your photographs,
    letters, and mementos, restored and catalogued.
  • Concierge serviceThoughtful, hands-on attention from the first call through delivery.
Begin Your Film