One day you'll want to hear their voice again. Make sure you can.
Think of the story your mom tells at every holiday dinner. One day, you'll wish you could hear it once more. We sit down with your parents, ask the questions you never got around to asking, and make a film your family will keep for generations.
“I wish someone had done this with my mom and dad. I’d give anything to hear my father talk about his horses one more time.”
Almost everyone we talk to says the same thing: "I always meant to ask."
You know the headlines, not the details.
You know Dad grew up on a farm. But do you know what his father said the morning he left? The details are the first thing to go, and the part you'll miss most.
Your kids only know them as Grandma and Grandpa.
Not the young couple who took a chance, or the people they were before any of you came along. This is how your children, and theirs, finally meet them.
It keeps sliding to next year.
Between work, kids and everything else, there's always a better time. But next year isn't promised to any of us, and the stories are clearest right now.
The photographs survive. The stories behind them don't, unless someone asks.
Who is holding the baby? Whose truck was it? Where was the farm? Today someone still knows. We make sure those answers are kept, in their own voice.
How well do you really know your parents?
The regret we hear most from people who have lost a parent is that they never asked enough about their life. Not the big milestones. The small, true things only they could tell you.
Not sure where to start? We've put together 50 questions to ask your parents, before it's too late.
"Is there anything you have never told me that you want me to know?"
Question 50, and often the one that matters most.
You bring the family. We take care of everything else.
You shouldn't have to become a filmmaker to do this. We plan it with you, prepare the questions, film at your parents' home on a day that suits them, and deliver a finished film you can share with your siblings, your kids and theirs. All you have to do is start the conversation.
We talk with you
Tell us about your parents: who they are, what they've lived through, and the stories you can't bear to lose.
We get to know them
A relaxed chat with your mom or dad beforehand, so filming day feels like a visit, not an interview.
Filming day
A small, quiet crew at their home, the cottage or the place that means the most. Sit in, or leave them with us.
Your family's film
A finished documentary, premiered at home with the whole family watching, then kept safe for generations.
It started with my mom.
I've spent more than ten years behind a camera telling other people's stories. Then one day I sat my mom down, turned the camera on, and asked about her life.
She told me stories from before I was born that I had never heard, and answered questions I would never have thought to ask.
I made that film so my children, and one day my great-grandchildren, will know who she was. In her own voice.
That's why I started HEIR. Every family has a story worth keeping. Don't wait to ask.
You could. Here's what the difference looks like.
Plenty of families start with a phone on the kitchen table. It is always better than nothing. But you only get one chance to capture them at their best, and the recording you keep is the one your grandchildren will inherit.
| Doing it yourself | With HEIR | |
|---|---|---|
| The questions | Whatever comes to mind in the moment | Researched in advance and built around their life |
| Who asks | You, which can make parents hold back or perform | An experienced interviewer they open up to |
| Picture and sound | A shaky phone, echo and the fridge humming | Cinema cameras, flattering light and every word clear |
| Photos and home movies | Stay in the box in the basement | Scanned, restored and woven into the story |
| The edit | Hours of raw footage nobody watches | A finished documentary, chapters and a short to share |
| What you end up with | A recording you will mean to edit someday | A film your family will watch for generations |
What do you give someone who has everything?
Another watch. Another trip. Another bottle they'll never open. Your parents have spent a lifetime collecting things. What they rarely get is an afternoon of someone listening to them.
A HEIR film is a gift for them and for everyone who comes after. For a 70th or 80th birthday, a golden anniversary, or simply because it's time. Give it together with your siblings, and it becomes the gift the whole family remembers.
What it costs is fixed. What it keeps is priceless.
We accept a limited number of families each year.
Based in Vancouver, filming across Canada and the United States. Fees in CAD; US families are billed in USD at the same figures. Monthly payments available.
The Conversation
An unhurried afternoon at home with Mom or Dad, the stories you've always meant to ask about, captured with the same care as every HEIR film.
- A planning call with you to shape the questions
- A half-day filming session at their home
- An experienced interviewer and cinema cameras
- 15- to 20-minute film with licensed music
- Up to 50 family photographs scanned and included
- 3-minute share film, made for phones
- 4K master and private online viewing link
The Portrait
Mom, Dad, or both, telling their story in their own words, filmed beautifully while they can still tell it.
- A planning conversation with you and a pre-interview with them
- A full filming day at their home
- An experienced interviewer, cinema cameras and a small, discreet crew
- 30- to 45-minute documentary
- 3-minute share film, plus chapter clips by theme
- Up to 150 family photographs scanned and included
- Private viewing link to share with family
- 4K master on two archival drives
The Legacy Commission
Your parents, your siblings, even the grandkids asking the questions. The whole family story, in one film.
- Everything in The Portrait
- Multiple filming days, family members and locations
- Filming anywhere, travel included
- Research into the family's roots and history
- 60-minute family documentary plus a short film for each person
- Up to 300 family photographs and documents scanned and restored
- Private premiere screening in your home
- Your own private family website, first five years included
- Linen-bound keepsake box
Shared between siblings
Most families share the cost. Between three of you, The Portrait is $2,500 each, for something every branch of the family will keep.
Half to book, half on delivery
A 50% deposit reserves your filming date. The balance is due when you receive your finished film.
If it doesn't feel right, we stop.
Some parents are nervous about the camera. If yours isn't comfortable within the first 30 minutes of filming, we pack up, delete the footage and refund your deposit in full. You owe nothing.
Your film is never lost.
We keep a secure archive of every master file. If a drive is lost, or formats change in twenty years, we'll send your family a fresh copy at no charge.
See add-ons and extras
Your own private family website
Your film, chapters and photographs on a private, password-protected site. Your sister in Toronto and your kids at university can watch from their phones, and one day your grandchildren will press play and hear their great-grandmother laugh.
First five years included with The Legacy Commission
A copy for every branch of the family
A 4K master and ready-to-play files on two archival drives, one for you and one for safekeeping.
Additions
More on request: an extra filming day, aerial filming of the family home or ranch, research into the family's roots, and memorial or celebration edits.
What families usually ask us
What if Mom or Dad says no?
Very common. Most parents insist their life "isn't that interesting." We'll help you bring it up in a way that lands, and once they start talking, they rarely want to stop.
Why now, and not in a few years?
Because their memories are sharpest today. It takes one day of their time, and nobody ever wishes they'd waited longer.
Should I be there during filming?
That's up to you. Some sons and daughters love to sit in. Others find their parents open up more without family in the room. We'll suggest what suits yours.
Can my siblings and I share the cost?
Absolutely. Many films are a joint gift for a milestone birthday or anniversary. A 50% deposit books the date, and we can invoice each of you separately.
Will this stay private?
Always. We sign a confidentiality agreement before we meet, nothing is used in our marketing without written consent, and every frame belongs to your family.
How should they prepare?
Very little. We have a relaxed chat with them beforehand, so they know the questions and the faces on filming day. Ask them to wear something they feel like themselves in, and to set aside any old photographs: we scan them and weave them into the film.
How long until we receive the film?
About 8 weeks after filming. If there's a birthday or anniversary coming up, rush delivery in 3 weeks is available.
Where do you film?
Wherever your parents feel most at ease: their home, the cottage, the farm they grew up on, a care residence. We're based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and film across Canada and the United States.
Your parents will never ask you to do this.
They'd never want the fuss. That's exactly why it's up to you. Tell us a little about them and we'll call to talk it through, privately and with no obligation.