Welcome to the November issue!
A very heavy production and editing schedule has kept me from issuing the November e-Newsletter until now. Sorry for the delay! Time constraints force me to keep things brief this month, but I do have enough time to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope and pray that if you were impacted by Hurricane Sandy and/or the ensuing nor’easter, that life is getting back to normal for you.
I hope you enjoy this issue of the Family Legacy Video® Producer’s e-Newsletter. Please e-mail me at steve@familylegacyvideo.com or phone toll-free (888.662.1294) with any questions or comments you have.
Cheers! – Steve Pender
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Holiday Gift Certificates Available.
November is upon us, meaning there’s not enough time to start and finish a video biography project in time Christmas or Hanukkah. But don’t despair! If you’d like to give a legacy video as a gift this year, you can do so with a Family Legacy Video gift certificate. If you book a project before the holidays, we’ll create a certificate announcing your gift and containing a personal message from you. We can either print the certificate and snail mail it to you or e-mail you a high resolution PDF that you can print. So don’t wait – contact Family Legacy Video and arrange for your gift certificate now!
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The Art of the Interview.
A recent storyteller, a prominent doctor in New York, paid me a very high compliment during our interview session. He told me how impressed he was by the depth and relevance of my questions and how each successive quesion flowed logically from the last. He was a veteran of many interviews related to his profession but said his video biography interview was the best.
There are a number of reasons the interviews Family Legacy Video conducts are unmatched in the video biography field. Here are a few:
We do our homework.
We spend the time it takes to learn from our clients (the folks footing the bill) just what they hope to accomplish with the video biography. Often they have specific goals in mind in terms of the stories and subjects they want preserved on video; we make sure we honor and fulfill those goals as we plan the interview. Next, we offer the storyteller a detailed questionnaire that acts as a road map for the next step in the preproduction process: the preinterview. During one or more sessions either in person or over the phone, we chat with the storyteller to hear his or or stories firsthand. This provides invaluable background information and helps to break the ice and establish a rapport before the Family Legacy Video crew walks through the door on interview day.
We know what to ask and how to ask it.
After finishing the preinterview, we create questions tailored specifically to each storyteller. We arrange the questions so that they lead the storyteller from point A to B to C, etc., in an easy-to-follow and logical way. The client and storyteller always get to review the questions beforehand and are free to make revisions or additions.
We come ready for surprises.
Listening is a critical part of any interview. Even though we come with prepared questions in hand, it’s not unusual for new stories or revelations to surface during the course of an interview. When we hear something new or unexpected, we make sure to pursue that new information. After all, it often leads to some interesting stories!
Family Legacy Video’s process consistently results in relaxed, in-depth and entertaining legacy video interviews that provide the foundation for our signature, high-end custom video biographies.
– Steve Pender
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Got a question about any aspect of family history video production?
Send it to Steve at steve@familylegacyvideo.com.