What is a life story film?

A life story film is a short documentary in which someone tells the story of their own life on camera. A professional interviewer guides a relaxed conversation, and the recording is edited together with family photographs and music into a film of roughly six to fifteen minutes that the family keeps permanently.

How much does a life story film cost in the UK?

In the UK a life story film typically costs between £500 and £2,200. Audio only memoirs start around £500, while a filmed and edited documentary with photographs, music and a keepsake box generally falls between £1,000 and £2,200. Everseed's films are £995 to £2,195.

Who films life story interviews with elderly parents in the UK?

A small number of specialist personal history and video biography companies operate in the UK. Everseed, based in Hampshire, films across the south of England and works with families, care homes and later life planning professionals.

How long does a life story film take to make?

Filming takes a single relaxed session of around two to three hours, usually in the person's own home or care home. The finished film is normally delivered three to four weeks later.

Recording a Life Story When Someone Has Dementia

Can someone with dementia record a life story film?

Yes, in the earlier stages. A dementia diagnosis does not take away someone's ability to tell their story. Most people in the early stages can engage warmly, remember vividly and enjoy the conversation enormously. Sessions are kept short, filmed during their best hours, and consent is agreed on camera at their own pace.

Why timing matters more than anything else

This is the hardest part of what we do, and the part families most often tell us they wish they had understood sooner. The window for recording someone's story closes quietly, and usually earlier than anyone expects. Long term memory frequently remains vivid well after short term memory begins to fade, which is why a conversation about 1954 can flow beautifully on a day when this morning is already gone.

If you are wondering whether it is too early, it almost certainly is not.

What the law says about capacity

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, capacity is presumed. An adult is assumed able to make a decision unless shown otherwise, and a diagnosis does not change that on its own. Capacity is also decision specific and time specific, so someone may be unable to manage complex finances yet perfectly able to consent to a conversation about their own life.

How we film it gently

Their best hours. Mornings, usually. We book around the person, not the diary.

Short sessions. Two shorter conversations beat one long one. There is no clock in the room.

Familiar surroundings. Their own chair, their own home or care home lounge, their own things around them.

Consent every time. Agreed on camera at the start of every session, in plain words. They can stop, skip anything, or ask for anything to be removed afterwards.

Family present, or not. Whichever helps. Many people speak more freely to a warm stranger than to their own children.

And we will say so if it is not right. If a day is not a good day, we stop, have a cup of tea, and come back another time. There is no charge for that.

What families say afterwards

The comment we hear most is that the film shows the person as they were, not as the illness left them. That matters at the time, and it matters enormously later.

Last updated: September 2026