Your Story Here Video Biography

07/03/2025

From the YourStoryHere archives: Jane writing about her first memorial video for her Dad Walter Lehmann, as well as a snippet from the video!

Occasional thoughts, ideas, observations and insights around the subject of tribute and memorial film and video production and allied areas.

05/27/2025

From the Your Story Here archives - originally written by Jane on January 17, 2012 - how to digitize your family history and the importance of doing so today!

Today is a good day to digitize your family history. The equipment has never been cheaper, storage for your files - both at home and online - is all but free, and once done, you remove forever the...

03/14/2025

From the Your Story Here archives, the Life Story of WWII Survivor Volodymyr Szafranowycz - originally written by Peter on June 8, 2011 - tells of his survival through World War II and his eventual relocation to Australia.

Volodymyr Szafranowycz survived the worst that the 20th Century could serve up. He is now dead; a troubled death in many ways – but who complains when death comes in their 80s? His family...

06/15/2023

What I've learned.

11/22/2018

Friday November 23rd - the day after Thanksgiving - is the National Day of Listening, a chance to sit down with a loved one, turn on an audio recorder or app on your phone or even better a video camera or your phone's video and ask that person about his or her life. Looking for some ideas of where to start - here's some tips to get you started...

Family history often starts with an interview on audio or video. Preserving the stories of your older family members grants them a kind of immortality, ensuring they remain a presence long after their passing. They will enjoy the attention and the process. And you will gather important information a...

11/07/2018

In our line of work - helping folks make video biographies of loved ones - we are always looking for good source material to help tell personal history stories. One of our favorite places to find interesting things is our very own Library of Congress which has now digitized a vast amount of our Nation's treasures. Its "National Screening Room" which allows you to view and download items from its vast collection of films. What will you find? Well that very much depends on your tastes and interests. But so far there are around 300 titles and more are being added every month...

1929 Poster from LOC's free online collection In our line of work - helping folks make video biographies of loved ones - we are always l...

10/04/2018

This is an effort to capture and preserve the stories of people born before 1940 who were on the home front during WWII. You can even listen to short extracts from some audio interviews!

Histories of World War II too often omit the experiences of “home front heroes”: the men, women, and children who bought bonds, built planes, endured sacrifices, and kept families together while loved ones served on the front lines. In contrast to the many oral histories of veterans, very few of...

09/26/2018

There are so many reasons why you should do a video biography. In my latest blog there are some great reasons for anyone who might be feeling a bit reluctant. So, please record and tell your story, and the story of your family. Let it become that very treasure that you can imagine might have been given to you by your parents or grandparents. There are so many people who love you that are just waiting for you to do so!

OK, I am talking right now to the main subject of a proposed family history. Not the son, not the daughter and not the grandkids or ...

09/05/2018

Like many families, many of our family traditions - and stories - involve food. So when our kids went to college we started gathering some of their favorite recipes so they could cook them. We decided to put the recipes in one place and so https://www.shafronchef.com/ was born. Many of our recipes have stories which we incorporated and we also included some recipes from the extended family. It has been a great way to connect the generations and family from all around. I would definitely recommend a project like this for your family!

Welcome to ShafronChef - the finest home cooking either side of the Pacific!

08/29/2018

Some things are worth while waiting for. At 105, Bill Vogt just received his diploma after graduating from San Diego State University in 1935!

At age 105, Bill Vogt has learned a thing or two.

05/18/2018

My friend Kristy lost her husband Rob unexpectedly five years ago. She asked friends and family to record their memories of Rob and asked us to edit the material into a special tribute video to help her three boys remember their wonderful father. Kirsty got the idea after reading Sheryl Sandberg's book "Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy" which Sandberg co-wrote after losing her husband. Sandberg had asked friends and family to record their stories and memories of her husband for her children. We were honored to work with Kristy to edit the video clips weaving them together with personal photos and some home video.

Life doesn’t always turn out like we plan or like we hope it will. Kristy and Rob had three boys together - all still in school. Rob was ...