It's not really complicated, but we'll need your help to make it work.

It could with a big event you want to celebrate with a video. Perhaps a retirement, an anniversary or a birthday that ends in a zero.  Or, sadly, it's the passing of a loved one. Or a fading memory you want to hold tight to, before it slips away. We want to help you celebrate that life...including your own, if you're our subject! The important thing to remember is a Hold Tight video is more personal, and therefore, more time-consuming to create than a typical tribute slide show.  Please note that the videos we create will take at least 3-4 weeks to assemble. So, if it's a memorial service, it would need to be one with a few weeks lead time. This is becoming quite common, as more services involve cremation and time is needed for family and friends to come in from out of town. To give you an idea how we work, here's a brief outline.

1. Select a contact person

This is someone who can help us collect photos and videos. They would also be able to tell us who to interview that would have stories to share. If this video is for a memorial, it's often good to have someone outside the immediate family to help us line up interviews and do the work of collecting photos, since grief can be all consuming. If this is for a living family member you want to celebrate--or capture their stories while you can, any close family member can be our contact person who helps collect photos and coordinate schedules for interviews.

2. Set up interviews.

Being interviewed can be difficult if you are mourning a loved one. But those who have done it tell me it was helpful in their healing process to be able to talk freely, even in great sadness. Watch Jane's testimonial as an example.  Having those closest talk about the many great qualities of the person can really make the video a real celebration of life. (Also, if this is for an anniversary, birthday or retirement, those who know the person best usually come up with the most hilarious stories.)

3. We begin the editing process.

We take the photos (digital and the old-fashioned paper ones, which we'll scan) and combine them with any video you may have and the interviews we conducted to create a rough edit. If there are old movie formats involved--like Super 8 film--we'll need to get an outside service to help, since we don't have that capability. But if it's old video in Hi-8, VHS, VHS-C or MiniDV, we can handle that, no problemo. In this picture, we were working on a big project--the retirement video for Minnesota Twins pitcher, Brad Radke. Watch a video sample here.

4. You view and approve the video.

We show you the video, complete with licensed music in a style of your choosing (for legal reasons, we can't use copyright popular songs), for your approval. We make any corrections or additions you request for the final video.

5. We provide a finished video.

The video will be shared with you in a format you can use to show at your event, most likely a HD digital file you can play from your computer or tablet and project onto a screen. (Don't forget to get a good sound system!). We also send you a web link (password protected). That way you can view the video any time you want, from your computer, phone or tablet. Plus, anyone who can't make the gathering can view it around the world, any time of the day or night.

6. OPTIONAL: We video your event.

Sometimes people like to capture additional stories and people at the actual event, including memorial services. This can be done for a separate fee. (For insight into pricing, go here.)