Legacy Films: A Strategic Business Plan

1.0 Introduction: The Business of Memory

In a world of fleeting digital posts and forgotten hard drives, a life's work can vanish into the noise. For families of means, the risk is not just the loss of memories, but the erosion of legacy itself. This business plan outlines the strategy for Legacy Films, a premier service that transforms this fundamental need for preservation into a viable, high-value venture.

The mission of Legacy Films is to professionally capture, preserve, and craft the life stories of individuals and families into cinematic-quality video memoirs. We transform fragmented collections of memories, photographs, and home movies into cohesive, emotionally resonant narratives, creating invaluable heirlooms—or "Sharelooms"—that endure for generations.

Our vision is to become the trusted partner for affluent families seeking to document their heritage with the care and quality it deserves. We position personal history not as a simple nostalgic pursuit, but as an essential component of legacy and estate planning—a way to transmit values, wisdom, and identity alongside material assets.

A convergence of demographic shifts, technological accessibility, and a growing cultural appreciation for personal history has created a fertile environment for this specialized service, presenting a clear and compelling market opportunity.

2.0 The Market Opportunity

Understanding the dynamics of the market is the cornerstone of any successful business strategy. For Legacy Films, this understanding reveals a powerful confluence of trends. A significant demographic shift—the "silver tsunami"—is creating a large cohort of individuals looking to document their life's work and wisdom. Simultaneously, the democratization of high-end production tools and a cultural shift towards valuing authentic storytelling have created a fertile ground for a specialized, high-touch personal history service.

2.1 Industry Landscape

The personal history market is best characterized as a growing cottage industry of skilled professionals, including journalists, videographers, writers, and archivists. The 2017 dissolution of the Association of Personal Historians (APH) was not an end, but a maturation. It signaled a shift from a generalized association to a decentralized network of highly skilled specialists—like Legacy Films—who integrate modern technology and cinematic craft, a market segment the APH was not equipped to serve. The demand for preserving the experiences of older generations is booming.

This trend is supported by strong growth in the global video editing market, which provides the technological foundation for our services.

Market Indicator	Supporting Data
Projected Market Value	Expected to reach USD 4.78 billion by 2030.
SME Growth Rate	Small and medium enterprises are growing at a CAGR of 8.1%.
Personal Creator Growth	The personal creator segment is growing at a CAGR of 7.0%.

This data confirms that the market is not only expanding but is increasingly powered by the exact type of specialized, freelance business model that Legacy Films will embody.

2.2 Target Market

Our strategy is built on a precise understanding of who we serve and why.

Primary Market: Affluent Families & High-Net-Worth Individuals Our principal clients are affluent families and high-net-worth individuals. This focus is strategically driven by the demographic reality that "lots of rich people are getting old and want to record their legacy." These clients possess both the desire to preserve their complex family histories and the financial capacity to invest in a premium, professional service that honors their life's work. They are often already engaged in estate and legacy planning, making our service a natural and valuable extension of that process.

Secondary Markets We will also serve two key secondary markets:

1. Family Businesses: These enterprises are built on a foundation of unique values and stories, often originating with a founder whose vision is central to the company's identity. We provide a service to capture and preserve this history, which can be used to reinforce brand authenticity, onboard new family members, and inspire employees.
2. Organizations and Communities: Non-profits, community groups, and other organizations use professionally produced histories for a variety of strategic purposes, including promotion, fundraising, boosting morale, and honoring key figures.

2.3 The Problem & Our Solution

The target market faces a significant and often overwhelming challenge: their most precious memories are scattered across shoeboxes of deteriorating photos, aging VHS tapes, and disorganized digital folders. While they possess a deep desire to create a meaningful legacy, do-it-yourself (DIY) projects frequently fail due to a lack of time, technical expertise, and storytelling skill. The result is often an amateur video that feels more like a "7th grade project" than a fitting tribute to a life well-lived.

Legacy Films is the definitive solution. We offer a professional, concierge service for the entire archival journey, transforming this chaos into cinematic excellence. The final product is not merely a video but a meticulously crafted "Shareloom" and a dynamic living archive—a durable, beautiful, and emotionally impactful heirloom that honors the family's story with the professional quality it deserves.

Our structured process and commitment to excellence provide the peace of mind and exceptional results that our clients seek, as detailed in the services and workflow that follow.

3.0 Services & Operational Workflow

The core value of Legacy Films lies not only in the final product but in our structured, professional, and transparent process. This workflow is the engine of our business, blending the precision of archival science with the art of cinematic storytelling to deliver a consistently high-quality experience and a treasured final product.

3.1 Service Offerings

We offer two primary service packages designed to meet the varying needs of our clients, with pricing that reflects the intensive labor, specialized skills, and high-end equipment required.

Feature	The Memoir Package (from $7,500)	The Dynasty Package (from $15,000)
Interview Sessions	One professional interview session (up to 3 hours) with a single primary subject at a location of choice.	Up to two professional interview sessions, allowing for multiple participants (e.g., spouses, siblings) or a more in-depth narrative.
Archival Media Integration	Digitization and integration of up to 100 client-provided photos, documents, or memorabilia.	Digitization and integration of up to 250 photos and up to 5 home movie tapes (e.g., VHS, Super 8).
Final Video Length	A final, professionally edited film up to 60 minutes in length.	A final, feature-quality film up to 90 minutes in length.
Post-Production	Expert editing for narrative flow, custom titles, and licensed background music.	Includes all Memoir features plus cinematic B-roll of the home or meaningful locations, advanced color correction, and professional sound design.
Client Revisions	Up to two rounds of client revisions.	Up to three rounds of client revisions.
Final Delivery	The final film is delivered in high-resolution digital format on a durable storage medium.	The final film is delivered along with a fully organized, searchable digital library of all digitized archival materials.

Factors Affecting Final Price: The starting prices above serve as a baseline. The final investment can be affected by:

• Additional Participants: Including more family members or friends in the interviews.
• Extensive Archival Digitization: Large collections of photos, films, and documents requiring significant digitization and restoration.
• Travel: On-site filming outside of our local service area.
• Custom Add-Ons: Services such as professional photo restoration, foreign language subtitles, or creation of shorter highlight clips for social sharing.

3.2 The Legacy Preservation Process

Our signature three-phase workflow ensures a seamless client experience and a superior final product.

Phase I: Consultation & Capture

This phase is dedicated to narrative discovery. We begin with a deep consultation to unearth the client's core story, identify key emotional arcs, and collaboratively develop a cinematic blueprint for the film. We use a structured pre-production framework, summarized by the acronym CLIPS (Clothing, Location, Interviewer, Participants, Stories), to ensure every detail is considered. Our interview approach is built on carefully crafted, open-ended questions designed to elicit rich, detailed, and heartfelt responses.

The on-location filming is executed with cinematic precision. We use high-quality 4K cameras, professional lighting, and stabilization equipment to achieve a polished visual aesthetic. Critically, we prioritize audio quality, utilizing lavalier microphones and dedicated audio recorders to ensure the clarity and emotional impact of the spoken narrative is perfectly preserved.

Phase II: Archival Curation & Care

This is where we become digital archivists. We systematically gather the client's archival materials—photos, home movies, letters, and memorabilia—and professionally digitize them. Our commitment to archival best practices is a key differentiator and includes:

• High-Resolution Digitization: We use professional-grade flatbed and film scanners to capture maximum detail and preserve the integrity of the original media.
• Metadata Enrichment: We apply rich descriptive metadata (names, dates, locations) to make the archive searchable and administrative metadata (file types, creation dates) to ensure long-term manageability.
• The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy: We adhere to the archival gold standard for data protection: we maintain three copies of all digital assets on two different media types, with one copy stored securely off-site. This protects the client's irreplaceable history against loss from fire, theft, or digital failure.

Phase III: Creative Post-Production & Delivery

In the final phase, art and science converge as our storytelling expertise comes to the forefront. Our editors meticulously sculpt hours of raw footage and decades of archives into a cohesive, emotionally resonant narrative. This includes editing the interview for clarity and emotional pacing, artfully weaving in the curated B-roll of photos and home movies, and adding professional titles, music, and color correction.

The final deliverable is a beautiful "moving portrait." Clients receive the final film in high-resolution digital formats, delivered on a durable storage medium to ensure long-term preservation and ease of sharing with family members around the world. This meticulous process is the foundation of our value, which we communicate through a targeted marketing strategy.

4.0 Marketing & Sales Strategy

A high-value, trust-based service like Legacy Films requires a marketing and sales strategy that prioritizes relationships, credibility, and targeted outreach over mass-market advertising. Our approach is designed to connect with our ideal clients through the channels they already trust.

4.1 Strategic Positioning

Legacy Films is positioned as a premium, boutique service operating at the intersection of documentary filmmaking, archival science, and personal legacy planning. Our brand communicates expertise, discretion, and a profound respect for the client's story and privacy. We are not simply videographers; we are trusted consultants in the preservation of personal history.

4.2 Primary Go-to-Market: The Referral Partner Program

Our core sales strategy is the development of a robust referral network of trusted professionals who serve our target market. These key partners include:

• Estate Planners
• Wealth Managers
• Lawyers
• Realtors specializing in high-net-worth clients

The rationale for this strategy is powerful: these professionals are already engaged in deeply personal conversations with our target demographic about legacy, assets, and intergenerational planning. A referral from a trusted advisor is the most effective and efficient path to a qualified client.

The program will be formalized with clear incentives, including a referral fee for each successfully closed project. We will equip our partners with high-quality, discreet marketing materials (brochures, sample video links) and ensure a seamless, white-glove experience for their clients, reflecting positively on their initial recommendation.

4.3 Digital Presence & Credibility

Our company website will serve as the central hub for our marketing efforts and the primary tool for establishing credibility. The site will be designed not as a sales tool, but as a professional portfolio that builds confidence and trust. Key elements will include:

• A clear, elegant explanation of our service offerings and our three-phase process.
• High-quality video samples of past projects (with client permission) that demonstrate our cinematic and storytelling capabilities.
• Authentic client testimonials that speak to the quality of our work and the positive experience of working with us.
• A professional "About" page detailing the founder's expertise in filmmaking, storytelling, and archival practices.

This strategic approach to marketing and sales provides the foundation for the financial plan that will support our growth.

5.0 Financial Plan

The financial model for Legacy Films is designed for profitability and sustainability. It is built on high-margin, project-based revenue, a targeted sales strategy that minimizes recurring marketing expenditures, and operational costs that can scale with demand.

5.1 Revenue Model and Pricing

As detailed in Section 3.1, our revenue is generated through two primary service packages: The Memoir Package (starting at $7,500) and The Dynasty Package (starting at $15,000). These premium price points are justified by:

• Labor-Intensive Process: The industry standard is 10-15 hours of meticulous post-production for every hour of filmed interview, a commitment required to sculpt a life's story into a compelling narrative.
• Specialized Equipment: Investment in professional-grade camera, audio, lighting, and archival scanning technology is essential for a high-quality deliverable.
• Immense Intrinsic Value: The final product is a priceless, one-of-a-kind family heirloom that will be treasured for generations.

5.2 Startup Expenses

The initial startup capital is allocated to acquiring professional-grade equipment essential for delivering the cinematic quality and archival integrity that defines our brand and justifies our premium positioning. The following list outlines the projected one-time expenses required to launch Legacy Films.

• Production Equipment:
  • Professional 4K mirrorless or cinema camera with lens kit
  • High-quality lavalier microphone kit and dedicated audio recorder
  • Three-point lighting package
  • Heavy-duty tripod and stabilization gear
• Archival Equipment:
  • High-resolution flatbed photo scanner (e.g., Epson V850 Pro)
  • Dedicated 35mm film/slide scanner (e.g., Plustek OpticFilm series)
  • Professional S-VHS VCR with a built-in Time Base Corrector (TBC) to ensure stable, high-quality analog tape conversion
• Post-Production Hardware & Software:
  • High-performance computer optimized for 4K video editing
  • Professional video editing software subscription (e.g., Adobe Premiere Pro)
  • Photo management and archival software (e.g., Mylio Photos)
• Business & Marketing:
  • Business registration and legal fees
  • Professional website development and hosting
  • Creation of initial marketing materials for the Referral Partner Program

5.3 First-Year Financial Projections

The following projections are illustrative, based on a conservative sales ramp-up as our Referral Partner Program gains traction. They do not represent historical performance.

Quarter	Projected Projects	Projected Revenue
Q1	1 Memoir Package	$7,500
Q2	2 Memoir Packages	$15,000
Q3	1 Dynasty Package	$15,000
Q4	1 Dynasty Package, 1 Memoir Package	$22,500
Total	5 Projects	$60,000

By operating at the unique intersection of cinematic filmmaking, archival science, and legacy planning, Legacy Films is positioned to capture a clear market opportunity. Our referral-based sales model ensures a sustainable pipeline of qualified clients, while our high-margin, project-based revenue structure provides a clear path to profitability. We are in the business of preserving the stories that matter most, creating not only a profitable enterprise but a deeply meaningful one that protects and honors the values that shape generational identity.