You know, I was thinking… about why people spend money on things that aren’t necessary.
I’m not talking about groceries or the mortgage. It’s the other stuff. The stuff that lives in the gap between what you need and what you want. A Heritage Film lives in that gap, so I’ve had to get honest about what’s actually happening when someone says yes.
There are five reasons people invest in anything. Data. Emotion. Boredom. Social pressure. And legacy. The best I figure, that’s the whole list.
But when ya think about it, social pressure is just emotion wearing a blazer. And legacy is just emotion that learned to think long-term. So really, you’re down to three. Data, emotion, boredom.
Data people want proof. They want to see the finished product, read the reviews, understand the process. They ask good questions. They take months to decide. I love these people because when they commit, they’re all in. They did the math and the math worked.
Emotion people call me after a funeral. Or after a diagnosis. Or after they sit across from their 91-year-old father at Thanksgiving and realize, with a clarity that hits like a truck, that they don’t actually know his story. These people move fast because the feeling is urgent and real.
Boredom people are rarer than you’d think, but they exist. Retired, comfortable, looking for a project. They heard about us at a dinner party and thought, ya know, that’s a cool idea. They’re not my biggest segment, but they’re some of my happiest clients because they have zero anxiety about the process.
Every film we’ve done started from one of those three zones. I stopped trying to be all things to all three. I just figure out which one is sitting across from me and try to speak that language.
Turns out, even the boredom and the data folks migrate into the emotion category before it’s all said and done.
Heritage Films produces personal documentary films across the United States. If someone in your family has a story worth keeping, we’d love to hear it.