What’s a Mini Doc?
Our Creative Process
Our Filming Sessions
Ages For Filming
What We Film
Finding Beauty in Chaos
Locations for Filming Sessions
Rescheduling Filming Sessions
Why Your Family Needs a Baby Mini Doc
How Much Does This Cost?
How Soon Do We Need to Book?
Gift Certificates
Payment Options
A “mini doc” is a one-of-a-kind professional short documentary film – a living work of art – that tells your family’s story authentically while preserving the special moments that make up a day in your family’s life. Our mini docs combine real life footage filmed with your family in intimate settings, with a thoughtful musical soundtrack. The end result is an artful, cinematic, and musical film that captures your family’s essence – including the meaningful everyday moments, unique personalities, and special dynamics that make up your family’s personal brand of magic
Getting to know your family before we start filming is an incredibly important part of our creative process. We meet during an initial consultation call, and have a follow up video call (usually via FaceTime or Skype) close to the date of filming when we meet all family members. On these calls, we spend time discussing your family’s personality and the meaningful everyday moments that YOU want to remember – and that you want your children to remember – when watching the final film 10 to 15 years later (and beyond!) – whether that be the fact that dad styles his toddler’s hair every morning; mom sings a made-up lullaby at baby’s bedtime; or that an older sibling reads bedtime stories to your littlest ones. Using these details as our narrative guide, we pour a lot of energy into creating an authentic portrait of your family’s life – including the joy, challenges, and the messiness of it all.
Our filming sessions are truly a stress-free experience. We use a documentary “fly on the wall” approach, meaning that we do not direct you nor do we stage your family in any situations for the camera. Instead, we let your family’s life unfold naturally and spontaneously, while our camera exists as an unobtrusive, privileged observer.
Our priority is ensuring your family’s comfort level in front of the camera, so that you can just “be” while we capture those irresistible, ever-fleeting, natural everyday moments with your littlest ones. We use professional but minimal HD camera and audio gear while filming, allowing us to be as unobtrusive as possible in your intimate family spaces.
We call it “The Baby Mini Doc Project” because no matter how old our children get, they will forever be our babies!
We specialize in capturing families with young children including babies, toddlers, and older siblings. We offer both maternity sessions and birth filming sessions, so we can start filming as early as during late pregnancy or the moment your child is born, and often film with children up to the age of 6 and beyond.
We focus on capturing the magic of everyday moments as well as the thrill of milestones with your little ones. The moments we capture are very much inspired by the personalities, dynamics, and rhythms of your particular family. Here are some examples by age of the sorts of moments we have captured with families to date:
BABIES: 0-12 months old
The stillness and intimacy of the first 7 months in particular makes this an especially perfect time to capture natural bonding moments with loved ones, as well as babies’ growing perceptions of and reactions to their environments.
Everyday moments can include:
– Tummy time / playtime
– Reading books
– Bathtime
– Mealtime
– Nap and bedtime routines
– Interactions with siblings
– Interactions with family pets
Milestones and “firsts” can include:
– First bath
– First smiles and laughs
– First teeth
– First time eating solids
– First attempts at rolling over, sitting up, creeping, crawling and walking
– First words
– First haircut
– First time in a swing
– First birthday
TODDLERS: 1-3 years old
We also love filming toddlers! The supreme busyness of these later stages often makes it difficult for families to even remember to pull out a camera. Let us help you preserve the beautiful energy and innocent wonder of these post-baby stages, including:
– First conversations (and their sweet “little” voices!)
– Favorite games and activities (eg. riding tricycles, scooters, running wild, doing puzzles, bubbles in the park, sidewalk chalk drawings)
– Special routines with “mommy” and/or “daddy” (eg. music “jam” sessions with mommy; bath time with daddy; bed time with mommy and daddy)
– Playdates, interactions with friends
– Outings to parks, playgrounds, or other meaningful locations
– Interactions with grandparents, younger and older siblings
– Birthday celebrations
OLDER SIBLINGS: 4 years +
Filming interactions with siblings of different ages and stages is an especially fun way to tell your family’s story. There’s also something incredibly special about being able to honor the unique relationships that older siblings have with their parents (they are – after all – your first babies!), while also time-capsuling them in their “big brother” and “big sister” roles. Some examples of moments we have captured with older ones include:
– Interactions with parents (eg. special mommy/daddy and me time; being “mommy/daddy’s helper” with younger siblings)
– Favorite games and activities (eg. family sing-off/dance-off sessions)
– Interactions with younger siblings (eg. multiple kids in a bathtub; special “big sister” or “big brother” routines)
Our specialty is finding beauty in the simplest of everyday family moments, as well as in the chaos and messiness of real life family situations. Whether you have a large family, a loud family, toddlers who throw tantrums or a messy house, we believe there is beauty to be found in the entirety of the parenting journey. In fact, seeing the more challenging aspects of parenting little ones allows us to tell your family’s story with that much more depth and authenticity.
We couldn’t put it more beautifully than Og Mandino, who says, “I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”
At the end of the day, we are all human – and we all stumble along this journey of parenthood in our own way. We at The Baby Mini Doc Project celebrate “realness”, not “perfection”.
Locations for Filming Sessions
Our mini docs give you the opportunity to time capsule the places and locations that mean the most to your family. As such, we often recommend filming at least part of a session in your family home, as here is where many special family memories are made, and it is also the place where families often feel most comfortable, intimate, and “themselves”.
That said – documentary film is a visual medium, so the more visual variety in locations we can include in your mini doc, the more visually interesting the final film will be. So we are happy to film in as many locations as your session time allows!
Other locations we often film in include
– Playgrounds
– Parks
– Hiking trails
– Neighborhood strolls
– Car rides
– Homes of relatives and close friends
…basically, we are open to your suggestions and will do our best to make any meaningful location work!
We completely understand that family schedules sometimes change unexpectedly – whether due to illness, weather, or other family emergencies. We will always work with you to find a new date and time that works for your family.
Why Your Family Needs a Baby Mini Doc
Life with little ones is so full! It’s filled with so much joy, so many challenges, and quite often a never ending to do list. More often than not, families don’t realize how valuable it is to capture these most precious and meaningful moments with their little ones – the years when they are filled with the most magic, awe, and wonder – until it is too late.
Don’t let these moments – the ones that make the hard work of parenting all worth it – pass you and your family by. Instead, let us create an intimate, authentic time-capsule of these early years and give yourself and your family the gift of preserved memories that will only grow with value over time.
Future generations of your family will thank you for this invaluable family heirloom – an intimate record of family history to which they can return time and time again, helping them to fill in the gaps about who they are, where they come from, and perhaps even invite a bit more understanding and connection to those that surround them, and to those of us who came before.
Whether you are….
– a spouse looking for a unique and meaningful way to celebrate your growing family;
– a new parent wanting to capture the beauty of your transition into motherhood or fatherhood;
– an experienced parent wanting to time-capsule your little ones’ current stage before they grow any bigger;
– an adoptive family wanting to honor the addition of new members to the family;
– grandparents looking for a meaningful way to connect with their children and grandchildren’s lives;
– or any other kind of family who wants to preserve the love, beauty, and challenges that make this hard work of raising little ones all worth it….
… a baby mini doc is one of the most meaningful gifts you could ever give to yourself and your family.
The value of our work rests in the high professional standard of our filmmaking, as well as our years of award winning experience in the documentary film and television industries. We use broadcast quality camera equipment, audio gear, and editing facilities. We bring a high level of artistry to our cinematography and editing and invest much time and energy designing a personalized musical soundtrack that reflects the essence of your family’s story.
Our mini docs are one-of-a-kind high quality works of cinematic art. We guarantee that you will find nothing “cookie cutter” or “templated” here. We pour as much love and attention into our mini docs as we do for documentaries we make for theatrical, television or commercial release.
Starting at $1,550, our most popular “day in the life” mini documentary package (Lil’ Peanut) gives your family a 2-hour filming session and a 4-minute final mini documentary edited to music.
But perhaps you’re interested in a shorter filming session, or a simpler video? No problem! We are very happy to work with you to design a customized package to suit your family’s lifestyle and budget. The best way to determine whether this is the right fit for you is to have a conversation with us so we can prepare a quotation based on your specific needs. Get started by scheduling a FREE 15-minute phone consultation HERE.
All our standard packages include:
– A 15-minute initial phone consultation
– A 30-minute virtual meeting prior to your filming session
– Preparation tips sent prior to your filming session
– A professionally filmed and edited mini documentary capturing a day in your family’s life
– Editing includes professional sound mixing, color-grading, and design of a royalty-free musical soundtrack
– A minimum of 5 color-corrected still images from the final film
– Final films delivered in two file sizes via private digital download links:
1. A high quality HD (high definition) file via private link for easy sharing with friends and family
2. The highest possible archival quality HD file for storing in your family archives
We recommend scheduling your first consult with us at least two (2) weeks prior to your desired filming date and at least six (6) weeks prior to your desired delivery date for the final mini doc. This will ensure we have adequate time to get to know you and your family before the filming session.
Depending on the package you book, we deliver final mini docs within two (2) to four (4) weeks from the date of your filming session.
A gift certificate towards a baby mini doc package is one of the most meaningful gifts you could ever give to a family – whether they be a spouse, a newly expectant family, a family welcoming new additions, or any family who wants to time-capsule this most special time with their little ones before they get too big! Once purchased, our elegantly designed gift certificates are sent to you digitally by e-mail, and in print by mail.
Gift certificates of any value can be used towards any of our packages.
Trying to coordinate a group gift for a baby shower or other special occasion? We also accept group contributions towards gift certificates.
Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, or check. A 50% deposit is required to confirm a booking, with the balance due upon receipt of the final mini doc.
CONTACT US to find out more and get started on your family’s mini documentary.
