Video Biography News Release

A local publication called the Osprey Observer arrived in my mailbox the other day. Most of its news stories read like news releases submitted by local businesses. So I wrote a news release and submitted it, hoping the editors would find it useful.

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If people will spend thousands of dollars on a casket, John McQuiston wondered, would they invest a similar amount in something that will keep a part of them alive?

“A video biography is not something you do for yourself,” McQuiston says. “It’s something you do for your children and grandchildren. When you’re not around to tell your story in person, this will be how you do it.”

That thinking inspired McQuiston to form the Philip Randolph Parker Company. The Riverview-based company produces documentary videos that tell people’s life stories. These stories incorporate interviews, family photographs, home movies and stock footage of historical events and culture as well as professional shooting, scripting, narration and editing to form polished video documentaries like those seen on PBS, A&E and the History Channel.

“This goes far beyond family photographs, journals, diaries and even home movies,” says McQuiston. “This is something people will want to watch time again and will only become a more treasured keepsake as time passes.”

Prices range from below $1,000 for small (5-10 minutes long) projects to more than $7,000 for full-length life story documentaries, which generally run 40-50 minutes long.

Shorter projects can tell the story of a couple’s courtship or a child’s early years, highlight the career achievements of a corporate executive, or show off a high school athlete’s skills to college recruiters.

McQuiston worked as a news, sports and feature reporter for television stations for nearly 20 years and still does freelance work for stations in the Tampa area. His broadcasting experience helps separate the Philip Randolph Parker Company's product from other companies offering personal history, family documentary or video biography services.

“I know how to put people at ease so they forget about the camera and focus on talking to me,” McQuiston says. “People don’t have to deliver monologues. We have a conversation and worry about fashioning it into a story later. It’s really easy for the subjects.”

The company’s website (http://www.Personal-Documentary.com) features numerous examples of the company’s work, lists prices and includes a link to a company blog McQuiston writes as well as a contact page where you can request any information about the personal documentary process or the company and its services.