Faces of America

PBS is running a series called "Faces of America," which trace the family histories of Americans from a variety of backgrounds. Below is an excerpt of one featuring Olympic figure skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. These are essentially personal documentaries of public people.



Read more about her and see more clips here. One thing that struck me as I watched was how much learning her family's history meant to her. She got emotional as she heard details of her maternal grandfather's service as a Japanese-American for the U.S. in World War II.

These kinds of video biographies are the same ones we produce. We find the evocative moments of people's life stories. And the effect of watching the story of your parents, grandparents or even your children will be the same that Ms. Yamaguchi had.

Maybe you don't have the star power to bring PBS crews to your house but if you're American, you could be a face of America, too. You don't have to be famous to have an interesting story to share about your life, that of your loved ones or your ancestors. Explore more at our website Personal-Documentary.com.