Andrew Seltz, the founder of Reel Histories™, has been producing video professionally for more than 20 years. Much of his work has involved interviewing everyday folks for documentaries and promotional videos. He became skilled at capturing people’s stories and witnessed the power they held.
On Thanksgiving of 1998, looking for a fun project to do over the holiday weekend, Andrew asked his maternal grandparents if they would like to make a cooking video. His grandfather had recently purchased a camcorder and was a lifelong photography buff – Papa was game! Grandma said why not?
With a few cheap lights from the hardware store and grandpa’s camera, the next day was spent recording grandma making a favorite family recipe. A short while later they had a video and the family was able to watch ‘Cooking With Liz!‘ The video was a big hit and everyone in the extended family wanted a copy of their own. The video was later uploaded to YouTube and has been viewer over 7000 time be people around the world (Liz and Rudy would have been blown away by that!)
This was the beginning of Andrew’s interest in documenting his family’s stories on video. As his grandparents grew older he wanted to preserve their life stories – the same stories that had enriched family gatherings for years and were part of the family’s identity. He planned to interview his grandparents and record them sharing their life story for future generations. A sudden health emergency with his grandfather almost cost him this opportunity. But, by the grace of God, he was given the chance to interview these people who had help shape his life.
As he shared these stories with friends and co-workers he found them consistently asking for advice on how they could do this for themselves. From this was born ReelHistories.com™.
We hope you find help, insight, and encouragement through the resources on this website. And, most of all, we hope that you enjoy the power and pleasure of preserving your personal history and sharing it with others.
Happy History-Making!
The Reel Histories™ Family