Story of your life

In what she’s dubbed the editing suite of her Seventh and Annin home, Deborah Arnold brings old photographs, outdated film and oral history to life.

The 31-year-old’s life’s work is to produce professional videos — on a range of subjects, but mostly on the lives of others. Beyond weddings and bar mitzvahs, Arnold now is focusing her lens on family biographies because, she says, everyone has a story to tell — and she can make the memories tangible.

South Philly residents, in particular, have stories to tell — those of immigration, wars, extended families, unbroken traditions, generations. A student of history and anthropology, Arnold feels she can exercise her talents best in such an ethnically diverse area. And it doesn’t hurt that local natives, on the whole, are steeped in nostalgia.

"People like to have a document of their lives and their family," Arnold says. "It’s because of who they are, and it demonstrates the love among the family."

Indeed, one need not look beyond the Social Scene and obituary (and even "petuary") ads in this paper to comprehend the local pride and desire to document one’s family story.

Arnold seeks to preserve her clients’ memories by putting their sentimental moments on a DVD, Mini-DV, VHS, DV-Cam or BetaSP. Got Super 8? She can transfer it, provided it’s in decent condition. She also aims to incorporate old photos and family interviews to tell the cherished tales.

Of course, all of this nostalgia will cost you. Arnold’s biographical videos start at $500.

But she’s no amateur. Arnold’s film credits include The Learning Channel’s popular reality show A Wedding Story and various other cable segments.

More notably, she produced an independent film called United Traces, for which she earned grants from the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies and the Hamilton Family Trust. Based on ethnic festivals in the Philadelphia area, the 26-minute documentary will air as part of the Philadelphia Stories 4 series in June on public TV station WYBE Channel 35.

Arnold was inspired to create the film five years ago when she witnessed a gay pride parade. She went on to capture events such as a St. Patrick’s Day parade, a celebration of Chinese New Year and Puerto Rican and African-American festivities.

"I was interested in different annual events that take place and how it gathers people together and puts them on common grounds," she says. "I learned how other people live and also about other people’s experience in the city. I like getting to know my neighbors more, and I learned something from everyone."

Arnold also has recorded the darker side of life. In one such project, she coproduced a documentary on domestic violence that premiered at Women in Transition and aired as part of the PBS series Independent Images.

A 1994 graduate of Hofstra University, Arnold earned degrees in history and anthropology. Combining these two subjects and incorporating her interest in filmmaking, she furthered her education and graduated from the Anthropology Film Center.

Three years ago, Arnold developed her passion into her own home-based business, Spyral Productions. Since then, she has made both traditional and documentary-style productions of weddings, bar mitzvahs and anniversaries, and also has filled requests to document the birth of a child and family reunions.

The natural progression of her work, then, was to move on to the whole family experience and not just document those individual milestones.

Arnold can do the best job with the best-preserved memories: If clients have held on to pictures and film footage, she can put them back on camera thanks to advanced technology. As long as the materials are provided, she’s able to document them even as far back as when they were invented — the early 1900s for film, the 1800s for photography.

And then, of course, she needs to get a feel for the actual subjects.

"I enjoy meeting people and trying to make sure that I get a grasp on what they want and who they are and create something individual or unique," Arnold says.

The most difficult and yet rewarding biographies to create are those of immigrants, she adds, because the concrete materials usually are missing. However, if clients are unable to provide pictures or film, Arnold can compose the documentary of firsthand accounts as well as interviews from friends and family members.

"It is interesting to document people’s immigration stories, struggles and hardships and what is involved because a lot of that was lost," she says.

Capturing one-time events like weddings also has become more challenging, especially in this climate of so-called reality TV. Many videographers are offering "documentary-style" packages in which brides and grooms are interviewed before and maybe even after the Big Day in order to record their story as a couple — how they met, what attracted them to each other, how he (or she) proposed. It’s the love story revived, and it’s right up Arnold’s aisle.

When the documentarian isn’t behind the lens or in the editing suite, she’s teaching high-school students and others interested in filmmaking at the nonprofit Scribe Video Center, 1342 Cypress St.

She also plans to record her own family biography, someday. But for now, Arnold is happy retrieving others’ memories and making them permanent.

For more information, see www.spyralproductions.com.

Editor Sandra Pilla contributed to this story.