Autobiography to film

Turn your autobiography into a hand-drawn animated film

MemoirMovies turns a finished memoir, autobiography or family-history book into a hand-drawn animated film with voices, music and moving mouths. The narration is your own sentences, word for word. You choose Light-hearted or Serious, and you approve each part before the next is made.

Start with my book I already have a screenplay
Best fit
  • Completed memoirs and autobiographies
  • Family-history books with recurring people across many ages
  • Authors who want a film without hiring an animation crew
The MemoirMovies way

Screenplay. Each part’s cast. Each part made. Film.

ScreenplayWritten from your whole book in your own words, or bring your own. Upload is free, and you pay once to start, at the price for your book’s length.
Each part’s castStarting looks and voices are made automatically. Before each part, you see its cast and voices, change what you like, and approve.
Each part madeThe part is built in about an hour. You edit it in the part editor and approve it, which unlocks the next part.
The whole filmApproved parts join into one film with title cards, to download as an HD (1080p) MP4 and share.
Two styles

Light-hearted or Serious

You choose when you start, and you can change it until the cast drawing begins.

A frame in the Light-hearted style: a smiling cartoon boy in a striped shirt holds up a giant lima bean in a grey pencil garden

Light-hearted

A crude, hand-drawn 1990s adult-cartoon look with wobbling marker lines and grey pencil backgrounds. It suits funny and warm memoirs.

Start a light-hearted film
A frame in the Serious style: a woman comforts a sad boy in a grey vet waiting room, with only the people in colour

Serious

A simplified graphic-memoir look in black ink and grey, with slow push-ins and quieter music. It suits grief, illness, hardship and other serious stories.

Start a Serious film

Watch both in motion on the home page. The demos come from the founder’s own memoir, “A Mostly Magnificent Memoir” by Bo Bennett.

A screenplay in your own words

It is written from the whole book, chapter by chapter. Your narration stays word for word, and quoted dialogue is used exactly. Only the action lines are new. You read it, ask for changes and approve it.

Everyone at the right age, part by part

Before each part is made, you see everyone in it at their age in that part, dressed for it, with their voices. Anything unchanged from an earlier part is marked "Same as Part N". You change any drawing in plain words or pick another voice, then approve the cast. A change carries forward to later parts, never back.

A part at a time

The film is made in parts, usually one per chapter. Each part has its cast, then the build (about an hour), then your edit and approval, which unlocks the next part. Stop whenever you like.

Made with AI, directed by you. The drawings, voices and music are made with AI. You approve the screenplay, each part’s cast and every part.

Related paths

More about MemoirMovies

See your memoir on screen Read your screenplay, approve each part's cast, then watch your film one part at a time.
A short memoir or family story A written story of 1,500 words or more becomes a shorter film, made the same way.
How it works The steps in detail, from upload to the finished film.
Who uses this

Authors, families, and the people helping them

Memoir authors Upload your book and get a screenplay written from the whole thing, in your own words.
Families and heirs Turn a parent's or grandparent's written story into something everyone can watch.
Screenwriters Bring a finished screenplay. It is laid out and never reworded, at the same price.
Questions

Before you begin

Do I need video footage?

No. A book is enough. A photo of a real person can help guide how their drawing looks, but a cartoon will not be an exact likeness.

Who makes the drawings and voices?

They are made with AI and directed by you. You approve the screenplay, each part's cast and voices, and every part.

How much does a full memoir cost?

One payment, set by the length of your book, covers everything, and every word is kept: from $799 for a film of about 90 minutes to $4,499 for a book of 110,000 words (about 13½ hours, ideal as a series). Every size is on the pricing page. Uploading is free, and you see your price before you pay.

Start with my book See pricing