A shorter story

Turn a short memoir or family story into a hand-drawn film

A story does not have to fill a whole book. If you have written 1,500 words or more, we write the screenplay from your pages in your own words, and make the film one part at a time. You approve each part's cast and then the part itself.

Start with my book I already have a screenplay
Best fit
  • A short memoir, a family story or a collection of remembrances
  • A tribute, anniversary or reunion story that is already written down
  • Messages for children and grandchildren that you have put on paper
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.

Your sentences, kept

The narration is your own sentences, word for word. Every sentence is kept, and none is reworded.

Your people, drawn consistently

Each person is drawn at each age they appear, and anyone unchanged from an earlier part is reused, so they look the same from scene to scene.

Characters who speak

Each character gets a distinct voice, and children get children's voices. You can listen and pick another on each part's cast page, or record your own voice for one role.

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

Autobiography to film A complete memoir or life story, written as a screenplay in your own words and made into a film one part at a time.
See your memoir on screen Read your screenplay, approve each part's cast, then watch your film one part at a time.
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

I only have notes, not a finished story. Can I start?

The film is made from a written piece of at least 1,500 words, so it helps to have your story on the page first. Word, PDF, EPUB and plain text are all fine.

How much does a short film cost?

A short piece makes a short film, and the price follows its length: a story of up to 12,000 words, a film of about 90 minutes, is $799. That covers the screenplay, the starting looks and voices, every part's cast, every part and the finished film.

Which style should I choose?

Light-hearted suits funny and warm stories. Serious suits grief, illness, hardship and other serious stories, including tributes. You choose when you start, and you can change it until the cast drawing begins.

Start with my book See pricing