A Film the Whole Family Can Enjoy- Literally
By Charlotte Eichna

People who have spent several decadeson this planet usually have a story to tell. They just may not realize it.

That’s where Sari Eckler Cooper comes in.Cooper is a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Video Legacies, a company that produces video biographies for families,businesses and organizations.

“I regard relating rituals and stories of ancestors as a way of providing children lessons in intimacy, frustration, tolerance, identity formation, ethics and empathy,” Cooper wrote in Parents League Review, a publication of the Parents League of New York.

Usually it’s an adult with children of their own who approaches the video biographer to ask about preserving the grandparents’story.The would be stars, the grandparents, are often a bit reluctant at first, Cooper said.They’re superstitious, thinking that if they impart their story they’ll die, or that there’s not much that’s interesting in their lives to document.

Evelyn Sklar, 84, of Fort Lee, N.J., is one grandparent who wasn’t quite sure she wanted to make a video biography when her daughter Amy Sklar approached her with the idea.

“I’m not accustomed to being on camera, let’s put it that way,”Evelyn said. To convince her, Amy, who lives on the Upper West Side, took her daughter Kate to visit grandma so they could go through old photographs and memorabilia. Amy was shocked by the wealth of artifacts her mother had saved – birth certificates, diplomas, even an award for a jacks competition.The strategy, which was the video biographer’s idea, worked and Evelyn agreed to the interview.

“I enjoyed it actually,” the grandmother said.

Evelyn was surprised at the way she looked on film, but said she was ultimately happy with the final product.“I think it’s a very nice legacy and it almost can’t be done twice,”the grand-mother said.“I think it’s worthwhile.”“It was a fabulous experience for us as a family,”Amy said.“I would so, so highly recommend it. She’s really a great person. She has the right constitution,”she added, referring to Cooper. Because of the amount of research and work that goes into making a video biography, Cooper charges between $3,000 and $6,000 for a 25-minute piece made in the New York City area. She’s willing to travel, too.

Cooper, who lives on West 84th Street, said her years as a therapist helped her understand the importance of telling your family story. She uses her professional skills, particularly her calm, warm demeanor and the ability to be impartial, to help people tell their stories. But, she stresses, creating a video biography has a very different goal than therapy.

“I’m not trying to help people adjust their story,”Cooper said.“I’m really just letting them tell their story.

”The artistic aspects of Cooper’s work – her camera work and the montages of photographs and other artifacts incorporated into the videos –are partly the result of her previous career as a choreographer and dancer. She remembers one of the last pieces she choreographed, “Cradle and All,” a one-woman show about motherhood that she based on interviews with 30 to 40 women.

“And I loved the experience, being able to give life to these stories that are so powerful,”said Cooper, who performed the piece as well.

The West Sider’s personal experiences also led her into the video biography business. Cooper has always told her own chil-dren stories about what it was like when shewas little,or how she and her husband gotengaged.

“I do find it’s a way of creating intimacy with children,”she said, adding that her kids have even given some of their favorite stories names.

Cooper’s own father, an amateur filmmaker who died when she was 14,left behind a collection of footage that spanned from his days as abachelor to father-hood.The films giveher a better sense ofhis identity,some-thing she finds partic-ularly valuable as shegoes through her ownadult milestones.They also make her feel like she’s carrying on a tradition.

Cooper gets most of her clients through word of mouth and often gives talks at the JCC of Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave. But Nov.14, she’ll conduct a full oral history interview workshop for grandparents and children ages 4 to 16 years. The workshop begins at 2 p.m.and costs $50.Participants should bring a 60-minute mini-DV tape if they want to tape their conversations.To register, visit www.jccmanhattan.org or call 646-505-4380.

“Don’t wait,”said Cooper, who stressed that the workshop was for everyone, not just Jews.“Because I do see people as they get older lose not always their memory, but lose some of the richness in detail in a story.”Sari Eckler Cooper feels she’s carrying on a family tradition by making biographic films.