The S.B. Questionnaire: Kate Carter

“Some people feel that what we do is sad or morbid — instead, it’s beautiful,” says Kate Carter, the founder and president of LifeChronicles, which produces legacy videos for the elderly, seriously ill, and others nearing the end of life. “We film families together. Their conversations are recorded and families can use them as a healing tool.”

The memories preserved on film by LifeChronicles capture everything from the sound of a loved one’s laughter to the look in their eyes. “Stories are great, but we learned that sight and sound is important,” Kate explains. “We lead them into meaningful end-of-life conversations, which normally wouldn’t happen on their own.” Before each LifeChronicles shoot, Kate tells each of the families, “In this moment in time, we’re going to share things we wouldn’t otherwise share.”

Over the past few months, LifeChronicles has been doing memorial videos for the victims of last year’s mudslide. “It usually takes a year after the person dies for people to be ready to share,” says Kate. “The first person we did posthumously was one of the victims of 9/11.”