Hilton Head Videographer Captures Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

Does it ever seem to you that there is a misdirected societal obsession with celebrity these days? Spoiled movie stars and decadent rock stars strut around with airs of self-importance, while sycophants and paparazzi hang on to their every move as if the fate of the world were in the balance. Professional athletes who cheat on the field and repeatedly flout the law and conventions of civility off of it are called role models and heroes, and are rewarded with multi-million dollar contracts. Corrupt, dishonest, power-hungry politicians are lauded as great statesmen and assume postures of royalty. We are bombarded with these stories in the media daily.

Have you ever stopped to think about who really makes a difference in your life? Your community? Your country? The world? Is it those so-called celebrities or is it somebody not so famous? Shouldn't their stories be told?

Local videographer Cathy Evangelista has chosen to turn her lens away from the maddening noise of celebrity to focus on something else, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. To the owner of Hilton Head based Video Memoirs, documenting the lives of regular folks is much more interesting and rewarding than shooting famous people. "We already know everything about them," she said. Video Memoirs uncovers the sometimes unexpected and compelling stories that people have to tell and puts them on record for posterity.

"I think everybody thinks about it in one way or another," said Evangelista. "The idea that my story should be preserved whether in writing, audio or video." Even if that story doesn't include anything that might have made the papers, Evangelista points out that a video biography is a very special way to share your story with your family and preserve it down the line. "They want to know about you and we're so blessed with what we can do with video and audio because it lets you really get to know the person."

Video Memoirs is a unit of Global Star Media Group, a subsidiary of Global Star Talent, Inc. The Global Star group offers a variety of entertainment and media services including talent development and management, and video and music production. "Global Star Media Group is all of the media we do like commercials, marketing videos, things like that. Within that is Video Memoirs," said Evangelista, who considers Video Memoirs her special baby.

Having worked on both sides of the camera, Evangelista brings the right background to the task of creating compelling, professional video productions. She studied television production and theater at the University of Minnesota, earning a bachelor's degree in communications, and put her education to work in television news as a desk editor, reporter and anchor in San Diego and Minneapolis. Her television work also includes producing and hosting a cable talk show, "sort of a 'Good Morning America' for Minnesota," said Evangelista. She also spent time as a working actress appearing in commercials, corporate training videos and even some TV pilot episodes.

"When I moved here I didn't really want to go back into local news, so I started my own company," said Evangelista. "Video Memoirs started as a company focused on doing video biographies, getting people to sit down and tell their stories. It branched into all of the video work that I do. That includes commercials, marketing pieces for companies, real estate videos and community video tours."

Evangelista's work as a videographer has taken her to places as far away as Ghana where she shot a marketing piece for Opportunity International, a charity that provides micro-loans for people to start businesses in third world countries. "We shot mostly in Accra, Ghana's capital, but also made a side trip to the coast to see the slave castles and things like that," said Evangelista of the experience. "I had the opportunity to speak with some of the people who have benefited from Opportunity International. There was a woman who started a bakery and was able to put her children through school. Her daughter is now working on her master's degree and her son is a fighter pilot in Ghana's air force. This all started with a $100 loan. It was really life changing to see how people survive in a place like that."

Evangelista also recently traveled to Italy to shoot a centuries-old villa, Villa le Piagge, as well as a travelogue for Tuscany. Yet with all of those globetrotting opportunities in her line of work, Evangelista's real love is the work she does with Video Memoirs. "I love talking with people and learning their stories," she said.

The biggest challenge in creating a video memoir is getting ordinary people to admit that they have a story worth putting to video. For the most part, her subjects are unfamiliar with being in front of the camera and many are simply too humble to think that their life stories are worthy of the spotlight.

"People get nervous because they think they're not going to remember things, or they think they're boring," said Evangelista. "That's why it's important to do this professionally. We are there to bring up things that will stir their memories. That's my job, to get your juices flowing so that you start telling me about your life. You may never have sung on Broadway, but who cares? You're experience performing for the USO during WWII is probably pretty incredible and I'd like to document that. We have all kinds of ways to make people feel comfortable. We can hide the camera, for example. If I have to spend a whole day with a person before we shoot anything, I'll do it."

The stories that Evangelista captures can be anything from thrilling to deeply sentimental. "I talked to one gentleman who was an Italian native and served in the merchant marine during WWII. He started out saying 'I didn't do anything in my life,' but once he got going about the war, it came out that he had saved his buddies' lives while in Italy."

Sometimes the stories are amusing and Evangelista refers to one in particular as the Mothership. "That was the guy who saw a UFO," she said. "It's just amazing the kind of stuff that starts to come out when you let people reminisce."

Evangelista stresses that if you think about creating a video memoir; you should not wait too long. The simple fact is that most of her subjects are seasoned citizens and time may be of the essence, unpleasant a thought as that may be. "I remember one man whose eyes would tear up whenever he spoke of his wife," she said. Unfortunately, she passed away three months later, but not before having the opportunity to witness her husband speak of her in that way. "That's why I always say you shouldn't wait. I am always coming across people who wish they had taken the time to do this."

The style and scope of Evangelista's video memoirs is as varied as the people she films. "We can make it into a massive Ken Burns style documentary or we can make it into a one-hour sit-down and tell me about your life," she said. "Either way, you want something that's professionally done so people are going to want to watch it."

From a journalistic standpoint, Evangelista says that she finds the work so interesting because everything she hears is new to her. "Everybody's got a story. We should listen to what they're saying and give them credit for where they've been in their life."