About
Eternal Stories

Written by
Darius Valentine, Owner

Eternal Stories wasn't born out of a desire to create documentaries, it came from a place close to my heart.

In 2022, I was living in Los Angeles, 3,000 miles away from everyone and everything that I knew and loved. Every time I would visit home, my grandfather would agonize over my safety and want to make sure that I was comfortable and living the best life I could out there. And above all else, that I was happy.

When I visited for Thanksgiving, I spent over an hour talking with him. About nothing and everything. For years I’d been hearing him tell stories of his life but something in that moment made me realize that one day, those stories would cease to exist. Right then, I decided to not let those stories fade away.

As I researched ways to preserve them, I found a company that would make a book based on his answers to questions, and while I felt that may be a good idea, that only goes so far. While it would allow future generations to know his story, it wouldn't allow them to hear it.

I've been told countless stories about my great-grandfather who passed away when I was 2. So even though I did meet him and feel like I know him to some degree, I have no idea what he sounded like.

So I wanted to ensure my future kids didn’t have the same problem. That they would be able to get to know my grandfather and hear his voice as he told his story, in his own words.

A week before Christmas, I flew across the country again, this time with as much camera equipment as I could fit in a carry-on, and set out to create a documentary about the most interesting man I knew.

I sat with him for over 3 hours, just letting him talk and share any and every story he could think of. I then interviewed every member of our very large family about their time and experiences with him. In the end, I conducted over 20 interviews and accumulated almost 16 hours of footage. Slowly I began to realize the profound impact he had on the lives of those around him and his community.

Three months later, he unexpectedly went into the hospital, and the man who came out of surgery was not the same. He was still alive, but he was different and we didn’t know how much time we had left with him.

Back in LA, I worked tirelessly to get the documentary done, because, throughout the entire production process, I slowly realized, he had no idea the impact he had on the lives of those around him and I needed to make sure he learned that. While his condition slowly improved, my nights grew longer and longer.

In June, after nearly 200 hours of editing, and the digitization of over 500 photos dating back to the 1930s, we got the whole family together and shared this labor of love with him. Finally allowing him to see the way he shaped our lives without even realizing.

Three months later he passed away.

At his viewing, we were able to have the full two-and-a-half-hour documentary playing while people waited in line. Which we quickly realized caused quite a bottleneck.

At his funeral service, we played a short commemorative video that I put together from the documentary footage, allowing him to tell his own stories and speak at his own funeral. How many people get to do that?

Hearing the impact this documentary has had on family members and people who both knew and got to know him through this documentary, solidified for me that I needed to bring this service to other families.

No one’s story should fade away. That is the mission I set out to fulfill when I moved back to my hometown in Sussex County, New Jersey and started Eternal Stories. We aim to preserve the memories of your loved one for future generations. That way your kids will get to know their great-grandparents in a way I never got to know mine.

We have expanded into other types of documentaries as well, from non-profits' impact on their community to promotional business documentaries, celebratory retirement and anniversary documentaries, commemorative funeral documentaries, personal documentaries, and even behind-the-scenes of film and TV. Every story is worth preserving.

If you have a story to tell, share it with us.

We can’t wait to meet you.