“Steve and I have been close friends for about 25 years. We’ve travelled together, shared a lot of experiences, and obviously know each other extremely well.
About 12 years ago, Steve approached me with an idea. He wanted to film my dad, Sheldon. My dad has always been a real character, and Steve saw something in him that he thought was worth capturing.
So we did it.
Steve spent time filming my dad doing what he does — building a deck and an addition on a house, working with his hands, talking, and just being himself.
I thought it was a great idea at the time, but I don’t think I fully understood what Steve was giving me until I saw the finished film. Suddenly I had something that captured my dad in a way photographs never could. His voice, his expressions, his mannerisms, his personality — all these little things that make him who he is.
And as the years have passed, that film has only become more meaningful to me.
Last weekend, about 12 years after that original film, we were together again at a cottage up north and Steve filmed my dad for a second time. This time there was an interview, time outdoors, moments around the fire — another chapter of his life preserved.
What strikes me now is that you don’t necessarily understand how valuable something like this will become when you make it. You understand it later.
People change. Families change. Time passes incredibly quickly. And eventually, the things you once thought were ordinary become the things you would give anything to experience again.
I’m incredibly grateful that Steve had the foresight all those years ago to point a camera at my dad and preserve him exactly as he was.
And I’m even more grateful that we’ve had the opportunity to do it again.”
— Jesse Hopps - Founder, Demand Metric