Jason is the last one to arrive. The movie has not begun. He shuffles to the back of the room and slumps into an overstuffed chair.

Congenial greetings tossed his way are batted back with a reluctant nod and a kind of disagreeable guttural sound that might pass for “what’s up” if you allow for the silver stud through his tongue.

The only other visible piercings are the pair punched through his left eyebrow and the rings through the lobe of each ear. His clothes, his hair and the lingering scent of marijuana creates a certain sense of organic unity that screams counter culture for everybody over 40. Even the significant number of youngsters looking on think, “hip-hop gone awry.”

By his 15th birthday Jason has been arrested half a dozen times and spent one summer in juvenile detention. He is doing drugs, flunking out of school and gravitating mindlessly toward that vague vast vacancy of lost youth.

Jason is a classic example of what social workers call “at-risk youth”. There are hundreds of thousands just like him. Some will survive these difficult years. Many will not. Only a few – a very lucky few – will ever experience who and what Jason is about to encounter in this small dark room.

Jason’s contempt for his parents is outspoken. More than once he has hissed his hate for all things family. He excuses his rebellious detour by blaming events and people outside himself. Always the victim. In truth, he is only a victim of the unfortunate era of “political correctness” where social dabblers blame delinquency on anybody but the delinquent.

At-risk youth are obviously at risk for a reason. Much could be said about the mistakes his parents made. Jason’s mom and dad – like most parents – have not been close to perfect. Circumstances have been difficult. Pressures mount. Things happen. Families suffer.

Looking back can be instructive, but looking forward is essential. Whatever else has happened in Jason’s world, this day is the result of a wise mother and good choices.

Jason’s extended family has come for the holidays. They have gathered this night to watch a movie. Jason dislikes being around his family but he loves watching movies. It is only after the lights go out and images begin dancing on the screen in the small home theater that he realizes this movie did NOT come from Blockbuster.

Once upon a time it would have been called, “a home movie”. But the magic of digital technology has forever eliminated the chatter of an 8mm projector and the inevitable motion sickness of hand held images bouncing uncut and silently across the screen.

What Jason sees this night is not a bunch of cute video clips of Disney Land or little Nina’s birthday party. In a dedicated and painstaking effort over many months the family has produced a marvelous motion picture about something else all together.

They did it without experience. But they did have help. They tapped into the vision, resources and tools of a company founded by Peter Rancie. [More about Peter in a moment.] They used the remarkable new digital technology available to everyone – DV/Video camcorders, personal computers and simple editing software.

The movie is not “slick” by Hollywood standards. But for the people gathered at Uncle Angelo’s house, it is the most important movie they will ever see.

The main title comes up. Jason wrinkles his face.

THE HISTORY OF THE J.L. WICKER FAMILY

Some think that Jason’s disaffection started when his dad left his mom. Whatever it was over the years that put Jason “AT RISK” he has never felt connected to his family. He hardly knew his father’s parents and his mother’s mom lived a long ways away. His maternal grandfather died when he was too little to remember.

This night – in the dark alone with his deepest needs and feelings – Jason finds his family. He catches a glimpse of who he is and where he fits and who has gone before. He feels for the first time the blood of history surging in his veins. For the most part he discovers that they were ordinary people but the journey and experience of their lives is unexpected and remarkable.

Jason has hardly given a fleeting thought to the men and women residing above him in the Wicker family tree. If such a thought had ever flashed across his mind it was little more than a hopelessly aged sepia portrait in an oval frame of some old person teetering at the edge of death.

As he meets his forebears now, really for the first time, he is startled. The images appearing on the screen are not those of old men and women. They are young and vibrant. They are handsome and beautiful. They are full of life and delightful.

When Jason comes face to face with a picture of his maternal grandfather as a young man he stops breathing. It is as if he is looking at a picture of himself. Except for the curious clothes, the young man in the picture is he. The likeness is amazing. An audible wave of delight washes over the audience.

“Grandpa looks just like Jason,” someone exclaims. Giggling youngsters crane their necks around to make sure that it is so.

Meeting that young man. Entering that world. Coming face to face with the grandfather he has never known. Discovering what a rogue his own grandfather had been, and what a great man of principal and accomplishment that he became, changes Jason’s life.

The movie is about as far from being a Hollywood blockbuster as possible. It is mostly historic photos animated by a moving camera, music that is familiar and full of memory, narration from someone Jason knows and though there are no “movie stars,” the characters unfolding on the screen are heroes in ways he has never imagined. It is not only Jason who is spellbound.

This night Jason and his extended family are suspended in time and space. They go places they have never been. They see things they have never seen. They experience feelings and make a visceral connection to their ancestors in ways they have never felt before.

This night Jason finds his family. It changes his life.

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A year ago I challenged you to GO MAKE A MOVIE. I suggested that the most important movies you may ever see are the ones you make yourself about your family.

I would love to claim responsibility for a motion picture that – in one important circle – will become a lasting classic: THE HISTORY OF THE J.L. WICKER FAMILY. I cannot make that claim. The inspiration and idea has come from someone else, but this composite scenario is something I believe will happen over and over again in homes around the world thanks to Peter Rancie.

Peter Rancie has a vivid and exciting new perception of family history. Steve Covey would urge you to shift your paradigm. Peter’s vision of Family History goes far beyond tracking ancestors and “doing genealogy”. His is an exciting proactive journey that invites all of us into new perceptions and perspectives – dimensions that not only improve but can change our lives.

Peter brings it all together in a company called Backtrack Studios. [Visit Peter and his grand dream at backtrackstudios.com]

At the heart of Peter’s exciting new concept is the creation of films [digital video] that connect AT-RISK YOUTH with their extended families – for a single purpose. To give them a sense of place and pride and connection with who they are – and to save their lives.

Peter and I have known each other a long time. A year ago he came for an hour to brainstorm the digital revolution in personal movie making. He excited me then by what he imagined. A year later it is extraordinary what he has accomplished.

Even my sassy challenge to “Go Make A Movie” was shamelessly void of any practical advice. An old cowboy told me once “free advice is worth just about what it costs.” But that’s no excuse. I gave you nothing. Peter on the other hand gives you oodles.

Backtrack Studios is building the one-stop-shop to get what you need to forge ahead with the creation of your own great family history film. backtrackstudios.com is filled with ideas, examples and practical tools to turn a daunting task into a successful family adventure.

These family history films can bring the past into the present and ensure that the present is extended into the future. We can make films about our ancestors. We can make films about ourselves. Just imagine what it would be like to see the myriad characters in our four-generation group sheet come to life in an hour-long episode like The History Channel. Or imagine how incredible the moment if we could see a 20-minute film made by our ancestors 100 years ago? It is something we can do for our family now and it is the legacy we can leave for our children’s children’s children and all generations to come.

Peter and his creative associates can help you learn how to build your family history into interesting movies and multimedia presentations that the younger audiences in your family will not only appreciate but get excited about. They will help you bring the treasured – and often unexpected – personalities of your ancestors to life.

Even the most novice among you will want to check out the “iHero program” at backtrackstudios.com. There you will be introduced to media and entertainment features on your existing personal computers that you may not know about. I agree with Peter Rancie that anyone can learn to create these marvelous digital documentaries.

Hey, if you are in doubt about your own abilities, get a techno-teen (translates to technology savvy teenager – known affectionately as computer nerd or geek) in your family to work with you. Nothing bonds parent and child quicker than both realizing “child is much brighter than parent” in all things digital. Backtrack Studios of course offers myriad “insider tips”. In fact Peter made me promise to give you a few if you want them.

I have urged you to go make a movie. Now I urge you to get connected to Backtrack Studio’s unique iHero tutorials and let them help you Make Movies That Make a Difference.

“iHero: the Modern Family Hero” helps you create your family history adventure in 10 easy steps. If you are already movie and media savvy you can skip to the sophisticated lessons near the end. Otherwise take gentle steps and create something marvelous. In the end you will be producing CD, DVD, video and on screen presentations just like the professionals.

I urge you to get connected with Backtrack Studios because I want you to make movies. I want you to make movies because making movies all my life makes me wonder how anyone could survive mortality without the joy of opening night – even if it is in the family room.

Once you wander into the world of Peter Rancie you will find him and his world as fascinating as I do. With Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Crocodile Dundee in our lives it is impossible NOT to love Australians. Because of Australia’s courageous alliance in the war in Iraq it is impossible not to love Australia all over again and even more. In his own way Peter is like these great adventurers from down under.

Family history is global and so is Peter. One of the fascinating features of Backtrack Studios is something called AROUND THE WORLD of Family History. It is an audio-news and current affairs style program that features interviews and ideas from key figures in the world of family history.

A few of the current titles include, Island of Hope, Island of Tears: the inside story of Ellis Island. Did any of your ancestors arrive in America at infamous Ellis Island? This story includes significant insights, even background information about your own family history – forty percent of all Americans have an ancestor that came through Ellis Island.

Serendipity: the genealogist’s ‘happy accidents’. This great story features best-selling author and researcher Megan Smolenyak. “Once or twice”, says Megan, “you can put these serendipitous happenings down to coincidence. After 100 times that becomes a little difficult. After 5,000 times you have to recognize that these people want to be found!” While researching for the PBS documentary series, ‘Ancestor’, Megan was overwhelmed with 5,000 separate examples of unexplainable coincidences at cemeteries, in libraries, in homes, wherever. In her passionate, articulate and entertaining style Megan shares some of these stories with Around The World.

With continuing emphasis on Family History as a means of rescuing at-risk youth, Rancie and company have created a terrific social science concept called Applied Ancestry: Making life better for at-risk youth. From the deserts of Arizona, to the Man From Snowy River country in Australia, to urban Washington DC, even in prisons, family history is proving a strong performer in rescuing at-risk youth from self-defeating behavior. Releasing the latent power of family history to enhance the lives of those who are socially challenged is a work still in its infancy.

Professor Scott Woodward is creator of the Global Molecular Genealogy Project originally based at Brigham Young University, now at the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City. Scott is featured in the segment called, Molecular Genealogy: How DNA can help unlock your family history secrets. You’ll be surprised and perhaps a little astounded by the family history secrets DNA can unravel. Just as important as telling you where to look, molecular genealogy might save you years by telling you where not to look. Backtrack Studios has a way for you to participate in this global project.

This is only a sampling of the fascinating new world of family history through the vision of Peter Rancie and the pathways of Backtrack Studios.

Shortly these remarkable family history interviews and global perspective will be available in video and DVD as well as audio.

Peter is presently in Beirut, Lebanon, then continuing to Jordan and Israel to complete the latest addition to Backtrack Studios’ growing inventory of family history resources. This time he is following his own good advice and making a movie. It is called Family of Abraham – Family of All.

I have been privy to some of the people Peter and his crew have arranged to interview on digital tape. If they survive the rigors of the journey and the current dangers of the Middle East the film promises to bring significant insight to our common ancestry. According to some scholars, Abraham is the common ancestor of 90% of the world’s population. Noted scholar and participant in Rancie’s latest film, Truman Madsen, has said, “to be serious about your roots you have to deal with the figure of Abraham as a family patriarch – not only as a religious figure.”

We learn from Professor Woodward that all people have 90% of DNA in common – only 10% defines our differences. “The brotherhood of man” suddenly has a whole new urgency.

Family of Abraham – Family of All is a glimpse into Peter Rancie’s vision of the power and importance of family history. Peter’s expedition commenced before the war to liberate Iraq had ended but he was undaunted in his determination to interview leading Clerics from Islam, leading Rabbis from Israel and leading Christian Leaders – both in and out of the Mormon Church – to give this awesome documentary the narrative grit and global perspective it requires. Talk about the spirit of adventure. Move over Russell Crowe.

Peter Rancie has come up with what he calls the Indiana Jones factor. It is the way he thinks. Peter believes – and I agree with him – that it is now within our power to take something that has in the past seemed dusty and old to young people, like archaeology, and turn it into something exciting and important to them. Indiana Jones changed the image of archeology forever – personal family history movies can forever change the way we look at genealogy.

Peter sees the future as a fascinating merger of high quality entertainment with family history. Things that fascinate and delight with things of great meaning and importance.

At the end of the day it’s story, story, story and the stories within our own family are extraordinary. It’s an exciting time because we’ve come to the point where we can take the wonderful stories about the fascinating people who really define who we are and tell them in a whole new way.

When that happens family history is going to be elevated to a new level of interest and sophistication and be endowed with an even greater mantle of importance and relevance.

Peter Rancie and his team are way out in front and leading the charge. Join them at backtrackstudios.com.

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Proceeds from sales at backtrackstudios.com go to making more resources for family historians, and fund National Heritage Foundation’s applied ancestry programs for at-risk youth.

2003 Meridian Magazine.  All Rights Reserved.