Father’s Day is just a few days away and if your father is no longer alive, the day can be fraught with feelings of absence and pain.

My father died four years ago at the age of 79, and I still think about him every day. While I have many pictures of him, sometimes I just wish I could see him rub his hands together the way he did before he came to the punch line of a joke.

And what I wouldn’t give to hear him tell the one about…

It was Father’s Day that inspired filmmakers Betsy Reid and Ken Ross to start their new business, Legacy Portrait Films, a company that “captures and preserves the ones we love on film.”

“The inspiration for this company came for me because both of my parent died without my ever having a chance to do a film of them that I would be able to look at when they were gone,” Betsy told me in an interview over the phone. She lives in Carroll Gardens.

Betsy and Ken are experienced filmmakers with many projects to their credit, including documentaries, independent experimental films, commercials, music videos and TV shows. Their work has appeared on ABC, HBO, Lifetime, Nickelodeon, and PBS.

They both bring their love of film portraiture to their work, as well as a deep interest in the ways that people are remembered. As a business, Legacy Portrait Films is straight from the heart and something they truly believe in.

“You get to see and hear them and not just look at a photograph,'” Betsy told me “I didn’t get to have it and I wish I had.”

The two filmmakers work closely with clients to create their Legacy Portrait Film, which is at its core a filmed conversation. The two filmmakers are especially adept at creating a comfortable, safe interview environment that serves to elicit genuine, lively and heartfelt responses.

In their Legacy Portraits, Betsy and Ken hope to capture the specificity of the person the film is about. “”We preserve their smile, a song, a gesture…as well as stories, advice, wisdom and humor,” Ken told me.

Years ago my son interviewed my father on video for a school project about the advertising business. My father spoke candidly and told many fun and funny stories for my son. I don’t know where that interview tape  is and I wish so much that I did.

If my father was alive I would do a Legacy Portrait Film of him. For sure.