Living Legacy: Tisa Zito Celebrates Loved Ones Through Mini Documentaries

When Tisa Zito’s two best friends passed away, she dealt with her grief in the only way she knew how. Sifting through treasure troves of old photos and video footage, she created short documentary films celebrating their lives.

Today, Zito, film producer and professor at Utah Tech and programming director of the DOCUTAH International Documentary Film Festival, is seeing a burgeoning demand for this unique visual service. Thus, her company, Old Soul Artistry, has introduced Old Soul Legacy™ Professional Films, immortalizing the stories of Washington County residents.

It was perhaps inevitable that Zito’s career would find her behind the camera. Born and raised in upstate New York—home to the Eastman Kodak Company—she and her siblings were conversant with photography and video production from an early age. As a youngster, she made films in the family’s basement; her high school afternoons were happily spent in the darkroom.

“Originally I wanted to be a photojournalist,” Zito recalled. “My brother Brandon and I went to college together, and he was really into film. I switched because of that and also because of the power of film. The ability to document an event, the movement, the sound—I really wanted to focus on that.”

While earning her associate degree in visual communications from Monroe Community College in 2001, Zito shifted into video production. Then two tragedies changed the trajectory of her life: Brandon succumbed to lifelong addictions, and the Towers fell on September eleventh. Bereft and adrift, Zito signed up for a National Outdoor Leadership (NOLS) course. Over the next ninety days, she spent one month living in the San Pedro Martir Mountains, another paddling through the Sea of Cortez in a kayak, and the final month aboard a fifteen-foot sailboat. In every locale, her camera was by her side.

Zito’s restless spirit took her to several other institutions, including Hofstra University, the Maryland Institute College of the Arts, and finally, Rochester Institute of Technology, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in film and animation in 2009. Moving to the West, she took a job as a news photographer at KEZI in Oregon.

“I loved traveling and seeing all different kinds of people,” Zito said. “For a while, I moved back to New York, where I decided to focus on my company, and did lots of corporate stuff. But eventually I wanted to get back to the beautiful mountains. I was really lucky to find the job at Utah Tech (then Dixie State University) in 2017.”

Still more tragedies, however, put Zito on the path to her current vocation. Shortly after her move to St. George, her best friend, Lindsay, fell prey to her own lifelong addictions. Far too soon afterward, she learned that her dear friend, Stirling—with whom Zito had traveled through Ireland and Scotland—had lost his battle with cancer. After both devastating events, Zito attempted to make sense of the loss by committing her friends’ lives to film.

Said Zito, “Initially, it was a tool to deal with my grief. I thought, ‘I can’t just sit here; I have to do something.’ I made the first video as a memorial for Lindsay’s family in New York. And after Stirling died, I made a video for his family. By the time I’d made my third video, I thought, ‘I don’t have kids; how will I be remembered?’ That’s when I realized that this could be something people might appreciate.”

Zito’s instincts proved spot-on. Her initial outreach to friends brought extremely positive responses. Realizing the need to capture memories of loved ones before they disappear, her company added Legacy projects to its list of photographic and video production services.

Today, Old Soul Legacy leverages the documentary filmmaking style that has been Zito’s hallmark for decades (her acclaimed documentary, Forevermore: The Angelo Project, debuted at DOCUTAH in 2021 and can be streamed via iTunes, Apple Video, Amazon Video, and other platforms). Zito’s short films are now screened at Celebrations of Life, memorial services, on social media, and even (in the case of Stirling’s project) at movie theaters.

She works closely with each client, exploring their loved ones’ special characteristics to be conveyed in the mini films and discovering what photos, family videos, and other elements can be incorporated into the productions. For those who are still alive, Zito conducts video or audio interviews to flesh out the content. In all cases, the process typically proves beneficial—for Zito as well as her clients.

“It’s definitely therapy,” she confirmed. “Everyone has their own unique, wonderful story. And after a loved one is gone, many of us are left wondering who that person really was and wanting to hear their story again. After Lindsay passed, I watched her video over and over. I can’t imagine not having that available.”

Though most clients give Zito free rein to craft the production as she sees fit, a few prefer to play a more hands-on role, dictating music and other elements to be incorporated. Zito is happy to comply, saying the best-possible characterization of the subject is her ultimate goal. “You’re giving people this work of art,” Zito concluded. “I live for that moment when you show someone the film, and they say, ‘Oh my God; I love it.’”

Visit Old Soul Legacy at https://oldsoulartistry.com/ or on Instagram at @OldSoulLegacy.