Some things should outlast a photograph.
A privately commissioned portrait that holds your loved one’s voice, their stories, and the way they saw the world — so your family can still ask, and still hear them answer, generations from now.
Commissioned by families, estates, and institutions who think in generations.
Built on the same heritage technology trusted to preserve cultural icons.
Heritage technology
The same proven craft used to preserve celebrated public figures — applied privately, for your family alone.
Absolute privacy
Every commission is confidential. Your family’s materials are never shared, sold, or used beyond your own portrait.
By referral & application
We accept a limited number of commissions each year to protect the quality of the work.
“It is the closest thing to having one more afternoon with him.”A daughter, on her father’s portrait · name withheld at the family’s request
The quiet loss
We save everything. And still, they fade.
When someone is gone, families are left with fragments — a box of photographs, a few short videos, a voicemail no one can bear to delete. Precious, but silent. Frozen. And with every passing year, the details blur.
The voice goes first.
Photographs keep the face. But the cadence, the laugh, the particular way they told a story disappears far faster than anyone expects.
Grandchildren only know them secondhand.
The people who carry the richest memories won’t always be here to share them. Without something living, the legacy thins with each generation.
Today’s memorials feel hollow.
A social page, a slideshow, a recorded interview — well-meaning, but static. None let your family ask a question and hear an answer.
The commission
A portrait you can still talk to.
Encore is a private commissioning house. We create a single, bespoke interactive portrait of the person you’ve lost — built from their own recordings, writings, and the memories your family holds.
It speaks in their voice and their manner. It tells their stories. And when your grandchildren ask it a question, it answers the way they would have. Not a replacement. A presence — preserved, and passed down.
Preserve the person, not the picture
Their voice, their humor, their wisdom — captured with the depth a photograph can never hold.
A true heirloom
Built to be handed down for generations, like a painting or fine jewelry — not rented, not streamed. Owned.
Crafted privately, with reverence
No call centers, no templates. A small team treats your commission as a singular work, confidential from first conversation to final delivery.
The process
How a commission begins.
Commissioning an Encore portrait is a relationship, not a transaction — unhurried, guided, and entirely private.
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I
A private conversation
We begin by listening. We learn about the person, your family’s wishes, and what you most want preserved. There is no obligation and no checkout — only a conversation.
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II
Gathering their essence
Working alongside you, we assemble their digital DNA — recordings, letters, photographs, videos, and the stories only your family can tell. We handle everything with discretion and care.
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III
The craft
Our specialists shape the likeness over weeks — refining the voice, the manner, the way they thought and spoke — until your family recognizes them completely.
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IV
The unveiling
We deliver the finished portrait privately, ensure your family is comfortable with it, and establish how it will be safeguarded and passed down for generations.
The work
What makes an Encore portrait unlike anything else.
Their actual voice
Reconstructed faithfully from their own recordings — not an imitation, but the real timbre, pacing, and warmth your family knows.
Conversational, not scripted
Ask anything. The portrait responds the way they would, drawing on their real stories, opinions, and turns of phrase.
Built to last generations
Engineered and archived for permanence, with a plan for how it lives on as technology changes.
Yours alone, forever private
Your materials are never shared or repurposed. The portrait exists for your family and no one else.
A museum-grade likeness
The proven, heritage technology trusted to preserve celebrated public figures — applied as bespoke craft.
Cared for over time
Optional stewardship refines and safeguards the work year after year, so it never degrades or falls out of date.
Entrusted by
Families who measure in generations.
“My children were too young to remember their grandfather’s voice. Now they fall asleep to his stories. I don’t have words for what that’s worth.”
Commissioned by a family in the Northeast · name withheld by request“We’ve commissioned art for three generations. This is the first piece that can answer back. It belongs in the family the way the others do.”
A family principal and art collector · identity confidentialThe investment
A commission, not a price tag.
Like any commissioned work, the investment reflects the depth of the portrait, the materials available, and the scope of your family’s wishes. We share full details during your private conversation. As a guide:
The Portrait
Starting at$25,000
A complete interactive legacy portrait of one individual, crafted from existing recordings and your family’s materials.
Best for: families preserving a parent or grandparent with rich existing media.
Begin a ConversationThe Heirloom Commission
$50,000 – $150,000+
Our most in-depth work: extensive story-gathering, layered conversational depth, custom presentation, and a multi-generational preservation plan.
Best for: estates and families commissioning a definitive legacy work.
Begin a ConversationInstitutional & Cultural
By proposal
Interactive exhibits of historical and founding figures for museums, foundations, and institutions.
Best for: cultural institutions and family foundations.
Discuss a PartnershipEvery commission includes optional annual stewardship — refining and safeguarding the work over time — from $5,000 per year.
Considerations
Questions families ask.
Isn’t this just an AI chatbot?
No. A chatbot is generic software. An Encore portrait is a bespoke work, built solely from one person’s own voice, words, and stories, crafted by hand over weeks for a single family. The technology serves the craft — never the other way around.
Is this respectful? It feels like it could be unsettling.
We share that concern deeply, which is why dignity governs everything we do. We never claim to bring anyone “back.” We preserve what they left behind — their voice, their stories, their way of seeing the world — so your family can keep it close. Many families tell us it brings comfort, not unease.
What do you need from us to begin?
Whatever you have: recordings, videos, voicemails, letters, photographs, and the stories your family carries. More material allows greater depth, but we’ll tell you honestly what’s possible with what exists during your first conversation.
Who owns the portrait, and is our information private?
Your family owns the work. Your materials are confidential — never shared, sold, or used to train anything beyond your own portrait. Privacy is the foundation of the house.
Will it still work decades from now?
Permanence is the point. We archive and steward each commission with a plan for how it endures as technology evolves — so it can genuinely pass to the next generation.
How long does a commission take?
Most portraits take several weeks to a few months, depending on depth and the materials available. This is craft; it isn’t rushed.
Why is the investment significant?
Each portrait is made for one family alone, by a small team of specialists, with no templates and no shortcuts. You’re commissioning a permanent heirloom — comparable to a fine portrait or a piece of estate jewelry, with the added gift of voice and presence.
Before the stories fade
The longer we wait, the more we lose.
Voices fade, and memories with them. The best time to begin a commission is while the stories can still be told in their own words. We accept a limited number of commissions each year — start with a conversation, with no obligation.
Request a Private ConversationYour first conversation is confidential and carries no obligation. We’ll tell you honestly whether a meaningful portrait is possible before anything begins.
Are you an estate attorney or wealth manager? Explore our referral relationships →