Relatively Speaking creates intimate documentaries about the messy and meaningful relationships that make us human.
Watch our films:
Feature on our channel:
The Story Lab
Over the years, we've developed a way of working that creates intimacy and allows people to reveal themselves. The Story Lab is where we share that process.
Notes from the Field, is the first collection of practical lessons from years spent filming real people and real lives.
Commission a Film
Human stories happen everywhere.
They exist around kitchen tables, inside community halls and the organisations that shape our lives.
Whether we're documenting the relationships that define a person's life or helping an organisation strategically tell its story, every Relatively Speaking film starts in the same place: with people.
We spend time getting to know the people involved, earning their trust and understanding what really matters to them. That's where the stories worth telling reveal themselves.
Explore how we work with organisations, or commission a personal documentary below.
Strategic films that help people
understand, trust and connect.
Documentaries celebrating the relationships
that shape our lives.
What Our Clients Say
Celia at Relatively Speaking was fantastic to work with. She took the time to understand our team and what we wanted to achieve, helping us create a film that clearly explains our services to young people while showing our staff as approachable, young and diverse. She shaped the direction of the film collaboratively, created a relaxed atmosphere where everyone felt comfortable on camera, and delivered a high-quality film with a quick turnaround. It's become a valuable communication tool that genuinely reflects who we are.
Laura B
You have created the most beautiful and lasting snapshot of my family in all their warts and glory - but somehow even the warts have been sensitively rendered! I have watched, re-watched, and forwarded many many times for my own and others’ laughs and tears. Thank you for now and for the future too as I know this wonderfully shot piece of film will keep getting played at events and for simple enjoyment for years and perhaps even decades to come.
Sophie G
Celia has a rare ability to see the story that's already there. She wasn't interested in creating moments for the camera; she quietly observed the relationship between us and captured it with warmth, honesty and extraordinary sensitivity. Watching the film felt like seeing ourselves through fresh eyes. It preserves not only our conversations and memories, but the connection between us.
Amara S
About
Relatively Speaking creates films that explore the human relationships that shape our lives.
We produce original documentaries for our YouTube channel and partner with families and organisations to tell stories that resonate through honesty, warmth and shared experience.
Alongside our films, The Story Lab is where we share reflections, resources and practical notes from the field for anyone interested in telling more meaningful stories.
Do reach out if this sounds interesting and let's talk.
Human relationships, honestly told.
Meet the filmmaker behind Relatively Speaking
Hi, I'm Celia Peterson, a documentary filmmaker, photographer, and founder of Relatively Speaking.
Years spent living and working in a variety of cultures left me hopelessly curious about what makes us human: what shapes us, what we inherit, what we choose. My approach is simple. I listen carefully, build trust and make space for people to be themselves.
That curiosity has taken me from boardrooms to war zones, burial sites to frozen wonderlands, meeting people from every corner of society. Along the way, I've made films for Netflix, the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery and Snapchat, as well as brands including Porsche and HSBC, and NGOs.
Alongside my filmmaking, I've built and grown a series of successful media businesses, working at the intersection of storytelling, audience insight and content strategy, helping organisations think more clearly about what they say, and how it lands.
Every commission is shaped by that experience, combining journalistic curiosity with a calm, sensitive approach that helps people feel comfortable enough to tell their story.
Relatively Speaking is the natural extension of all of it: creating honest films about the relationships that make us who we are.
I'd love to hear your story, come say hello.
Let's start with a conversation
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