Turning Death Into Dollars: Secrets of the Family Funeral Business (Full Documentary) | Real Stories

foreign [Music] God bless and keep you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit morbid curiosity we all have it we'll secretly want to see the things that we're not supposed to see for those who work in the Hidden World of the funeral industry dead bodies are my favorite people dealing with the dead is what they do for a living [Music] thank you he bought a coffin 15 years ago but the business of death is full of shocks I'm gonna drop it I'm gonna drop it and surprises [Music] for one of the oldest family-run funeral homes in Australia the battle is on to stay alive remembering fondly this place rewarded funerals I spent the first time in 30 years and the tension I am emotional about this is taking its toll there's no funeral without a [ __ ] body in a coffee for one cancer patient arranging her own funeral is heart-wrenching it's very emotional day considering it's my last birthday [Music] there is also life and love it's been a bit more of a hindrance on my love life than I thought it would be with exclusive access to a world crowded in secrecy the lid is about to be lifted on one of the last great taboos [Music] welcome to the secret life of death [Music] most people when they get to work in the morning they go to the office first make their tea or whatever but when I go to the fridge in the morning I'm you know checking how many bodies are in there and making sure nothing has gone off and it's not the fruit left in the crisper [Music] funeral workers are these cold suit wearing morbid masculine almost robotic types [Music] but we're in the 21st century now and the face of funerals is changing and I think I might be part of that World Carter funerals Jasmine speaking [Music] at just 28 Jasmine is one of the youngest Funeral Directors in the country [Music] my age my gender everything was a rarity [Music] there was a time like in the Victorian era where they were quite morbidly fascinated with death and I think that we've actually gone too far the other way we don't talk about it enough there are more than 800 funeral homes in Australia are literally a Dying Breed one of the oldest is Walter Carter funerals based in Bondi Junction in Sydney's Eastern suburbs since 1887. it has witnessed Australia's Evolution over the last century so you might be interested in something like that with Jasmine and Amber its latest recruits basic plugging of the nasal while Jasmine Comforts The Living Amber honors the dead Amber is the mortuary manager a bit of a hero of mine her and I instantly got along but we instantly had the same sense of humor and also just this sort of the same craziness about us dead bodies are my favorite people in the world my office is the mortuary I'm doing a mandibular a lot of muscular because there's not much the hotel I received the bodies I removed battery operated devices plug and clean [Music] I don't care about the families I care about my bodies whereas Jasmine cares more so about who the body was and the people that they left behind are you the closest living reality of you the next of Kim my day consists of prepping for whatever funerals are on that day any preference burial subgrimation cleaning the hearses load up the hearses we're on the phone 24 7. when someone's dead then it's our job to step in [Music] at every funeral Amber and Jasmine's presentation has to be spotless being late is not an option who have you killed tippex it's my shirt for [ __ ] sake whatsoever that is so much better look at the clock Jazz Hey look it's better like it's happier now I can't hit the button on can you put the button on top and then I know otherwise it's gonna hang up [Music] Hot Tips there we go oh that's actually quite good all right oh crap sign her out [Music] my boss would find the whole situation hilarious like she's oh God Love Adele she's good but maybe Richard Timber the pressure is on us to always get it right and get it right on the day and you can't replay a funeral in its 130 year history Walter Carter has arranged more than 60 000 funerals from Prime Ministers to politicians rock stars and those who hit rock bottom every single family that comes through that person has a story and and they've all they're all sort of stars in their own way even if the family requests a closed casket Amber carefully prepares everybody for a viewing you never know when that lid's gonna go but it's also respecting the body and no to dispel any myths we don't you know put makeup on men all the time today she's putting the finishing touches on an African-American musician who performed alongside Soul music legends there we go the lovely Mr Jackson it was this basic plugging and dressing everything about this guy looks really cool he just looks like a cool dude before working in this industry I never really cared about suit a well-cut suit nothing better being able to handle seeing a dead body is the least of your worries when you work in funerals a dead body is nothing compared to people who are grieving over someone that they love [Music] my mother taught us how to say him gave his voice lessons the whole nine yards one of the first opportunities that we had was none other than James Brown and there was our one plan to face we opened the show for James Brown yeah so the more that is our badge of honor I'd like everyone to please stand as a final Standing Ovation to a great friend a great performance [Music] [Applause] the thing I love about Amber is that she just rolls with it and at the age of 31 she's suddenly has an 11 year old child and her partner has passed away [Music] he's in our care and we're doing his funeral and she just gets on with it that's Nick in the middle and me when I was skinny in the last year of Nick my point of being alive being at work was kind of more of an escape for me like it was I I love what I do but even someone as resilient as Amber can break last week was the first time it really hit me we had a young boy who came out to his parents who didn't accept it and he committed suicide and he was five years older than my son again he was straight you want to be a cat or you're going to vote liberal okay I love you no matter what it may take God get over the liberal thing but but lucky no matter what it's 2014-18 why why why why why why [Music] there are some days it's just [ __ ] and you go home and you cry and you cry and you cry and you cry I was checking in and going is everybody okay what do I need to do do we need to organize some counseling do we need to organize the staff event or a debriefing session our level of counseling is Dale doing staff drinks and she'll buy half of Dan Murphy's and get some nice food in and everyone will just drink and just release and talk and you know just to offset the darkness of her day job Jasmine has been moonlighted to kind of balance things out with this job I also run a comedy club on weekends all you guys are going to do is enjoy yourselves laugh the weirdo part of me likes the contrast I work with dead bodies and I live alone not gonna lie it's been a bit more of a hindrance on my love life than I thought it would be people always think that working with what I do would be like a turn off but it is you've become the life of the party if you want to make friends or pick up or do whatever just even pretend to be a mortician because seriously they drop everyone asks on the first date what do you do the initial reaction is always you know the that's so cool but then if any dates progress they start to think about and they're like [ __ ] that means I'm gonna be with someone who hangs around dead bodies all day I don't really blame them because it's freaking weird isn't it [Music] inside Walter Carter HQ the boss is about to drop a bombshell what I want to do is announce something that's actually going to impact the future of Walter Carter funerals so after a lot of consideration I've decided to enter into into a joint venture with Olson's funerals at Sutherland look at that you're that you're dropping Like Walter Carter Olsen's is also a family-run funeral home but it's based one hour away in Suburban Sutherland Shire as one small company Walter Carter would be struggling to continue to survive in its current structure we had to move we put the premises on sale so after 130 years it's kind of a huge era will be friend of house at Waverly I feel for her that she had to be the generation of Carters that had to move back of house now change of plans it's in [ __ ] Sutherlands like nowhere now we have to go to the shower because that on back of house that's where we'll be here I run the mortuary when I go there I won't for Dale the joint venture is an economic and strategic necessity triggered by Major conglomerates gobbling up smaller funeral homes it is a challenging world out there nowadays and a small Independent family-run Business it was too challenging to actually just keep going the way we were so things had to change with staff still rocked by news of the joint venture Richard another of Dale's Funeral Directors has received an extremely rare request to actually meet someone who's terminally ill and planning their own service and their own wake it's a very different arrangement for us hi tragically 46 year old Odette Madden has terminal breast cancer I've got a whole list of things that I've already sorted out Odette is among less than 10 percent of Australians who bravely confront their mortality by planning their own funeral I understand we're looking at some Peter's Anglican Church in Watson's Bay yeah to arrange it Richard needs answers to 62 questions my task it is to be gloss white please and the handles that are be silver she had incredibly specific requirements for her service she obviously spent a fair bit of time thinking about it [Music] written they're not to be promoted with the casket no no I'll take them home when everyone arrives I want a violinist to play until everyone's seated got five white doves to be released by my son Brooklyn and my daughter April I have a lot of gay friends and specifically some gay friends who also press something Drac and I'm asking those people to turn up as they are I do want to ask you what you will be wearing please we'll be the only ones in Black by the sounds of it what tie will you be wearing this is our company tie our corporate it's the only one we have I I'm really sorry that that is the ugliest [ __ ] tie I've ever seen Ben I won't be in this time I'm sorry then we won't be wearing it sorry to ask this but with everything we're planning can you give me an outline of time frame how how long how soon we're looking at this happening I was told a couple of months ago that I won't be seeing Christmas this year foreign would be easy to look at it as an active vanity but it isn't you can see the party under her skin and the funeral she's arranging has that sparkle and you can see in her eyes when she's planning it that she wants to be there [Music] back at Walter Carter the joint venture with Olson's means Amber's going to be separated from Jasmine and the rest of the team [ __ ] up her beloved Mortuary it's all been very frustrating all these crates are all going to go over to Sutherland and I've been trying to get people to help Ferry them across but everyone's busy everyone's doing their own [ __ ] Amber's [ __ ] it's about Morty it's all about the families and [ __ ] like that because you know what there's no funeral without a [ __ ] body in a coffee definitely I'm Gonna Miss Jasmine because it's nice having another young female here working around I'm going to miss Jasmine yeah I will know about this and it's it's this this is my Morty when Nick died we brought him here he was on the middle stand and yeah and it's like this is where he was [Music] that's what we'll try and do is get the memorabilia into one or two of these bigger boxes right Dale is not just abandoning a piece of geography it's a giant slice of family history too it's going to be so sad to get rid of this we've got to put this away really really carefully that's the first record book we've got isn't how weathered it is but this is literally the records of all our original first funerals from the 1886 1887 era and the thing that really blows me out is the pricing on funerals from those days two pounds eight pounds that would have been a really big funeral today a basic funeral costs around five thousand dollars and an extravagant one more than fifty thousand the clock is about to stop for Walter Carter funerals after 130 years [Music] this is the last day that we're ever on this site [Music] all right Mortuary that's depressing [Music] there's no chemicals there's no surgical tools there's no Plumbing but worst of all there's no Amber which sucks because Amber and I are hardly going to get to see each other [Music] that's all going to be done the time being [Music] long distance never been very good at long distance relationships [Music] today's service inside Walter Carter's Chapel has a coffin mourners eulogies this is a staff meeting of a different type but no dead body it's from tomorrow on things are starting to be demolished and or decommissioned of all the people on the planet who know about grieving you think it'd be us every memory here is what breathes life into what is an actual fact a place of death in there is where I kissed my dad goodbye so I stay up there it's rare some stuff made a garden my mother died sounds our iconic clock winds down and ticks its last talk we're packing our boxes and looking towards the excitement of a new location but always I hope remembering fondly this place this place we're all kind of funerals spent the first time at 30 years crunch time lies ahead as tragedy rocks Walter Carter Dale's ancestor Walter Carter is buried at Waverly Cemetery which opened in the 1870s one of the oldest in Sydney once Australia's burial grounds were a grave reminder of our Colonial past [Music] today the inscriptions Echo our cultural diversity joint ventures signed and sealed Dale's making the hour-long trip to Olson's funerals which Services diverse communities in Sydney's Southern suburbs and today a Vietnamese Australian family is mourning the passing of an elder [Music] whereas black is worn by mourners in Western Societies in Vietnamese culture white headbands are donned by the immediate family times are changing with different cultures coming in and influencing us and there's a lot of bigger corporate organizations and that is putting pressure on your more traditional funeral homes such as ours elves Dale's here to meet the owner wow and to check in with Amber who's now temporarily based at Olson's Mortuary welcome to the family business now it's great to be doing business with you remind me how many generations are you can you believe it I'm fifth generation funeral director are you well you beating me while I'm third generation and I just found this certificate which was my grandfather's so you'll remember this is the association we both belong to they received this in November 1948 how do you started the business just after the war wow both companies have adapted to the changing face of modern Australia we serve all sorts of cultures and religions from Africans Vietnamese Chinese I mean let's face it we're a reflection of Australia's Multicultural Society one of my biggest concerns is Amber because we've always been under the same roof before she's now physically removed from that in quite a way about an hour away from where all the activity is I know Emma's here so okay great I know that and is feeling a bit of pain at the moment and I miss her hello hi Amber so how are you settling in I know it's awkward here and I know you've still got logistical issues and you know I can show you very quickly just remember how big our Mortuary was yes that's surgical trolley there yeah that's working on Bare Bones it's not the same as home where we're all together now it's hard to move from home to another place but we know it's temporary I am actively looking for a new bag of house it'll be a lot closer time I'll see you later bye I don't like commuting it sucks I kind of feel like the Russian left down in the cold the distance is so much more than a physical distance there's no other way to put it it has just absolutely this is where you bleep sucked balls not Center at all I'm obviously speaking to a lot on the phone nice but I think I suppose three times today already it's not like we cross paths and say oh by the way this is what's happening there are flaws in how the information is transferred through refugee I want my own Mortuary back [Music] at Walter Carter's new office in Waverly Richard is starting to plan the funeral for Odette Madden even though she's still alive I think there's going to be one or two things that I maybe can't match exactly what Odette wants I was looking for a violinist Jasmine reminded me that she's classically trained on the violin which I totally forgot when he's ever asked me to play violin funeral I've been practicing very hard every day I haven't I really need to practice more I've been practicing I'll practice all right I need all right I'm doing it been looking forward for her requests are very specific odette's entire requirement is can't be black and then she said look if you can't find a vehicle then get me a white horse-drawn carriage so I thought I'd just come to someone who knows horses then you start looking around you can find a black one can't be black go to be white and I know she's spoken to you about flowers I wondered if you could just run me through what she's said to you thank you when it comes to flowers I do not know that's why we have a florist oh you know I know coffins I know more trees I don't know flowers still emotional from relocating her family's Funeral Home Dale has just received an alarming reminder that not even a funeral director is Immortal I'm a very conscientious person about getting breast cream done this time however they found some rather nasty cells so I'm dealing with the shock of that at the moment the indicators are that if I don't do something about this I run a very high risk of developing cancer and having it spread through my whole body [Music] you get a moment warning okay well done okay I know you've been interested in what's going on with me and I had my appointment with the breast surgeon specialist yesterday quite frankly there's not a lot of options it's either I live with a time bomb or I go in and I have surgery we talked about mastectomy the word mastectomy has been banded around a bit in the office already the decision is it's a double [Music] things were difficult enough as it was we'd moved and then on top of that suddenly Dale's out of the game and we're all really worried what's going to happen to her foreign if I had not have done that breast screening I would be having a different conversation and that's a conversation I don't want to have [Music] one of the eight funerals at Olson's today is for a chinese-born university Professor white flowers symbolize Purity innocence and grief in Chinese culture [Music] one child policy I'm the only one you know there are no siblings to comfort the son of the deceased an unexpected byproduct of China's one child policy blue okay an open coffin is common at Chinese funerals mourners approached the casket and bow three times to pay tribute to the deceased in China loved ones are also paying tribute watching the live feed on the internet Lee chongshan this is not a goodbye but I thank you thank you for the Memories they will cherish forever [Music] sadly odette's Health has continued to deteriorate and she's been moved to a nearby hospital time might be slipping away but not her grand sense of occasion oh it's a very emotional day yes [Music] hello my friend oh hi Richard happy birthday my love I've got people choking on them after him look you've organized my horses well I have found you a horse and carriage I'm not talking one horse I'm talking four well in this thing in the site can we add three more white ones it's two horses at least and he won't wear a very ugly [ __ ] tie explained to them that he has to wear the tire you're giving us all right love you you're a beautiful man thanks [Music] despite the shadow of death odette's 46th birthday is a powerful reflection of the bright life she has led I love me too more than 150 000 Australians die each year on average one of us dies every three minutes and 16 seconds [Music] Southwest Sydney the Nigerian Australian Community is praying for the soul of a son who lost his battle with cancer at just 37. there Comes A Time When the Music Stops and you'll understand that the dancing isn't over the DJ has just changed the tune I mean almighty God bless and keep you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit [Applause] the Nigerian culture the last right is to celebrate life [Music] thank you over at Walter Carter Jasmine is meeting Richard Coleman in terms of the date whose partner Gary crew died from cancer leaving behind loved ones and his own coffin and I don't think I ever will again have a client bring their own cotton he bought a coffin 15 years ago he planned to use it in the event that he died Timber definitely coffin shaped [Music] he'd worked on television sets and they'd use it as a prop yeah so the things that we're looking for for a start obviously are that it's not a prop coffin so yeah the bottom solid the note it's nice it's beautiful now he wanted to use it for his actual funeral which I thought was brilliant I'm gonna drop it I'm gonna drop it you're pulling it [Music] foreign [Music] Jasmine's delivering a coffin to Olson's in Sutherland her colleagues are turning to the healing power of humor on the eve of Dale's double mastectomy it's been a big month and you've been incredible the idea of not being pushed over and pushing back so hard you're an inspiration Dale we've got your back you look after your friends [Laughter] [Music] thank you so much guys thank you so much so if I do it like the surgeon I'm going to do it yeah yeah I think okay here we go [Music] everybody [Music] with Odette battling the final stages of cancer Richard is staging an audition for one of her many funeral requests I feel like I know you already Okay so we've got Jasmine with the violin she's one of my colleagues okay quite as good as me but she will be one day and Terrace builds his own heart plays his own harp and blows his own trumpet fantastic you heard what I said to him that that I'm sorry I said I'm sorry but that is uh I've ever seen I'm so glad the girls don't have to wear ties laughs [Music] it'll be less [ __ ] on the day it's lovely sorry for crying [Music] it's very hard to sit with someone who looks in his rude health and she's telling you she won't see Christmas it will be a hard thing when she passes it's going to be a sad Affair but it's going to be all of her friends in one place [Music] while odette's cancer is terminal for Dale there is still hope children by her side Dell survival depends on the success of today's bruling 12-hour operation are you allergic to anything no allergies I went and checked my will this week and I went and wrote my own funeral arrangements down this week because I thought I just want it off my mind and I just want to make sure that you know all my Affairs are in order you'll be fine it'd be a pretty poor show if a funeral director hasn't worked out what they want for their funerals I will be cremated uh just like my parents were if the eulogies down to a minimum nobody needs to know every chapter and verse that's what I'm saying [Music] most of us live life thinking diagnosis of cancer is an utter catastrophe I think Dale has the emotional coping skills to understand this happens this is life thankfully everything went according to plan and I've got some further surgery on the horizon so it's a process that's going to be probably about three or four months before I'm really fully through it although Dale's out of action Walter Carter is not today Jasmine and Richard are on their way to the funeral of Gary crew who had the rare distinction of owning his own coffin yes he got his dying wish first Jasmine stopping at Olson's to pick up his body which Amber has prepared [Music] they haven't seen each other in months I hardly get to see Amber at all anymore it just isn't the same we do will want to be back together again [Music] it's a temporary thing so I'm hopeful that once we're closer together again then that interaction can pick up [Music] here for Mr Cruz service there's a card inside [Music] he was truly a mover a Shaker a buyer reseller day one post-operatively in intensive care the first thing he said to me was [Music] someone's phone started to ring setting up in an intensive care bed on eBay trying to buy and sell there are no good moments when it could have happened but then really [Music] sadly the day has come that he referred to as the one that he'd need one of those one day and that day is today I hope I gave him the funeral that he wanted and that he imagined because he had time to imagine his own coffin on display [Music] so we're just waiting for the crematorium staff to open that door and then Gary will be cremated all righty see you Gary [Music] today we're meeting our dad at Saint Peter's Anglican in Watson's Bay where her funeral will eventually be Richard has never arranged a funeral for someone who's still alive the stakes are high and his every move is being scrutinized Oda is constantly asking me how are the practicalities you know I know where the doves are I know where the horses are today it's going to get even more challenging [Music] plan is the Marquis going around here yep [Music] yep so it's time whiny but it's beautiful oh it's stunning it really is a beautiful Church yeah where does the coffin essentially go during the service just here just saying just here okay we'll carry you up here you'll be placed here yeah and then at the end turned around and come back out this way yeah foreign kicks Us in the guts every day [Music] so I'll just uh weird it's not weird it's [ __ ] tragic man it's not normal no no it's anything but come here [Music] death doesn't discriminate yes eBay you are our Angel black or white that's what you are traditional or modern rich or poor 40 years he was homeless death is the ultimate equalizer tree was one of more than a hundred and fifteen thousand Australians who were homeless [Music] circumstance many people are with mental health [Music] unfortunately his story is quite common Vincent's coffin is a fitting tribute to his love of Street graffiti [Music] they're all going the same way down and enjoy the moments [Music] for Richard today's death is profoundly personal Odette has passed away acrosemba [Music] we have the unusual situation now so that's with us but she's no longer with us but it's a big thing to get my head around [Music] obviously I haven't met her I remember Rich kept on saying how you know this funeral is going to be huge my first job is to show utmost respect to the deceased they're my bodies [Music] two-week shy of Christmas and after months of meticulous planning the pressures on Richard to fulfill all of odette's wishes so this is a toilet Odette bought for us she bought about seven of them for the team but she obviously had to tested our ties and so yeah for the first time today they're all going to be worn [Music] anything about today's surreal Dale is back we've done so many large funerals at Carter's but I've personally never known the person we're doing the funeral for [Music] a lot of gay friends who dress up in Drag [Music] and I'm asking those people to turn up as they are [Music] my casket is to be gloss white and the handles that would be silver it's all incredibly immediate so basically every emotion I've got in a box I'm on the conveyor belt of doing everything I would ask me to do [Music] you're all very welcome to this celebration of life for Odette resting on the end of the casket I want my gold Christian operating heels and my daughter April she'll be given those come together to thank God for the life of a precious and special person Odette Dorothea death is the pits totally sucks that your hearts are broken the loss and the grief that comes with odette's death is palpable our debt planned and organized everything here even up to the ties that the funeral people are wearing and she ordered ties from 50 Shades of Gray I mean I did back in 2009 for her first ever breast surgery I had the privilege of holding her hand right at the very start [Music] and so it is to God that we give thanks for the life labor and love of our debt and Dorothea [Music] this evening when I get to a pub I'm looking forward to stopping and just toasting my friend a little like five white doves to be released [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] Dale witnessed the destruction of the building where five generations of her family have comforted The Grieving I'm a local so it's unavoidable that I'm going to go past the old location at Oxford Street from time to time still an emotional wrench for me the focal point for that business has always been the clock try and think is there anywhere I can use it in the new location [Music] unfortunately the mechanisms are so old-fashioned nowadays it just wasn't worth relocating it [Music] the last year has taken its toll on Jasmine Funeral Directors are known for burning out it's understandable why you deal with other people's grief and then you don't notice that you're starting to feel this niggling sense of hopelessness yourself it was all too much probably my first experience of compassion fatigue I think I'm through the worst of it the fog has cleared and Jasmine's Moonlighting has paid a dividend found a solution to that little catch with the being in a relationship started dating the manager of the comedy club boom problem solved this time being isolated in Sutherland impacted on Amber still loves honoring her bodies I don't know how people can work with children all day that's batshit insane I barely struggle with doing evenings and mornings with my son you can ask me about the family in the wonderful Crazy Life that this person LED [Music] but I don't store that in my memory I remember the bodies [Music] for Dale it's been a year of professional and personal survivors totality and one because I've had an operation that has taken some of the fat from one area and used it for reconstruction in the breast area I have scars all across the front of my my chest basically and so I said it's like a smiley emoji because I've got the two eyes I've got the nose and I've got the mouth so not only did she have new boobs they haven't adjusted yet yeah but she's got liposuctions so you can kind of see why I'm not terribly feeling sorry for I love you Dale I do but you know you kind of got the best lining out of it and really great tits as a new era lies ahead there's a timely surprising store for Dale [Music] the whole team oh this is really exciting [Music] oh you did it [Music] yeah we're just going to get you a chain for it so you can wear it [Music] unfortunately I'm thinking maybe here would be really good I definitely love what I do don't win I retire and I know that the longevity of all the Carters is still there excellent look at that [Music]

Channel: Real Stories

Views: 72,607

Keywords: documentary 2023, full length documentaries 2023, documentary movies - topic, free documentaries on YouTube, Real stories uk, real stories full documentary 2023, real stories, Funeral home, Walter Carter Funerals, family-run business, Australian history, death taboos, funeral industry, mortuary management, legacy preservation, funeral directors, end-of-life care, cultural practices, life reflections, female empowerment, emotional journeys, history and tradition

Id: i2pB9NlS7Wo

Length: 54min 52sec (3292 seconds)

Published: Tue May 30 2023