What Should I Put in a Video Production Brief?
Tell them who the video is for, what you want that audience to feel or do, where it will be seen and when you need it. Add your key messages in order of priority, what you already have, such as footage, brand guidelines or an old script, and a few reference videos, including ones you dislike. You don't need a polished document to start. A good production company fills the gaps with questions, and a budget range or a run sheet helps it quote the right job.
Key Facts
- When a client can't name an objective, we ask what the audience should feel, such as nostalgic, adventurous or reassured.
- Reference videos you dislike are often more useful than the ones you like.
- A corporate asset library can take a week of IT requests to open, and access that blocks downloads isn't enough to edit from.
- For a 90-second video with a long list of messages, we ask for the top few in order and shoot everything.
What Should Go in a Video Brief?
The audience, the feeling, the messages and the practical facts. Send what you can, and expect questions about the rest.
| Include | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Who it's for | Who watches first decides what the video has to do |
| What they should feel or do | Gives the creative direction, even when the objective is still loose |
| Key messages, in order of priority | So ideas fit the message, and the top ones get the strongest coverage |
| Where it will be seen | Each platform and format changes the shoot and the edit |
| Deadline and fixed dates | Launches, events and board meetings set the schedule |
| What you already have | Footage, brand guidelines, scripts and last year's video save time |
| References, good and bad | Shows the tone you want and the one you don't |
| Who signs it off | Knowing the approval chain early keeps the timeline honest |
| A budget range or a run sheet | Tells the production company which version to plan |
How extra formats and cutdowns show up in the price is in what goes into a video production quote.
Do You Need a Written Brief Before You Call?
No. A short call is a fine place to start. The usual rhythm is a casual first conversation, then a specific brief with dates, tone and any constraints, then a second meeting where the production company brings a plan for you to tweak.
Some clients arrive with a loose hook or a clean slate and ask us to shake it up. A script or treatment can come back within days. If you already have a full written brief, send it, and expect us to ask how you want the video to feel anyway.
You don't need a budget to brief, either. A range, a reference point or a run sheet all help, and our guide to sharing your budget covers how.
What Will a Production Company Ask for Before Starting?
References, access to your files and the history of any earlier version. Expect these questions:
- Reference videos, good and bad. The ones you dislike often teach us the most. A reference can match on feeling even if it's about something else entirely.
- Files you can download. In larger organisations, brand and asset libraries often sit on a shared drive that takes a week of IT requests, and an NDA is common. Access that lets us browse but not download is fine for ideas and no good for editing, so flag early that the files will need to come across.
- The full story on a re-edit. The script's version and date, whether the voiceover is recorded, the working files, what didn't work last time, and whether the footage is cleared for use.
While access is being sorted, the time goes on top-level ideas.
Any examples that you've got to send through, good or bad? In fact, bad is often the best one to see.
What If You Don't Know What You Want Yet?
Start with who's watching and how they should feel. When the objective is fuzzy, we swap "what do you want?" for "what should the audience feel?", whether that's nostalgic, adventurous or proud, and turn the answer into a short brainstorm. From there:
- Share the key messages before anyone pitches ideas, so no concept gets spent on the wrong message.
- Define any must-have that sounds vague. If the brief says "brand heritage", say what you mean by it. Often nobody has pinned it down, and working it out steers the concept.
- Say what you don't want. A no can become the brief. When a client's team didn't want to star in their own conference opener, we suggested building it around their partners instead.
Once a direction is agreed, a beat sheet comes before any script, so no craft goes into an idea you haven't approved.
Why Do Production Companies Ask How the Video Should Feel?
Because the answer usually holds the creative direction. A question about tone and feel gives someone who isn't a marketer permission to be imprecise, and what comes back is often the whole brief in a few words. We ask even when the written brief is complete, and we hold on to the client's own word for it.
It helps to say what fell flat last time, too. Describing the footage that made people shrug tells us as much as a list of what you'd like.
How Should Business Development and Marketing Align First?
Get both in the room before anything is quoted. Business development often relies on marketing like a business partner, and the ideas only fit the wider plan when both are part of the conversation. We'd suggest a short catch-up with both before we quote.
Decisions like this can take a while. We'd rather stay in touch than push for a date.
How Do You Fit Too Much Messaging Into a 90-Second Video?
Rank the messages instead of cutting them. Tell the production company which few moments you expect to lead the edit. We shoot everything, and make sure the coverage on those top moments is strong.
If several people own the messaging, settle the ranking on a group call, so the person who signs off sets the order themselves. In the script, a message lands better when it's given to someone who'd naturally say it than when it's read out as a list. For how the planning that follows a brief works, read what happens in pre-production.