How Do I Choose a Video Production Company?
Choose the company you'd trust with your people, then check the proof. Ask for two or three past videos close to yours in tone, and ask what the company did on each. On the first call, a good company asks what you want to achieve, who it's for and when you need it before it talks price. Look for advice that costs them work, such as pointing you to a cheaper option, and a proposal that starts from your world. Price matters, but relationship and track record usually decide it.
Key Facts
- Most of our work comes from repeat clients, then referrals.
- One client told us that when they ask for a comparison quote, nine times out of ten they stay with the company they know unless the price gap is big.
- Two past videos that match yours in tone tell you more than five from your sector.
- After a good first call, priced options can arrive the same day, with no number said on the call.
What Should You Check Before Choosing a Production Company?
How they listen, what they've made, how they write a proposal, how straight they are with you and who will do the work. Price matters too, but in our experience relationship and track record decide most choices. Most of our own work comes from repeat clients, then referrals.
| What to check | Good sign | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| The first call | Questions about your goal, audience and deadline before any price | A pitch before they know what you need |
| Past work | Two or three examples close to yours in tone, and a clear account of what they did on each | A long reel from your sector with no sense of who made what |
| The proposal | Starts from your world in your words, with a reference film for each idea | Spends pages on its own research, or builds everything around an idea nobody asked for |
| Honesty | Tells you when a cheaper option suits you better | Promises things it can't control |
| The team | The people on the first call stay hands-on through the job | You're handed to someone new once you sign |
| Scale | Names who it will bring in for anything outside its usual work | Learns on your budget |
How Can You Tell a Production Company Will Be Straight With You?
Watch for advice that costs them work. A company that points you to a cheaper option, or tells you a lower quote is fair, is one you can trust with the bigger calls.
We've told an event client that a much lower competing quote was a solid price and hard to beat if price mattered most. When another client was planning a series of presenter modules, we advised against packing them into one long studio block, because the presenter's energy starts to drop by the third or fourth. We suggested two sessions of three. We'll also say when we can't fix something, such as a construction drill that won't stop.
What Should a Good First Call Feel Like?
Curious and free of pressure. A good production company asks before it pitches. Expect questions about what you want to achieve, who's watching, when you need it, where it happens and what material you already have.
It should ask about the deadline before the budget, and make the budget question easy to skip. You should leave with something to send, such as a run sheet or last year's video, and a promise of options. If it isn't a fit, a good company says so and points you to someone who is.
How quickly they come back is part of the experience too. Enquiries left for a day or more tend to cool.
Which Past Work Should a Production Company Show You?
Two or three pieces that match your video in tone and subject, even if they come from another industry. Two close matches tell you more than five near misses from your sector, and they don't need to be one-to-one.
Ask for a general showreel plus a short set picked for your job. Then ask what the company did on each piece, whether that's the idea, the shoot or the edit. The right company only sends work it stands behind from start to finish, and will tell you if someone else cut it. You can see ours on our work and case studies.
What Makes a Good Video Proposal, and What Are the Red Flags?
A good proposal starts from your world, in your words, and shows the idea before the price. Look for:
- A reference film for every concept. A concept without one is a paragraph. With one, you're choosing a tone you've already seen.
- A few distinct ideas. A long list of ideas can leave you creatively overwhelmed.
- What you get, written on every option, so you can compare them line by line.
- The best version first, with talent and extras itemised, so you can choose what to trim.
The red flags are a proposal that spends pages describing its own research, tells you what your instinct means, or builds everything around a device nobody asked for. How the price side should be laid out is in what goes into a video production quote.
How Do You Find a Partner Who Treats You as Part of the Team?
Look for one that treats you as the expert on your organisation and itself as the expert on video. It shows early. Good partners offer to brainstorm before anything is signed, say plainly what they don't know, and credit the crew who did the work.
They throw ideas in, but the project stays yours, and the team you meet first stays hands-on with no middle man. Meeting in person still matters, even after years of working together remotely.
The one thing I love is collaboration. We are video experts. You guys are experts in everything you do.
What Should a Healthcare Marketing Team Look For?
Work close to your field, such as eye care, aged care or health tech, and a production company that's honest about what it doesn't know. You know your patients and staff, and how they need to come across. The production company brings the video execution and the questions that get them comfortable on camera.
What If the Company Doesn't Know Your Industry?
That's workable, as long as they say so. Expect them to name the gap, ask what's critical about how you operate and which compliance rules apply, and treat you as the expert. Curious questions build trust faster than a confident claim.
Related experience counts. Compliance is its own kind of work, so ask whether they've made training for a regulated setting. We've made gowning and safety training videos, for example.
How Do You Get a Video Made Through a Procurement Panel?
Brief the panel suppliers who make video themselves. Many councils and government bodies now buy video, photography, design, copywriting and event production through one creative services panel that typically runs for one to three years. The category is often written broadly, so the list you inherit can mix video producers with signage, sound hire and digital marketing.
Before you brief anyone on the list, ask:
- Which of the listed services do you deliver in-house, and which do you subcontract?
- Can I see two or three videos you made from start to finish?
Then brief them as you would any production company. How to brief a video production company covers what to send.
What If Your Project Is Bigger Than the Company?
Ask who they'll bring in, and what those people have done at that size. A straight answer beats a confident one. The production side might be well in hand while funding, distribution or specialist work sits outside the company's day to day.
The honest move is to say so early and find the people who do that part, instead of learning on your budget. We bring in specialists for complex 3D animation and use local crews in other states, while the brief, the storyboard and delivery stay with us.