A useful video production brief tells your production partner who the video is for, what the viewer should understand or do, where it will appear, and what must be delivered. It should also identify the budget, deadlines, available material, and person responsible for approving the work.
That is our recommended starting point. You do not need to arrive with every shot planned. You do need to make the business problem clear enough for a creative team to solve it.
Start with the decision you want the viewer to make
“We need a brand video” describes a format. It leaves the purpose open. Instead, describe the audience and the decision: a prospective customer needs to understand a product, an employee needs to learn a process, or a potential recruit needs to picture working with your team.
Write the intended outcome in plain language. Then identify the question or hesitation the video needs to address. This gives your production partner something concrete to build the story around.
Bring evidence, not just adjectives
Words like cinematic, premium, and authentic can mean different things to different people. Share references, and explain what you like about each: the pacing, the interview style, the visual treatment, or the way it explains a complicated subject.
Bring the material that supports your message, too. That might include an approved product demonstration, customer interview, internal document, or available footage. Label anything that still needs verification or permission. Our recommendation is to resolve those questions before a claim becomes part of the script.
Define the deliverables and where they will live
Tell the team whether the video is intended for your website, a presentation, paid advertising, or social media. Specify the required versions, captions, languages, and screen formats. Ask the production partner to explain how those requirements affect the shooting and editing plan.
An interview framed for a wide presentation may need different composition for a vertical social edit. Discuss that before production rather than discovering it when the final cut is due.
Make approval part of the brief
Identify who can approve the concept, script, and edit. Include the people who need to review legal, brand, or product claims. Agree on how feedback will be collected and which deadlines depend on that feedback.
We recommend consolidating comments before returning them to the production team. Conflicting instructions are much easier to resolve in a conversation than inside an edit.
What if the idea is still unfinished?
An unfinished concept is a reasonable place to start. Explain the objective, constraints, and unanswered questions, then ask the production company to propose a creative approach. The brief should support that conversation, not pretend every decision has already been made.
What should we send before the first call?
Send your objective, audience, intended distribution, delivery date, budget range, references, and available source material. Mark unknowns clearly. These are practical recommendations, not a guarantee of a particular commercial result.
Before you sign off on the scope, ask who owns creative development, scripting, shoot logistics, and post-production. Put those responsibilities in writing so everyone knows what the production company will deliver and what your team must supply.
If you are still choosing a partner, read our guide to choosing a video production company in Atlanta. When you are ready to discuss your brief, email Brian at Bolt Worldwide: brian@boltworldwide.com.
