How to Brief Your Video Production Agency

A good film doesn’t start with a camera. It starts with one question: why are we making this film?

Brand awareness, product launch, recruitment, brand image, sales… The clearer the objective, the easier it is for a video production agency to develop the right creative response.
And you don’t need a 40-page brief. A few key pieces of information are often enough.

1. Why are we making this film?

This is the starting point.
What are you trying to achieve: build awareness, convince, sell, recruit, explain a product or reposition your brand?

A video is not an end in itself. It is a tool designed to achieve an objective.

Understanding that objective helps guide the writing, directing and overall video production.

2. Who are we talking to?

Your target audience directly influences the tone, pace, storytelling and visual language of the film.
There’s no need for an overly detailed persona. What we really need to understand is who you want to reach and what reaction you want to create.

3. Where and how will the film be distributed?

Website, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, television, cinema, DOOH, trade shows, internal communications…
Distribution has a major influence on how a film is designed. Formats, durations, vertical or horizontal versions, languages, subtitles and voice-overs should therefore be considered from the start.
These choices can affect framing, shooting and post-production, as well as music and talent rights.

The campaign lifespan also matters: content designed to run for a few weeks may not require the same approach as a film intended to be used for several years.

4. How does your brand communicate?

Premium, corporate, accessible, technical, minimalist, spectacular…
Share your brand identity, previous campaigns and a few references you like — or examples of what you definitely want to avoid.
Our role isn’t to create a beautiful film that feels disconnected from your brand. It needs to fit naturally into your wider communication strategy.
When we work alongside a creative or communication agency, they can also provide this brand territory for us to translate into film.

5. What is the budget?

Yes, it’s worth discussing early.

The budget defines the playing field: crew size, number of shooting days, casting, locations, equipment, travel, visual effects and the level of post-production.
Even if the final budget hasn’t been confirmed, a range is often enough to start developing a realistic recommendation.

Ultimately, the cost of a film depends on the resources required to achieve the desired level of ambition.

6. When do you need it?

The release date allows us to build the production schedule: concept, writing, pre-production, shooting, editing, feedback, adaptations and final delivery.
The earlier we know the deadline, the more effectively we can organise the production.

And show us what you like

A film, an advert, a photograph, a piece of music, a director, a campaign…
References are one of the quickest ways to understand your creative sensibility. Looking at your competitors can also be useful, particularly to avoid producing exactly the same thing.

What if your brief isn’t complete yet?

That’s not a problem.
You might know your objective without knowing which format to choose, have a budget without knowing what production setup you need, or simply know that you need to communicate without knowing exactly what kind of film to make.

That’s also the role of a video production agency.

We can get involved early to develop the recommendation, define formats, identify constraints and turn an initial need into a concrete project — including before launching a tender.
It also makes it much easier to compare proposals that are actually responding to the same project.

In short

To brief your video production agency effectively, a few questions are enough:
Why this film? Who is it for? Where will it be distributed? In which formats and languages? What is your brand universe? What budget are you working with? And when do you need it?
‍If you have all the answers, perfect.

If you only have a few, let’s talk anyway. We can work out the rest together.

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