How to brief a production company: what we ask on the first call

A good brief doesn't need to be long. It needs to answer the questions a director will ask anyway, so the first call is spent on ideas rather than on admin. These are the six we always ask.

1. What should change after people watch it?

Start with the decision, not the format. "More people book a demo", "new hires understand what we do" and "the launch gets talked about" lead to three very different films. Everything else follows from this one sentence.

2. Who is watching, and where?

A buyer on LinkedIn, a shopper on a product page and a viewer on TV each give you a different amount of attention. Where the film lives decides its length, its first three seconds and the shapes you need: 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1.

3. What is the date that matters?

Give us the launch, the event or the board meeting, not just "as soon as possible". We plan the whole schedule backwards from it, with time for your approvals built in.

4. What is the budget range?

It's fine to say. A range lets us design the idea to fit, instead of pitching something you then have to cut. Our prices are public if you want a starting point.

5. What is fixed?

Brand guidelines, must-have shots, products, people who have to appear, legal lines and music you already own. Telling us early stops surprises in the edit.

6. Who signs it off?

Name the people who approve the script, the look and the final cut. We get each stage approved in writing, so nobody sees the film for the first time at the end.

What happens next

After the call we come back with a treatment, style frames and a 10-second shot in your brand's world, in five days and free. You approve the script and the look in writing before a single frame is produced. Then we shoot, edit with two rounds of changes, and deliver a master plus cutdowns for every channel, with the usage rights handed over in writing.

No brief yet? Send us what you have. Half a page is enough to start.