Why a Good Brief Matters
A clear, well-structured brief is the single most effective thing you can do to improve the quality, efficiency, and value of your video production. It aligns expectations before a single frame is shot, reduces the likelihood of expensive reshoots or major edits, and gives your production company the context they need to make good creative decisions on your behalf.
What to Include in a Video Brief
A good video production brief covers the following elements:
- Objective: what do you want the audience to do, feel, or know after watching?
- Audience: who exactly is watching? Be specific. 'Our 500 warehouse staff' is better than 'employees'.
- Key message: if the viewer remembers one thing, what should it be?
- Tone: professional, warm, urgent, educational, celebratory? Give examples of videos you like.
- Format: presenter-led, documentary style, animation, screen capture, or a mix?
- Duration: how long should the video be? If unsure, say so.
- Distribution channels: website, social media, internal platform, conference, broadcast?
- Timeline: when do you need it? Work backwards from the delivery date.
- Budget: a ballpark figure helps your production company tailor the right solution.
- Brand guidelines: logo files, fonts, colour codes, and any templates.
What NOT to Include in a Brief
There are a few things that can actually make a brief less useful:
- Over-specified production details. Don't tell them what lens to use, tell them the outcome you want.
- Competing objectives. Pick one primary goal, because multiple objectives often produce a video that achieves none of them.
- Approval processes that aren't defined. Vague 'stakeholder sign-off' requirements cause delays.
- A lock on the creative before discovery. Be open to the production company's input on how to achieve your goal.
What If You Don't Have a Brief Ready?
Most good production companies will help you develop a brief through a discovery call or consultation. At Boost Video, this is a standard part of the process. We ask the right questions and translate your answers into a clear scope and quote. You don't need to have everything figured out before you reach out.
How to Evaluate the Responses You Get
Once you've sent a brief, look for these signals in the responses you receive:
- They ask follow-up questions. This shows they read the brief and want to understand your goal.
- The quote is detailed. A vague quote usually means a vague result.
- They propose a clear process with defined stages.
- Their portfolio includes work similar to what you need.
- The communication is clear and timely.
A Brief Template to Get You Started
If you'd like a starting point, here's a simple template you can copy and fill out:
- Company: [Your organisation name]
- Contact: [Name, email, phone]
- Objective: [What should the viewer do, feel, or know after watching?]
- Audience: [Who specifically is watching?]
- Key message: [The one thing they must take away]
- Tone: [Professional, warm, urgent, educational. Examples welcome]
- Format: [Live action, animation, presenter-led, other]
- Duration: [Target length, or 'unsure']
- Distribution: [How and where will it be shown?]
- Timeline: [When do you need the final video?]
- Budget: [Range or fixed amount]
- Assets available: [Existing footage, logos, brand guidelines]