Most disappointing films can be traced back to the same moment: the brief. Not the shoot, not the edit — the brief. When a production team guesses what you want, you get their guess back in 4K.
Start with the decision, not the video
Before any talk of style or duration, answer one question: what should the viewer do after watching? Book a call, trust the brand, apply for a job, feel proud of the company they work for. One film, one job. Films briefed to do three jobs usually do none.
The six things every brief needs
- Objective — the single action or feeling the film must produce.
- Audience — who is watching, on what platform, in what mindset.
- One message — if the viewer remembers a single sentence, which one?
- References — two or three links with a note on what you like in each: the pace, the tone, the grade. "Make it like this" without the why transfers nothing.
- Constraints — brand guidelines, people who must appear, locations, dates, approval chain.
- Success — how you will judge the result three months later.
A brief is not paperwork. It is the cheapest edit you will ever make — changes cost nothing while they are still words.
What to leave out
Shot lists, camera models, and edit instructions. Those are the production team's craft — and prescribing them early locks the team out of solving your problem better than you imagined it. Share the destination, let the crew pick the road.
The kickoff conversation
A written brief plus a one-hour conversation beats either alone. The questions a good team asks in that hour — budget honesty, real deadlines, who signs off — are the ones that prevent the expensive surprises later. It is the hour every film we produce starts with.