We get asked this a lot: what should we send you before we start?
Honestly, less than you think. You don’t need a polished creative deck to brief a video production company. You need a clear goal and a good conversation. Usually a few of them.
We’re proud of how flexible we are. Things change. Schedules move, scopes shift, ideas get better halfway through. That’s normal. What keeps a project together through all of it is listening up front and doing the preproduction work.
Preproduction means you know what the end result will be. And when the goal is clear, you can be nimble if you have to.
We had a great example of this with a partner we trust. The project started as one thing and, after a few good conversations, turned into something leaner. No drama. We already knew what they were after, so we were honest about what needed to change and what could, and kept moving.
What we ask on the first call
When we sit down with a new project, these are the questions we start with:
- What are you looking to achieve?
- Who is your audience?
- How will you deliver it? An email, your website, an event, TV?
- Do we already have footage, or could this be just an interview?
- What should people do after watching? Enroll, donate, sign up, get in touch?
That fourth one is a big one. If we’ve filmed with you before, we may already have the b-roll to cover a new story. Sometimes all we need is a fresh interview.
Answer those five and you’ve written most of your brief.
Bring what inspires you
Reference videos help a whole lot. Send the ones you love, even if they’re from a totally different world, and tell us what grabs you.
We love it when a partner knows what they want and we get to grow the idea together. It also helps to bring more voices in early. Other people’s ideas can lead to stories we might not have found on our own.
If it’s a scripted piece, we’ll usually send three versions of a script at the start. Different stories or angles going after the same goal. It’s a lot easier to react to something real than to describe a video that doesn’t exist yet.
Got 15 minutes before the call?
Jot down:
- Your goal, in a sentence or two
- Who it’s for
- Where it’ll live
- Any footage you already have
- Ideas or videos you’re pulling from
- A rough sense of budget, whatever the size
That last one matters more than people think. The projects that go best start with a partner who’s excited and has a sense of budget, big or small. It helps us shape the right story for what you have.
That’s it. No deck required.
If you’ve got a story in mind, reach out to Alex at alex@cottagecreativehouse.com. We’d love to hear it.