What we look for in a brief — the eight elements that let a production team quote accurately, develop creative with real direction, and start on the right problem.
What You'll Learn
- What a complete video production brief contains
- The information gaps that slow down every project
- How to communicate distribution requirements before the shoot
- What production companies actually need to give you an accurate quote
The briefs that produce the best work have the same things in common. They answer the questions that let a production team do their job before pre-production starts — not during it. Business objective. Audience. Distribution. Format requirements. Budget range. Timeline. When those are clear from the start, creative development has something real to solve.
Here's what a strong brief contains — and why each element matters to the production.
The business objective — not the video objective
The most useful thing in a brief is why you're making this video, not what you want it to look like. 'We want a brand video' is a format request. 'We're launching in three new markets and need to establish credibility with procurement teams who've never heard of us' is a business objective. The second one gives a production team something to solve.
Every pre-production conversation we have starts here. The clearer the objective — not in views or shares, but in business terms — the better the creative work will be.
Audience: who exactly is watching
Not a category — a specific person. What do they already know about you? What's their hesitation? What do they need to believe to take the next step?
The audience defines the tone, the pacing, the length, and the level of technical language. A video for a CFO is a different project than a video for an end consumer, even if the product is the same.
Distribution: where it runs before you shoot
Distribution is the brief element that most often gets left out — and it creates the most expensive problems in post. A video designed for paid social has different aspect ratios, pacing, and opening frames than a video designed for a homepage. A video going to broadcast has different format and codec requirements than one going to YouTube.
We need to know where this is running — every channel, every placement — before we shoot. What we capture on set changes depending on where it's going.
Format requirements
Length: 15-second cut? 30? 60? Multiple versions? Most campaigns need at minimum a hero piece and a short cut-down. Format requirements need to be in the brief — not discovered in post.
Aspect ratios: 16:9 for YouTube and broadcast, 9:16 for Instagram Reels and TikTok, 1:1 for some social placements. Each requires different framing on set. We lock the full format list before we shoot.
Deliverable formats: broadcast and agency specs are typically H.264 or ProRes. Web delivery is typically H.264 or H.265. The full deliverable list gets defined in pre-production, not at delivery.
Creative references — what you want and what you don't
Three to five examples of work you admire. They don't have to be in your category — they just need to represent the visual language, pacing, or tone you're after. Two or three examples of what you don't want to look like. The negative references are often more useful than the positive ones. When a direction is off the table early, we don't spend time on it.
Budget range
We need a range to scope accurately. It doesn't have to be exact — 'somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000' is enough to tell you what's realistic at that level and what tradeoffs exist. Without a range, proposals tend to miss high or low. Both waste time.
Timeline: the in-market date and what comes before it
Working backwards from the date the final video needs to be live: any fixed dates — a launch event, a campaign start, a board presentation — that constrain the schedule. We can work to aggressive timelines, but those constraints need to be in the brief from the start.
What a complete brief looks like in practice
Client: [Company name and brief description]
Business objective: [What success looks like in business terms]
Audience: [Who's watching and what they need to believe]
Distribution: [Every channel, platform, and placement]
Format requirements: [Lengths, aspect ratios, deliverable specs]
Creative references: [What you want + what you don't]
Budget range: [Honest number or range]
Timeline: [In-market date and any fixed milestones]
One page. Everything a production team needs to quote accurately and start creative development with a real foundation. If you come to us without a complete brief, we'll build it together in the first call.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Author
Lear Johnson
COO, LOOK Studios