How to Write a Video Brief

May 15
6 min read

Most briefs we receive are missing the same things. Here's what actually needs to go in — straight from someone who's been on the receiving end of a few hundred of them.

Over the years I've received video briefs in every conceivable form. Beautifully considered documents that made me want to clear the diary and get started immediately. Vague paragraph emails that raised more questions than they answered. Well meaning "storyboards" in the form of seemingly random and incoherent shot lists. A forwarded chain of thirty emails with 'see below' in the subject line. And everything in between!

The brief really is the most important document in any video project. It keeps everyone involved on the same page. It's the linchpin around which good decisions get made and everyone ends up in the same place. Get it right and you'll get better work, faster, for less money. Get it wrong — or skip it entirely — and you'll spend the budget discovering what you should have figured out before you called us, inevitably falling foul of miscommunication, drawn out timelines, rehashed generic ideas, and broadly disappointing results.

So here, from the agency's side of the table, is what a genuinely good video brief looks like.

Start With the Problem, Not the Format.

The most common mistake in any creative brief — video or otherwise — is leading with the solution. "We want a two-minute brand video for our homepage" is a solution. "We're losing potential customers at the research stage because they can't tell what makes us different" is a problem. Only one of those is useful.

When you arrive with a pre-decided format and length, you're doing the creative work yourself — usually the part you're least placed to do. A good agency's job is to look at your problem and work out the most effective video solution to it. Sometimes that's exactly what you had in mind. Often it's something different that works considerably better. At Plucky Films we're particularly adept at suggesting something you perhaps haven't thought of and are always willing to challenge your assumptions as to what you think a suitable solution might be. If you come to us with "we need a video", unlike most companies, expect to be asked "why?"

So before anything else, answer this one question: what is this video actually trying to fix?

The Nine Things Your Brief Needs to Cover.

Once you've nailed the problem, here's the rest.

1. Objective — in one sentence. Use this formula: [Company] needs a video that [does X] so that [result Y]. One sentence. If you can't do it in one sentence, the thinking isn't clear enough yet.

2. Your audience. "Everyone" isn't an audience. No video is for everyone and the ones that try to be are for no one. Who specifically? What do they care about, what do they currently think of you, and what do you want them to think after they've watched?

3. Where the video will live. A homepage video, a paid social ad, and a conference room presentation are three completely different things. Format, length, pacing and tone all shift depending on where and how it'll be watched. Tell us early.

4. What you want the viewer to DO after watching. Call you? Book a consultation? Visit a page? Feel differently about the brand? - This shapes everything from the script to how we pace the edit.

5. Any existing brand guidelines. Fonts, colours, tone of voice, things that are off-limits. If you don't have formal guidelines, describe the brand in three words. More useful than you'd think.

6. References. Videos you like — and crucially, why you like them. 'I like the energy' is useful. 'I like the cinematography but not the tone' is more useful. References you hate work equally well. Nothing sharpens a direction faster than knowing what to avoid.

7. Stakeholders. Who needs to sign this off, and how many of them are there? The more people with an equal opinion on what the video should look like, the more you need to align them before we start — not during. Brief by committee produces video by committee. Seldom a good thing let's face it.

8. Deadline. A real one. If you need it for a trade show in six weeks, say so. If there's no hard deadline, say that too — it changes how we sequence the work.

9. Budget. See below.

On Budget — Just Tell Us

This one gets its own section because it causes more problems than everything else put together. A lot of clients are reluctant to share a budget upfront. The instinct makes sense — it feels like showing your hand. But here's the reality: a video production agency is not going to charge you more because you told them what you've got. They're going to tell you what's achievable within it, and what isn't.

If I had a penny for every email I've recieved that says something along the lines of "We are looking to make a video for our homepage of about 1 - 2 minutes. How much will this cost?" I'd almost have enough to make that intergalactic battlefied space epic script I've got burning a hole in my desk draw!

If you don't share a budget, you'll get quotes back that may have no bearing on what you're actually in a position to spend. That wastes your time and ours. It also means the money conversation happens at entirely the wrong moment — after everyone has got excited about ideas, and just before you need to kill them.

Share the budget. Please. I beg you.

It enables us to figure out what and how many cameras you can use, what locations we might hire, how many days shooting is achievable, can we afford a large cast, a glossy colour grade, interesting camera movements or cranes, or if we just need to keep it super simple, efficient and cost effective. It doen't matter hwich one it is, but knowing up front is always best for all of us.

A good agency will work with what you've got. If it genuinely isn't enough for what you're trying to achieve, they'll tell you that at brief stage rather than halfway through production. That conversation is much better had early.

The Brief Sins.

A few things that reliably derail projects before they've started.

"We just want a half-day shoot" or "We just want something simple." Nothing is simple. You wouldn't take your car into a garage with a loud banging noise and a dashboard lit up like a christmas tree and tell your mechanic "I just want a simple fix please". Saying it doen't make it so. Simple just usually means the thinking hasn't happened yet, and the complexity emerges later — during production, when it costs more to fix. It's also a big red flag that what you really mean is you don't want to spend any money. If this is the case, come out with it straight away and you'll get an honest answer what is and is not achievable.

Too many opinions, too late. Get your internal stakeholders aligned before you brief an agency. If five people all have an equal say and none of them agree, you don't have a brief. You have a meeting that needs to happen first.

"Something like [huge brand's campaign]." References are great. Unrealistic references attached to a budget that won't support them are not. Inspiration is one thing. Expectation management is another.

Leaving out the awkward bits. The internal politics. The fact that someone senior wants to appear in it even though everyone privately thinks that's a terrible idea. The more honestly you brief us, the better we can help you. We've seen it all.

The Short Version (Copy This Template)

You don't need a 40-page document to reach out to us. Clear answers to nine questions is enough.

Field	What to write
Objective (one sentence)	[Company] needs a video that [does X] so that [result Y]
Audience	Who they are, what they care about, what they currently think of you.
Where it lives	Homepage / paid social / internal comms / event / other
Desired action	What you want the viewer to do after watching
Brand guidelines	Link to document, or describe the brand in three words
References	Links to videos you like (and why) + videos you hate (and why)
Stakeholders	Who is signing off, and how many of them
Deadline	Real date, or state that it's flexible
Budget	A range is fine. Just give us something to work with