Video production brief template
Most video projects start with a brief. It helps your production partner to understand what you want to make, who for, and why. Use this free template to write a top-level video production brief that you can send to production companies and freelancers.
Last updated: April 2026Download the free video production brief template
The video brief template is available as a PDF. You can type directly into it and then save the completed brief. You’ll find explanatory notes on what to include, and common mistakes to avoid, further down this page.
How to fill in the video production brief template
The video brief template is designed to be self-explanatory, but these notes should help you to write sharper, more useful answers (especially if this is the first brief you've written or the first time you're working with a new production partner). For deeper reading on what to include in a video brief, see our guide on how to write a video brief.
Working title
Give your project a name. You can change this later, so don't overthink it – it just gives the production partner something to hang the project under.
Overview
Keep this short: two or three sentences that give the production team context is sufficient. Include the company name, what the video is (a product launch film, a brand story, a corporate testimonial video), and the broader campaign or business initiative it belongs to.
Objectives
This is the most important field in the brief, and also the one that is often given the least thought. Production companies are experts in engineering the videos they make for maximum effect. But to do that, they need to know exactly what effect you want your videos to have on the people that watch them. You should be specific and avoid vague language like 'raise brand awareness' as this doesn't give your production team anything actionable.
Instead, define a behaviour change that you want the video(s) to create. If the video was successful, what would a viewer do after watching the video that they weren't doing before? For example:
Generate more demo requests
Increase attendance at an in-person event
You can have more than one objective, but it may also mean that you need more than one video.
Audience
Define your primary target audience with enough specificity to affect creative decisions.
Demographics alone are not always that helpful. Instead, try to include information that helps your production partner to understand what the viewer already knows, what they care about, and also (if you can) the context in which they're likely to watch the video. If you have secondary audiences, you should also note them here.
Key message
This needs to be very focussed – a single sentence.
If the viewer remembered just one thing after watching, what should it be? This is harder to arrive at than it sounds, and you should resist the urge to write down multiple messages. It's much easier for your production team to make good, strategically-grounded decisions when they are in service of a single clear campaign message.
Distribution
This part is straightforward: where will the final videos be seen?
Creative references
Describe the emotional register and visual direction you're aiming for, but most of all, include links to references.
Link to two or three videos that capture aspects of what you want, whether they're from competitors, other industries, or past campaigns of your own. It's especially helpful to note what you like about each reference: the pacing, the music, the lighting style.
Also flag anything you want to avoid: humour that would feel off-brand, a competitor's visual style that you want to stay clear of, or industry language that your audience tends to distrust.
Existing content
If you've created video content in the past, include links to where it can be seen here. This helps your production partner to gauge the style and tone of voice that your brand or company prefers, but you should also flag if you're seeking a departure from previous content.
Deliverables
List every asset that needs to come out of this production. This is another common area where briefs are too vague, so be specific with the details if you can. For example:
1 x hero film, 90 seconds, 16:9, for website and LinkedIn
2 x cut-downs, 30 seconds each, 16:9 and 9:16, for paid social
1 x teaser, 15 seconds, 9:16, for Instagram Stories
Production companies plan shoots around deliverables. If you add a vertical social edit six weeks after the shoot, it will cost more than if you'd included it here.
Deadline
If you have a hard deadline by which you need the deliverables to go live, include it here. Also note any dates when filming is not possible (office closures, key talent availability, seasonal restrictions). This information lets your production company assess the feasibility of the project and to put together a proposed schedule to keep everything on track.
Budget
Giving a production company a budget range does not mean they'll spend all of it. It means they can tell you what's realistic and recommend the right approach. If you can't commit to a figure yet, try to give a realistic range.
Common mistakes to avoid
Writing objectives that can't be measured
Your objective(s) should always be something you can actually measure. If you can't point to a behaviour change after the video goes live, the objective probably needs rewriting.
Leaving the budget blank
We understand the hesitation clients often have about disclosing the budget they have available for a video project, but not providing a figure for the budget (or even a budget range) can be really counterproductive.
A good production company will work to design the best possible project within your budget – and we usually try to suggest approaches at different levels within that budget, too. But we can't do that if we don't know what the ceiling is.
Deciding on deliverables as an afterthought
Every edit, additional format, and aspect ratio should be in the brief before production begins because the shoot is planned around what needs to be captured to make those deliverables. Adding extra deliverables as an afterthought not only increases your costs; it also leaves production value on the table because your production team then has to make those deliverables as best they can with the material they have.
Not providing references
What counts as 'clean and modern' for one person can mean something different to another, but actual visual references (specific videos, or even still images) remove that ambiguity straight away. You don't need to love everything about a reference – just include a brief note about what you do and don't like. For example: 'We like the interview setup here, but the responses feel too scripted'.
Got your brief filled out? We'd love to hear from you. Rob Pinney Studio is a London video production company. Send us your brief and we'll get back to you straight away.
