Five Questions to Ask (And Answer) Before Hiring a Video Production Company
Five Questions to Ask (And Answer) Before Hiring a Video Production Company
On-location interview filming for the International Masonry Institute.
Hiring a video production company can be a daunting, if not overwhelming, task. Many business owners and marketing professionals don’t have much experience when it comes to video production, and there are lots of studios out there competing for your business. However, not all production companies are the same, and if you’re not careful, it’s easy to make a costly mistake.
At Wide Awake Studios, we want you to know the most important questions to ask before you sign a contract, to make sure that you get exactly the video you need.
However, before you start asking questions, you need to be able to answer a few yourself. When you start talking with a potential vendor, try to have some answers to the following questions:
What’s the purpose of your video and who is your audience(s)? For example, do you need an employee training video, or do you want something to commemorate your firm’s milestone anniversary? Telling the production company the end use and who’s watching will jump start the conversation.
Do you have some ideas about how to tell your story? At the beginning of the process you might not have an answer to this question, and that’s okay. However, if you do have some ideas, feel free to share them up front. You might want to show some “talking head” interviews mixed with shots of your employees at work, or maybe you think the whole video should be animated. A good video production team will have the experience to help you make the best decision for your needs and budget.
Have you seen anything online or on TV that is similar to the style you’re envisioning? Before you get started, check out the competition! Do some online research to see how other companies (whether they are local competitors or national corporations) are executing their videos; it may spark some great ideas of your own! Also realize that the national commercial or marketing video you like may have had a budget that is tens, if not hundreds of thousands more than what you are able to spend.
Where will you show your video? Is it meant for social media, or will it live on your company’s website? Will it run at a company event? Or do you need it to open up a national convention? Different end-uses require different creative strategies and stylistic/technical approaches. Your production company should be well-versed at creating the type of video you need.
What is your budget? You’ll probably be tempted to keep this one close to the vest - but that will only waste everyone’s valuable time. Imagine spending an hour (or much more!) talking with a producer or group about your project; you feel great about the team, they are experienced at producing the type of content you need, and you love their work. Say you’re even getting ready to hire them - only to find out that they can’t possibly do the job you need for the amount of money you have. It is important to share your budget (or a budget range, if you’re more comfortable with that) at the beginning, to ensure that they can deliver what you need for the money you have.
On-location filming for John Deere.
Without further ado, here are five questions you should ask:
Are They Comfortable Developing Creative Concepts for the Project?
Unless your company does creative development for multimedia or marketing, it is unlikely that you are going to do all of the creative work yourself. The video production agency that you hire needs to be able to help you determine the vision of the video throughout the creative process. And listen to your creative team. A good production company creates hundreds of video and film projects per year to stay on top of their game.
Still images, b-roll, scripts, and any other creative needs will need to be met. If you don’t have the ability to create these things yourself, you need to find a production company that can handle these things for you. You can also ask to see a previous creative treatment and examples of scripts that they have written for other clients.
Do They Have a Full-Time Staff of Professionals, or Do They Use Freelancers?
Having a full-service production team dedicated to the entire video production process usually makes the project flow much more smoothly. A full-time team of creative designers, producers, and editors is easier to manage, and it is easier for members of the team to work together on the project when they are in the office together regularly.
Who Will Manage the Project to Ensure That It Stays Within Your Budget and Timeframe?
Budgets and deadlines are important for companies. A video production company needs to be able to stick to both of these aspects of film production. When you ask a video production agency who will be managing your project, the best answer is always a project manager; the next best option is the producer. However, if a company says “the team” will manage the project, that could be a red flag. It’s best to have one person dedicated to keeping an eye on your timeline and budget.
It is always a good idea to determine time frame needs before signing a contract. If possible, you could include this information in the contract as well. Nobody wants to be told that the project will take six to eight weeks just to watch those dates fly by with nothing to show for it or be told that they will need to shell out hundreds of extra dollars to get the project completed.
Who Owns What? Am I Able To Use the Video Whenever and Wherever I Want Without Incurring Additional Costs?
After the project is completed, who owns the video and any other assets that are delivered? Generally, you will want to own the rights to the video. This will allow you to use the video in any way that you need.
Ownership of other assets might not be so cut and dry. For example, animation projects may contain characters that you might want to negotiate over so that you can use them in future videos or marketing efforts. This would also prevent the production company from using them for future projects.
While you will have ownership of the video, the video production company will likely want to retain the right to use the video as part of their demo reel or portfolio.
What Is the Estimated Cost of the Video?
One of the most important aspects of creating a video is the price tag. While this is an obvious question, it is also important that you understand why the price is what it is. Ask the company to outline the costs so that you know what you’re paying for.
If you are looking for a video production company, look no further than Wide Awake Studios. You can reach us at 816-872-3456.
Contact us if you are interested in working with our team at Wide Awake Studios to create a corporate documentary.