Corporate video production: What to expect and how to get the most from your brief

Corporate video production is one of the most significant communications investments an organisation can make, and one of the most commonly mishandled. Not because production companies don’t know what they’re doing, but because the briefing process, the stakeholder management and the creative collaboration that separates a film that works from one that disappoints are rarely written about honestly.

This guide is for marketing directors, communications leads, brand managers and in-house creative teams who are commissioning corporate video, whether for the first time or the tenth. It covers the decisions that matter before a camera rolls, what to look for in a production company, and how to build a process that gives you the best possible outcome.

The most common mistake in corporate video commissioning is starting with the format rather than the objective. “We need a brand film” or “we want something for LinkedIn” are not objectives, they’re format decisions made before the real question has been answered. The real question is: what do you need this film to do?

For a brand film, that might be: we need to communicate our values to senior hires who are deciding whether to join us. For a product film, it might be: we need our sales team to be able to explain what this technology does in under two minutes. For an employer brand film, it might be: we need graduates in competitive markets to understand why our organisation is worth considering over a larger employer.

Each of these objectives produces a completely different film, different story, different tone, different length, different distribution strategy. A production company that receives a brief saying “we need a brand film” will make assumptions about all of these things. Some will be right. Some won’t. Getting the objective clear before you approach anyone saves a significant amount of expensive misalignment later.

Not all production companies are the same, and the right choice for your corporate video depends on factors beyond portfolio quality and day rate.

Sector understanding: a production company with experience in your sector will ask better questions, make fewer wrong assumptions, and produce work that feels right for your context. Our work spans professional services, financial services, technology, education, aviation and publishing. When we film for a law firm, we understand the culture, the client relationships and the sensitivities. When we film for a technology company, we know how to make complex capabilities accessible. That sector fluency shows in the work.

The seniority of the team: a small, senior team means the people you meet in the pitch room are the people who will make your film. A larger agency may present senior talent in the pitch and deliver your project to more junior staff. Be clear about who will be directing and producing before you sign anything.

The quality of the questions they ask: a production company that arrives at a briefing with a long list of creative ideas before they’ve properly understood your brief is showing you their portfolio, not their thinking. The best production companies ask smart questions and listen carefully before proposing anything.

References from comparable organisations: ask to speak to clients who commissioned similar work. Not just “can I see your reel” but “can I speak to the communications director at X who commissioned a brand film with you last year.” What you learn in that conversation will tell you more than any reel.

Brand films:

A brand film communicates who an organisation is, its values, its culture, its way of working. At its best it’s documentary-led, built around real people speaking honestly about what they do and why it matters. The risk is a film that looks polished but says nothing, all production value, no substance.
Our brand film for Farrer & Co translated a complex organisational rebrand into a film that communicated the firm’s values and culture to clients and staff. The brief was to show who Farrer & Co actually is, not who they say they are, and that required giving their people genuine space to speak, rather than scripting what they should say.

Employer brand films:

An employer brand film answers the question every candidate is really asking: would I belong here? It’s built around authenticity: real people, real environments, real accounts of what working at the organisation is actually like. The mistake most organisations make is trying to make everything look perfect. The films that actually work are the ones that are honest about the demands of the work as well as the rewards.

Our employer brand film for Houzz captured the energy and culture of their London office for use in international recruitment campaigns, showing what made Houzz a distinctive place to work in a way that a job description could never communicate.

Educational and training film series:

A structured series of films designed to inform, instruct or build understanding over multiple episodes. These require more detailed development work upfront than a single film, the architecture of the series, the relationship between episodes, the balance between what’s covered in each film, but the investment pays off over a series that’s genuinely coherent rather than a collection of disconnected pieces.

Our ongoing educational series for Lloyd’s Register Foundation covers international maritime safety and has been distributed globally to professional and academic audiences. The series works because the structure was right before a single film was made.

Product and sales films:

A product or sales film needs to do one thing above all else: make a complex capability simple and a sale feel natural. The best ones tell a story, this is the problem, this is how our product solves it, this is what that looks like in practice, rather than listing features.

Our sales film for Multitaction translated a complex interactive display technology into a compelling and accessible story for their sales team. The brief was essentially: make this thing understandable to someone who’s never seen it, in under two minutes.

Promotional and campaign films:

A promotional film built around a specific campaign objective – launching a product, positioning a brand, driving awareness. Our promotional film for Farnborough Airport, Ahead of the Curve, positioned the airport as a world-class business aviation destination ahead of the biennial airshow. The film worked because it had a clear objective, change how the aviation industry thinks about Farnborough, and a creative approach built entirely around that objective.

Corporate video production costs vary considerably depending on the type of film, the production complexity and the formats required.

A single-day interview, culture film or case study, one location, two to four contributors, a straightforward edit, typically starts from around £3,500–£6,000 including filming, editing, colour grade, music and final delivery.

A brand film, employer brand production or promotional campaign film with multiple shoot days typically ranges from £8,000–£25,000 depending on scope, locations and format requirements.
An educational film series or multilingual corporate animation series is scoped individually based on the number of films and languages required. We’ve produced series of up to fifteen films and content in up to fifteen languages for single corporate clients.

The most important thing to know about budget conversations is that they should happen early and honestly. A production company that won’t have a direct conversation about what’s achievable at your budget level isn’t the right partner.

A straightforward interview or culture film can be turned around in two to three weeks from brief to deliver, one week of pre-production, one shoot day, one to two weeks of editing and review.

A brand film, promotional campaign or employer brand production typically takes six to ten weeks, two to three weeks of development and pre-production, one to three shoot days, and three to four weeks of post-production and review.

An educational film series or multilingual animation series typically takes twelve to twenty weeks depending on the number of films and the complexity of the content.

The pre-production stage, developing the creative approach, writing the script, planning the shoot, is the most important stage and should not be compressed. A production that starts shooting before the brief is properly developed almost always costs more to fix in post than it would have cost to get right in development.