Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company - Birmingham, AL

I believe that the most exciting thing about the video production process for any client is when they get to see everything come together in post-production. Editing, in a sense, is a form of writing, because it is up to the editor to find the story among hours of footage, then assemble those elements into a coherent whole. Sometimes the final product follows the original script line by line. However, sometimes the final video may bear little resemblance to the original script. That’s because a new and better story can often emerge as the editor and the client sift through the footage. Those that enter post-production with an open mind can often find a new angle to the story that was never thought of previously. And that can be a very good thing. That’s why it’s important to allocate a good portion of your budget for post-production. Things can become very fluid as the client, the producer, and the editor experiment with different possibilities, so you want to be prepared. Anticipate change. More than likely, you and your team will request changes to the edit. Also keep in mind that in a very complicated video (i.e. heavy compositing, layers, effects, etc.) the smallest change can be incredibly time-consuming for an editor to make. He/She will need time to remove old footage, find and insert new footage, apply the same effects, color correction, titles, etc. Then, the video must be rendered out so you can preview the new version. Turn-around time for certain changes might take longer than you initially expect, so be sure you and your team avoid waiting until the 11th hour to request changes, if at all possible. Neither you nor your video production company want to miss a deadline.

In my experiences as a video producer and director, I have learned that clients can fall under two extremes: On one end of the spectrum are clients who are heavily involved in every stage of the process.  On the other end of the spectrum are the clients who take a “hands off” approach. They approve the creative strategy and then let the production company produce the video. Then, they will come back in during the editing process to give notes. And, of course, there are clients who will fall somewhere in the middle.

Ultimately, it’s your responsibility as a producer/director to give the client what they want. You need to recognize their particular work habits and learn to adapt accordingly. But if you are faced with a client who prefers a “hands off” approach it can be difficult to determine if you are on the right track. You could be faced with a big problem if you have already shot all of your footage and invested a lot of time in the edit only to discover that your client didn’t like the way you shot a particular scene. Or they might not like the wording of the script in a particular section. Or they might not like the look of a certain location. However, there are things that both the client and the video director can do to avoid costly re-shoots or extra time in the editing suite.

Directors, don’t ignore the client while on set. If you see that they are standing off by themselves, encourage them to come over and take a look at each shot before you start filming. Ask them if the lighting, framing, blocking, etc. is what they had in mind. Before moving on to another scene, ask the client if there is any other shot that they need before wrapping the gear. Clients, make sure that someone from your team is on location to supervise the shoot. Don’t be afraid to look over the director’s shoulder. Ask questions. Be honest about what you would like to see. Make sure that the footage you are getting is the footage you want. Better to have the footage and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Ultimately, a video production is a collaborative process, so both parties should respect each other and listen to any creative input. The client and the production company both want to produce the best video possible. And that’s some common ground from which to start.

Before the project even begins, you realize that you are under a tight deadline. The client needs the video to be completed quickly, and you commit. You are confident in your ability to meet your client’s timetable. Unfortunately, you don’t get very far into post-production before realizing that it will be impossible to get the video finished before the deadline. What happens now? Last year I wrote an article entitled, “Deliver What You Promise,” which stressed the importance of fully evaluating the size and scope of a video project before committing. However, this hypothetical situation is different. In this situation, you are already knee-deep in the project and no longer have the option to turn it down. What can you do?

1. Be honest with the client - This item is listed #1 for a reason. It is imperative that you call your client immediately and tell them what’s going on. They will certainly be disappointed that the project isn’t progressing as planned, but your client will respect you much more for being honest than they will if you waited until the very last minute to tell them of the problem. So, keep your client in the loop. Tell them what you’re seeing from your end. Tell them what you’re up against.
2. Find out if the deadline can be pushed - Sometimes a client will pad out the schedule, knowing that certain unforeseen problems could arise. Therefore, if your deadline is the 15th, you might actually have until the 22nd. Talk to your client. Find out when the actual make-or-break point is.
3. Break up the project into smaller, more manageable sizes - This is the moment when you start farming out portions of the project to other editors in your area. Look through your contact list. Examine your network of video professionals. Is there anyone on that list who could help by editing certain portions of the project while you edit other segments?
4. Offer your client a discount on the work - Sometimes you might have to take a hit on your hourly rate in order to maintain a good relationship with your client. So, take responsibility. Face up to the fact that you over-promised and be willing to finish the video at no extra cost to your client. Or, offer them a discount, either on the current project, or a future project (assuming this is a repeat client).

These situations are never easy, and it causes major stress for both you and your client. However, there is always a solution to the problems that seem insurmountable.

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The above scene is from Jaws and it takes place right at the moment that Chief Brody gets his first look at the great white shark. It’s then that he realizes that he and his team underestimated just what they are up against. The same problem can occur in any video production. It’s easy to underestimate the scope of your project. What seemed like a simple, straightforward shoot and edit can quickly balloon into something entirely unexpected. The last thing that you, as a video producer, want to do is to go back to your client and say, “We’re going to need a bigger budget.” That’s not a fun conversation. Here’s what needs to happen to ensure that neither you nor your client underestimate the scope of the video project.

1. Everyone (both client and video producer) need to be upfront and honest at the beginning. You as a video producer should never over promise. Be clear on what your capabilities are. And you, the client, should never try to downplay what’s involved in producing the video. If you are working from a script and are not as prepared as you need to be, then you need to tell the video producer, “I’m going to need several takes to get this right.”
2. All decision-makers need to be involved from the very beginning. If the “higher-ups” wait to watch the video after everything has been shot, you may be forced to re-shoot portions of the video if they don’t like what they see. Re-shoots are costly. You as the client can avoid them by making sure that anyone who has to put his/her stamp of approval on the video is present for all important decisions.
3. When it comes to budgeting for post-production, the “less is more” mentality doesn’t work. More is more. In other words, you will always need more money for post-production than you think you do. Many clients (and video producers) underestimate just how much time will be spent editing the video. You may accurately gauge the hours you will spend assembling the edit, but you may neglect to consider time needed for encoding, making approval copies, delivering approval copies, approval meetings, phone calls with the client, making changes to the edit, re-working sections of the script, additional color correction, audio mixing, more encoding, more approval copies, etc. The list can go on and on, so you need to be prepared. Always budget more for post-production.

Video producers and clients need to work together so both parties clearly understand what’s involved in the production of any video. These tips are intended to help you avoid potentially awkward meetings wherein you have to ask for more money, because you simply underestimated what you were up against.

You’re a marketer. You might not be in the marketing industry, but make no mistake - you’re a marketer. That means you have a product/service/business/website/hobby/book/movie/etc. that you want to tell people about. And you want those people to jump on the bandwagon. So, what’s the best way to go about it? How do you persuade people to get on board? You have to have passion , and your audience has to feel that excitement. Only then will they be more willing to say “yes” to your offer.

Consider this: You go to the movie theatre one night to catch the opening night of Hollywood’s latest film. It’s outstanding. You exit the theatre completely blown away by what you’ve just seen. Now, what do you do the following day? You tell people about it. But you just don’t tell them. You re-live it. The excitement you felt in the theatre is conveyed in the way you describe the movie to your friends.

Now, translate this to business: When marketing a product or service, you need to communicate that same kind of excitement. However, your energy needs to be focused on your potential client, not on you, your business, or your service. When I go into meetings with a potential client to discuss a video project, I don’t spend time talking about how great our cameras are, how beautiful our images are, or how state-of-the-art our editing system is. When I go into a meeting, I want to learn more about my contact’s business. I want to hear about their goals. I want to show them that I am genuinely excited about their company. I am there because I feel as though our video production services can help them with their marketing efforts.

Your attitude needs to be the same. Be interested in your client. Get excited about their business. Only then will you be able to communicate effectively how your product or service can help. Then, when discussions shift to the price of your product or service, your lead will be more inclined to buy from you, even if your prices are higher than your competitor. Why? Because you have shown a genuine interest in who they are and what they’re all about. The old saying is true, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Based on the lessons I’ve learned by running a business, I have written several articles on this blog pertaining to entrepreneurship. Earlier this year I wrote an article providing tips on what you need to have in your contract before starting any job. As I looked back over that list, I realized that I missed something very important. What happens if your client decides to pull the plug before the project is finished?

“No problem,” you say, “my client paid me a deposit up front.” That may be true, but a deposit usually only covers certain up-front creative costs. Let’s say the time you have invested into a particular project now exceeds the amount of the deposit. Let’s assume that you are well into phase two, when all of a sudden, the project is put on hold. Your client becomes unresponsive. When he/she does finally return your calls, he/she says that the company has been forced to table the project. So, how do you recoup the cost of your time up to that point?

Since this has happened to me before, I now insert a clause into each of my contracts which says something like, “Should Client terminate the project before its completion, Client is responsible for paying Company all unpaid costs incurred in the production of this video up to the date of termination.” By inserting this sentence, I can cover myself in case my client decides to shelve the video project before it’s complete. The wording of your contract ultimately might be a bit different from mine, but the point is to make sure that you get paid for your time.

I’ve been drafting contracts recently for some new projects, and it got me thinking not only about the importance of having a contract, but the value in having the right content written up in your contract. You need to make sure that your contract covers any possible variable, so that if conflicts arise, you and your business will be covered. Of course, knowing exactly what to include can be difficult. After all, we that work in the production industry are creative folks, so the administrative tasks of running a business can be a challenge. Based on my experiences, here are a few guidelines on drafting a contract.

1. Describe the scope of the project. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it’s very important. You need to make sure that both you and your client are clear on the project as a whole. What is this video for? What are the goals? What will the video hope to achieve?
2. Based on the scope of the project, define the specific services you will perform so that the project responsibilities are fulfilled. Make sure you spell out exactly what you will be doing over the course of the production. Also spell out what you need from your client. Sometimes, in order to complete a video, I need my clients to provide me with still images, company logos, backgrounds, fonts, etc. In any contract, both parties should be clear on what their individual responsibilities are.
3. Specify the video project’s budget. Verbage is important here. Don’t say, “the budget for the video production services described herein are estimated at…” Never estimate in your contract. Be specific. Just write in what the budget will be.
4. Specify how much time you will be investing in the video. Every budget I draft is based on a number of factors, including the amount of time I plan on spending in pre-production, production, and post-production. Place these figures in your contract somewhere. It can read something like this, “The above budget includes X hours of pre-production, X hours of production, and X hours in post-production.  Should Client request changes to the project and Company’s time exceeds the budgeted time, Client agrees to pay Company its standard rate of X in order to complete the changes.” This particular clause covers you in case you get into production and your client starts making a lot of unexpected changes. If you aren’t covered in this way, you may find that you’re spending a lot of extra time on the video and not getting paid for it.
5. Define the payment schedule. I always ask my clients for a deposit before I start work on any video project. This money helps to offset initial time invested in the pre-production phase. I also make sure to specify in my contracts that deposits paid are non-refundable. This covers me in the event that a client pulls the plug on the video. In addition to the deposit, you need to specify project milestones at which time additional payments are due. For example, I usually ask my clients for a second payment after the video shoot, with final payment due after the video is approved.
6. Insert a clause to cover late payments. To help my cash flow, all of my invoices are net-15. However, net-30 is more realistic. Clients will often push that to net-45 or even net-60. To ensure that you receive payment from your clients in a timely fashion, insert a clause indicating that a late fee will be applied to any balance that is more than 30 days overdue. This will protect you in case your client is negligent about making payments.
7. Specify the delivery date. Make sure both parties understand when project milestones are supposed to take place, including delivery of the final video. Now, look back to #3 on this list. It’s important to remind the client (within the context of the contract) that any delay on their part in getting necessary materials to you will delay the completion of the video. You don’t want to be locked in to a deadline on the 10th of the month when you’re in your office on the 8th still waiting for your client to send photos, logos, fonts, etc.
8. Be sure to retain certain rights to the video. Every video completed is an addition to your demo reel that can possibly help you land the next job. So, in your contracts, specify that you retain the right to use the final video for display, publication, exhibition, awards, etc. for your own promotional purposes. I have never had a client that had a problem with this and it grants me the permission to show my work to other potential clients.

Working in video production as an independent professional or business owner can be a trial-and-error existence. Mistakes will be made and hopefully, lessons will be learned. The way I write my contracts is based on my experiences as a professional producer/director and business owner. Hopefully, these insights will help you in your own ventures.

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Based on my last post, I received another question regarding clients and client relations. My last post discussed those who like to include a little too much information into their videos. This particular question focuses on clients who can’t stick with the shooting schedule. Here’s the question:

My client is very knowledgeable about his business, but won’t follow a cut sheet to save their lives! We’ve been there to give directions and they are great about that. However, any general advice on how to shoot this smoothly (even w/o the cut sheets) so the post production isn’t a hair puller?

Let me first say that video shoots rarely stay on schedule. Once you get on location, things can get shuffled around and your day can run late. So, don’t panic if you’re at the end of the first day and you haven’t accomplished all that you hoped. I have written some articles on this blog that discuss shooting schedules. Hopefully you can find some valuable info in my archives that will help you schedule your video shoots.

Second, when you’re talking to your client about the shooting schedule, try approaching the subject from a financial angle. Staying true to the shot list will help everything run more efficiently, which will save your client money. I always tell clients that spending the time in pre-production to create and maintain a solid shooting schedule is vital to staying on budget.

Third, realize that many times you will simply have to “go with the flow.” As I said earlier, things fluctuate. Often, the activity on location will dictate how and what you shoot, not the other way around. For example, while working on a video project for a manufacturing company, I simply had to shoot the action as it happened. I couldn’t tell the foreman, “Hey, we need to shoot ‘X’ at station 2 right now,” because the manufacturing process has its own schedule. Sometimes there was no activity at station 2. I simply had to stay flexible and go where the action was. It did mean I had to jump around quite a bit, but that’s part of the documentary process. Sometimes it can’t be contained in a nice, neat shot list.

If you find that you are shooting your project in this style, remember to do one of two things (doing both would be even better):

1. Maintain a running log of what’s been shot
2. Slate everything (simply write down on a piece of paper what the camera is looking at, hold it up in front of the camera, and film it for a few seconds, just for reference).

Having a reference marker in your footage will help tremendously in post-production. That way, your editor can easily match up your shot with what’s mentioned in the script. Let’s say your video is for a drilling company and the script reads, “With our new, state-of-the-art Hole-Maker 9000, we can…” Well, if your editor has hours of footage showing different types of machinery, how is he/she supposed to know which piece of footage is the Hole-Maker 9000?

Yes, staying on schedule will make everyone happier and it will keep production costs down, but remaining open to new possibilities means that you may find a great storyline when you least expect it.

Clients come in all shapes and sizes. For some of our video projects, we simply shoot and then turn over all raw footage to the client so they can edit it themselves. Some businesses we work with have their own in-house marketing team. They create the concept, write the script, and hire us to produce the final piece. Other clients will lean on our expertise to conceptualize, write, shoot, and edit their marketing videos. Every client is different. They have different needs, different expectations, different ideas, and different ways of doing things. Your job as a video producer/director is to listen to their needs, respect their opinions, and advise them when they need guidance throughout the production process.

A friend of mine recently sent me an email asking for my advice on a particular situation. She is currently working on a video and her client has some great ideas, but there is one problem: the client is trying to put too much into the video.

I’ve been in creative meetings when the client throws a lot of information at me. But that’s not a bad thing. When you first get started on conceptualizing and writing a video, you want as much information as possible. The biggest challenge comes when you have to narrow your focus and sculpt that information into usable material for the final script. If you’re having trouble convincing your client to reduce the amount of info that he/she wants in the video, here’s some advice:

1. Listen and Take Notes - during those creative meetings, pay attention to everything they say and take notes as you go. The act of physically writing down your client’s ideas tells them that you value their input. By engaging them in this way, you will earn their respect and trust and they will be more receptive to your creative suggestions.
2. After getting all the information, it’s time to trim the fat. Ask your client a few follow-up questions. These questions will encourage your client to narrow his or her focus and concentrate on those elements of their business that are most important: a) How do you want the public to perceive you?
   b) Using one sentence, how would you describe your company’s identity/mission?
   c) What is your mission statement?
   d) What are three key selling points for your business?
   e) What objections do people have when it comes to making a purchase? i.e. what prevents them from buying from you?
3. Explain the process - As politely as you can, explain the process of creating a video. Emphasize the importance of creating a video with a strong, central theme and a simple message. Bombarding the viewer with too much information will only confuse the audience and will result in more questions being asked than being answered.
4. Make Comparisons - Show the client samples from your reel and walk them through the case study of each project. Show them through these videos how a simple approach is usually the best approach. You might also ask your client to think of their favorite commercials or favorite long-format videos. Walk through those videos and ask your client, “What makes these videos so memorable? Why do you like them? Why are they successful?” Usually, it’s because the director boiled everything down to a simple concept that an audience could easily digest.

And remind your client of that adage, “The simplest solution is the best solution.”

Video production is an industry full of variety. In my career, I have covered several different businesses, topics, people, and places. Browse through any video director’s client list and you will no doubt see a broad spectrum of projects. However, there may come a point when you are approached by one of your client’s direct competitors to produce video content. Should you take the job or should you politely refuse because of your existing relationship?

The answer to this question depends on a number of factors - most importantly, the nature of the relationship with your existing client. Here are some things to consider:

• If you signed a non-disclosure agreement with your client, then legally, you might not be able to accept a job from a competitor.
• If you signed some kind of non-compete clause, then you probably won’t be able to take the competitor’s job.
• Let’s suppose you produce a lot of content for your client on a regular basis. And let’s suppose each video requires you to be out on location meeting with your client’s vendors and other people your client does business with. Over time, these vendors might come to think of you as part of your client’s business (even though you, in fact, are an independent contractor). If those same vendors see you representing a competing company, they may take offense and the credibility of your first client could be shaken.
• If your client considers you as their “go-to” guy/gal for production work, they may get their feelings hurt if they realize that you are doing work for their competitor. In which case, they may not want to hire you for their next project. Be careful not to burn any bridges.

Ultimately, the choice you make should be handled on a case-by-case basis, because every situation is different. Obviously, if you have only produced one video for a client, and that project is now five years old, it’s probably okay to accept a job from a competitor.

It also might be helpful to address these concerns with a new client before the first project gets underway. If the new client is looking for a long-term relationship, then you probably need to discuss any non-compete policies the company may have. I know it’s tempting to jump at a good offer when it comes your way, but more important than new jobs are the relationships you have established with your existing clientele.

So now I’ll open the floor for discussion. What would you do in a situation like this? Do you agree or disagree with the considerations mentioned in this post?