What to put in a video production brief so the quote is right first time

Most quotes that go wrong go wrong at the brief. "We need a 30-second TVC" can mean one shoot day with two actors in an office, or three days, a crane, a celebrity and a food stylist. Same words, very different numbers. The brief is what tells us which one you mean.

This is the brief we wish every client sent us. It works whether you're a brand manager, an agency producer or a CEO doing it yourself.

Why does the brief decide the quote?

Because a production quote is built line by line from it: how many shoot days, how big a crew, which locations, how much talent, how many edits and versions. Leave something out and the producer has to guess. Guesses come back as a padded quote or a revised one later.

There's a local habit worth knowing about too. A piece in Aurora quoted an agency owner describing how some brand teams in Pakistan pick the location first, fit the product to it, and only then build the concept. The same piece pointed out how TVC budgets climb when brand teams ask for well-known directors, celebrities and specialist high-speed cameras. Both are brief problems, not production problems. Decide them up front and the quote holds.

What should a video production brief include?

Eight things. You don't need to write an essay. A page is enough if it answers these.

1. What the video has to do

One sentence. Launch a product, push sales in a season, explain a service, recruit people, show investors who you are. If you can't say it in one line, the video won't either.

2. Who it's for

Who is watching and where. Karachi only or national? Urdu, English or both? Two languages is more than a re-voice if people speak on camera: it can mean shooting dialogue twice. Say it now, not after the shoot.

3. What you need delivered, and where it will run

This is the one people skip and it changes the most. List the master and every cut-down: for example 1 x 30s, 1 x 15s, 2 x 6s, plus vertical versions for Reels. Then say where each one runs: TV, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, OTT, cinema, a screen at an event.

Format matters at the shoot, not just in the edit. Meta recommends 9:16 vertical for Stories and Reels, 16:9 for in-stream video, and 1:1 or 4:5 for Feed. For Reels it also suggests keeping about 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% on each side clear of text and logos, because the app covers those areas (Meta Ads Guide). If we know you need vertical, we frame for it on set. If we find out later, someone's face gets cropped.

4. Your deadline, as a date

An air date or a launch date. Not "ASAP". We work back from it through pre-production, shoot, post and delivery. If it's for a peak like Ramadan, Eid or a big sale, brief early. A tight date is fine, but it shapes the plan and the cost, so we need to know it on day one.

5. A budget range

Give a range in PKR. It's not a trap. A range lets the producer design the shoot to the money: fewer locations, a tighter crew, or a bigger idea if there's room. Without one you get a quote built on guesses, and a second round of back and forth. Our brief form on nitrate.media asks for a range for exactly this reason.

6. What's already fixed

• Product: is the final pack ready, and how many samples can you give us? Food needs several hero units.
• Talent: your own people, a celebrity you've signed, or do we cast?
• Location: your office, factory or store, or do we find one?
• Script: does the agency already have one, or is the idea open?

Some categories cost more by nature. Food shoots are the obvious one: styling, multiple hero products, and more time per shot.

7. Who approves it

Name the person who signs off, and how many review rounds you expect. Agency, brand team, regional office, legal: if all four see the cut, say so. Every extra approver adds time to post.

8. Two or three references

Links to videos you like, and one line on what you like about each: the pace, the colour, the humour, the way the product is shot. "Make it like this" with no reason is hard to cost. "We like how this one shows the product in use" is easy.

How does each part of the brief change the quote?

Here's the same list as a table. The right-hand column is what actually moves when that line is missing or changes.

What can you leave out?

A lot. You don't need a shot list, camera choices, crew names or a production schedule. That's our job. You don't need a finished script either: if you have one, send it; if you don't, the objective and audience are enough for us to come back with an approach.

What you shouldn't leave out is anything that's already decided on your side. If the celebrity is signed or the location is fixed, tell us. Finding out after the quote is how quotes change.

What are the most common brief mistakes?

• "ASAP" instead of a date. We can't plan backwards from ASAP.
• "Something viral". That's a hope, not an objective. Say what you want people to do after watching.
• No budget at all. You'll get a quote. It just might not be the shoot you had in mind.
• Cut-downs added after the shoot. Vertical versions and 6-second edits need planning on set.
• Too many people approving. Five rounds of feedback on a two-round quote means a revised quote.

What happens after you send it?

At Nitrate Media in Karachi, Pakistan, our producer breaks the brief down into crew, talent, locations, kit and post, department by department. Then we come back with a costed quote in PKR within 2 working days of a complete brief. If something's unclear, we ask before we guess.

Once you approve, it runs in five stages: brief, pre-production, shoot, post, delivery. You get one point of contact the whole way through.

It works the same if you only need part of the pipeline. We've done post-production on the TV dramas Aik Thi Laila and Razia, and we produced the Bake Parlor TVC from shoot to final cut.

Is there a brief template I can copy?

Yes. Copy this, fill it in, and send it to sales@nitrate.media or paste it into WhatsApp.

VIDEO BRIEF
Company / brand:
Contact and who approves:
1. What the video must do (one line):
2. Audience (who, where, language):
3. Deliverables (master + cut-downs + aspect ratios):
   Platforms (TV / YouTube / Instagram / Facebook / OTT / event):
4. Air or launch date:
5. Budget range (PKR):
6. Already fixed (product, talent, location, script):
7. Review rounds expected:
8. References (links + what you like about each):