The one-page brief
Copy these lines into an email or a document and answer each one in a sentence or two.
- Objective: what should the film make people do or think?
- Audience: who is it for, and where are they?
- Where it runs: site, paid social, retail screen, event, TV?
- Formats and length: ratios, durations, number of cuts.
- Languages and accents: which markets?
- Message: the one thing the viewer should remember.
- References: two or three films you like, and one you dislike.
- Product material: photos, packshots, 3D files, brand guidelines.
- Limits and timing: claims that must appear, claims to avoid, the date you need it.
Start with the objective
Say what the film is for before you say what it looks like. A film to launch a product, to explain it, to build a brand or to sell a campaign is four different films. Write the result you want in one sentence and everything else follows from it.
Say where it will run
The channel decides the length, the ratio and often the pace. A film for a product page can be a quiet loop. A film for a social feed has to say something in the first seconds. If it will run in several places, list them, because each cut is part of the scope.
Send references, and a counter-example
Two or three films you like tell a team more than a paragraph of adjectives. One you dislike, with a sentence on why, tells them where the edge is. Say what you like about each: the light, the pace, the story, the product shots.
Send the product material early
An accurate product is the hardest thing to get right, and it depends on what the team can see. Send packshots from several angles, dimensions, finishes, logos in vector form and your brand guidelines. If the product has a detail that must be exact, name it.
State the limits and the date
List any claim or line that must appear, anything that must not, and any rules from your legal team. Give the date the film must be live and the date approvals can happen, because the approval stages set the schedule.
Common mistakes
These slow a brief down more than anything else.
- Describing the look but not the goal.
- Leaving the channel out.
- Asking for one film that must work in every format.
- Sending the product material after the script is approved.
- Changing the audience halfway through.
