Basic Briefing Information

Whenever I receive a brief for a promotional or corporate film, I tend to try and identify six basic things using the information provided. If I cannot glean these from the original brief, I'll then return to the client and push them to answer the questions below.

Story or headline message: what are we communicating or promoting, and what is the most interesting thing about it? In other words, how can we encourage debate, what’s the main talking point? 
 
 
Audience: who needs to see this message, on what platform(s), and is there a call to action? It’s vital to know viewing context (cinema, Vimeo, LinkedIn, etc.) and any action you want the audience to take.
 
 
Treatment: talent-led or VO/graphics-led - does this need bespoke shoot(s) or are we more reliant on existing elements with post-production (stock footage, animation, etc.). Could be both but usually it’s more one of the two: shoot-heavy or edit-heavy. This helps orient resource and timelines, as you may be able to use existing assets.
 
 
Deliverables, Sign-off & Air Date:  when does the work need to go live, and how many versions of it do we need? Do we need more formats for social? Please flag anything here that would require more time. 
 
 
Any References, Callouts & Script Lines: ask to flag any work they've seen that fits this kind of style or something we are looking to emulate, as well as script lines that could or need to be in the video. 
 
 
Budget: important to know what has been allocated for a piece of work so you can come back with an appropriate response.