How we work
Most clients come to us with a feeling, not a brief.
A feeling is a good place to start. It is a hard thing to film. This page shows how we turn that first instinct into a plan precise enough that, by shoot day, the client, the crew and the cast are all looking at the same film.
The work you see on set is the calm part. Most of it happens before, on paper, where a mistake costs an eraser instead of a shoot day.
Discovery
We find the problem before we pitch the film.
A brief usually arrives as a solution in disguise. “We need a two-minute brand film” is already an answer. Our first job is to find the question it was meant to answer.
So the first conversation is mostly us asking. Who is this film for, and what do they believe right now? Whose sign-off does it need that is not in the room? What would make the person holding the budget call it a success? None of this is delay. This is the stage where a weak project gets caught, while it is still cheap to fix.
What you get
- A kickoff call
- Audience and stakeholder notes
Output
A one-sentence problem statement both sides sign off on.
Concept & creative direction
One idea, written down so it can be argued with.
The problem statement points to a single idea. We write that idea into a treatment: a short document the client can read, picture and push back on before any money is spent on a camera.
The treatment carries the story, the tone, a point of view on casting and pace, and reference images chosen for mood rather than to be copied. We research the brand and its category first, so the idea sits on something real. This is the first moment everyone reads the same film off the same page. If it is going to be wrong, we want it wrong here, in a paragraph.
What you get
- A written treatment
- A tone and reference board
Output
An approved treatment, the first version of the film everyone can see.
Content & script
The words come before the frames.
Now the concept becomes language: voiceover, dialogue, on-screen text, interview questions, whatever the format asks for. We read the first draft as a story. Only after it holds as a story do we read it again as a shooting blueprint.
Copy is written against the belief we are trying to move, not against a feature list. We draft, we cut, we read it aloud. A script that reads well on the page and falls apart in the mouth is not finished. We lock it before we board a single frame, because every later decision, the shot list, the schedule, the budget, is built on top of these words.
What you get
- Script drafts
- A locked script
Output
A locked script the client signs off before storyboarding starts.
Storyboard & shot design
A shot list is an edit test, not decoration.
We turn the locked script into a sequence of shots and ask the hard question early: does this cut together? A frame can look good on its own and still refuse to sit next to the one before it.
Each scene gets an outcome written next to it, one line on what the viewer should feel or understand by the end of it. The storyboard or shot list scales to the job; a moving product hero and a sit-down interview do not need the same paper. Where the light has to be controlled, we draw a lighting plan. Then we build a gear list, split across camera, grip and lighting. Finding out a sequence does not work on paper costs nothing. Finding out on set costs the day.
What you get
- A storyboard or shot list
- An outcome note per scene
- A lighting plan
- A gear list
Output
A visual plan the crew can build from, approved in writing.
Casting, locations & logistics
The unglamorous ninety percent.
This is the part nobody sees and everything rests on. Casting for faces and performances that carry the idea. Scouting locations, then a technical scout with the department heads who have to work there.
The schedule respects what is real: cast and crew availability, the hour the light is right, how long a rental can stay on the truck. We handle permits and location agreements, confirm the crew and brief them on the one thing the film is about, and run camera tests where they earn their place. By the last day of prep there is a call sheet, a schedule everyone has agreed to, signed paperwork and gear that has already been switched on once. The shoot should hold no surprises except the ones the director asked for.
What you get
- A call sheet
- A locked schedule
- Location agreements and permits
- Tested gear
Output
A shoot day planned down to the hour, with the paperwork already signed.
Production, post & delivery
On set it looks easy, because of everything above.
On the day, each person guards one thing. The director protects the performance and the rhythm. The cinematographer protects the image. The first assistant director protects the clock. The script supervisor protects continuity, so the edit has what it needs.
In post we send versions, not drafts. Version one already has the colour and the graphics in it, so you judge the film you are actually getting, not a grey placeholder. We hold a single live review with everyone who has a say in the same room or the same call, because ten conflicting comments by email is how a good cut dies. Then we close in one revision round whenever the job allows. You get final masters in every format the campaign needs, backed up, with the paperwork in order.
What you get
- A colour-and-graphics version one
- One live review
- Final masters and backups
Output
Final masters in every format the campaign needs, delivered with backups.
Timelines
How long it takes, honestly.
We do not quote a flat timeline before we have seen the job. Scope decides it: the cast, the number of locations, and how much the film asks of post. Here is the honest range.
Common range
Four to eight weeks from concept lock, depending on cast, locations and post.
A faster path
One to three weeks is sometimes possible after we review scope, availability and post. We will not promise it until we have seen the job.
Before the clock starts
Discovery and concept usually take one to two weeks of their own before the production clock starts.
Working with us
We hold the complexity. You hold the message.
You should not have to project-manage a film crew. Your job is the message and the people it is meant to reach. The middle, the technical machinery of getting there, is ours.
One point of contact from the first call to final delivery, so you are never re-explaining the project to a new face.
The same process every time, so what you sign up for is what actually happens.
Timelines we will stand behind: four to eight weeks common after concept lock, a faster path only after we have reviewed scope.
A creative director who guards the idea you approved, from the pitch through the grade, so the final film still looks like the one you said yes to.
Bring us the feeling. We will build the plan.
We reply within one business day. No obligation, no hard sell.
Not clear yet? Talk to us. We'll help shape the idea, make it practical, and show you the next step.