How to Work with a Video Production Company: What You Need to Know as a Client

Date : 9 September 2025

Tournage FULLFRAME Creative
Table of contents :

Working with a video production company can be one of the most impactful moves you make as a communications or marketing manager. A well-executed video can engage audiences, communicate complex messages with clarity, and elevate your brand across digital platforms. Well all know it but it bears reminding: video is the medium to rule them all nowadays. But to get to a polished final product, there’s a process—and it works best when everyone involved understands their role.

At Fullframe Creative Agency, we’ve successfully completed hundreds of videos productions for companies and institutions of all sizes across Switzerland. Over time, we’ve developed a workflow that ensures both creative freedom and strategic alignment. But time and time again, we do run into problems that are beyond our control, and we hear crew members at lunch and after the shoot ranting, “We need to educate our clients!” And they’re right. When both sides know what their responsibilities are, it’s a win win. Afterall, what you, as a client ordering video are ultimately after is a great final product, not an easy ride with a service provider that asks nothing of you. So here’s you need to know to make the most of your collaboration with a video production company.

Be crystal clear on your objectives

Before cameras roll or scripts are written, the first conversation is always about goals. Are you launching a new product? Recruiting new talent? Strengthening your brand positioning? The clearer you are on the why, the better the video production team can craft the how.

As a client, your role is to articulate the purpose of the video and the desired outcome. At Fullframe, we once worked with a Geneva-based NGO that wanted to raise awareness about a complex health issue. What made that project successful wasn’t just the creative—it was their absolute clarity on the message, the audience, and the channels through which the video would be distributed.

Don’t worry about having a storyboard in mind—that’s our job. But you should come to the table knowing what success looks like from your side.

Another thing to keep in mind is avoiding the megasplits syndrome, as we call it. That’s the old, “Our target audience is government officials in the concerned ministries, as well as key actors in the relevant economic sector, as well as the general public in those countries and beyond…” In other words, the whole world. Clearly, it’s tempting, when investing time, money and effort, to get the most out of your production. But it is wrong-headed to believe that one video can cover all the bases. On the contrary, the more you try to force a video into multitasking, the more you weaken its power to move the target audience, because you’re spreading the message too thin, across too many disparate interest groups whose interests diverge too much to impact them all in one fell swoop.

You’re way better off making one powerful video that really targets a certain demographic and obtains results than a multipurpose video that leaves them all indifferent. Ideally, you have the means to underwrite numerous videos, each having their own specific role and target audience.

Assign a project owner on your team

One of the biggest contributors to production delays isn’t creativity—it’s indecision. To keep things moving, designate a single point of contact on your team who has the authority to give feedback and sign-off at every stage.

This person becomes the bridge between your organization and the video production company. They gather internal input, consolidate comments, and relay them back clearly. During a project with a certain UN agency in Geneva, we were dealing with a team of 4 people as our focal “point.” Not only were we getting conflicting instructions and feedback, but then certain aspects of the plan that were initially validated were being brought back into question when the video drafts were shown higher up the chain of command. We get it; this kind of thing might be inevitable depending on the organization, and we certainly understand that the project managers can’t help this. What they and their superiors must understand, and above all accept, however, is that this kind of flexibility does come at a cost.

For one thing it often means extra work on the part of the agency, which was not necessarily foreseen at the time of quoting. What’s fair in terms of going the extra mile all depends on the budget. A client that pays well can reasonably expect the agency not to quibble over a few changes of mind. One that quibbles over the price should recognize that this comes with a certain duty to spare the agency extra work owing to a disorganized and inefficient workflow. If such an approach cannot be avoided, the client should have the decency to extend the budget to compensate. To the extent this does not happen, relations can get tense, which may impact quality, not to mention any hope of long-term collaboration.

For another, the cost may be in time rather than money. A deadline can be hard to respect if the plan keeps changing.

Finally, there is the risk of mistakes. As the old army dictum goes: order, counter-order, disorder. This tends to throw oil on the fire, as a situation that becomes tense between a client and an agency, can get even worse when both start to feel like it’s the other’s fault that things are not going smoothly. To avoid all this, it’s clearly important to try, in so far as it is possible, to avoid “too many cooks spoiling the broth.” It’s also important to spend the required time for proper preproduction.

Expect to be involved in preproduction

Preproduction is where the foundation is laid. This phase includes scripting, storyboarding, location scouting, casting, and scheduling. While the video production company leads these tasks, your input is essential.

You’ll be asked to validate scripts, provide brand assets, help coordinate internal access (for example, booking a CEO for an interview), and review the storyboard or shot list. Think of it as co-piloting—you don’t have to fly the plane, but your guidance helps steer it in the right direction.

Reviewing and validating key documents

It is key to take these tasks seriously and to be realistic from the get-go about the time this is going to require, including the time of key decision makers. Whether it’s the script or the storyboard, in video production it’s imperative that the client pay proper attention to what the agency is proposing before giving them the green light. At Fullframe Creative, over the years, we have too often seen clients waving things on at these crucial milestones, only to then be surprised when seeing the first video draft.

The conversation usually goes something like this:

“I didn’t realize that it would look like this. We can’t have X, Y, Z, I’m afraid.”

“But X,Y,Z was specified in the storyboard, which you approved.”

“Ah, yes, well, sorry, it wasn’t clear that it would turn out like this.”

You get the point, and perhaps you’ve already even experienced this first hand. The trouble in such situations is that both sides may feel they are right. It is then a matter of being able to objectively assess how clearly X,Y, Z were, in fact, explained at the planning phase. But clearly it is key, as the client, to have genuinely looked at things in detail before approving moving on to the next steps, steps that will build on these foundations, that must therefore be solid. It is understandably tempting to skim through documents on a busy day, but, as you would with a contract, do take the time to properly process key documents, like scripts and storyboards, when your agency submits these to you for review. Doing so may also allow you to take an active role in the creative process, as ideas may come that the agency will happily include and thank you for. It’s a team effort.

Location scouting

Also called a recce, location scouting involves the DP (Director of Photography) and sometimes the Director and/or Producer, visiting the shoot location to assess various aspects of the upcoming video shoot. Though this might seem like a process that requires no more involvement on the part of a client than to provide croissant and coffee, it can actually be quite an important moment to make sure that everyone is aligned.

Imagine you work at the marketing department of a firm manufacturing lab equipment, and you have hired a video production company to produce a ad or promotional video for a new product you will soon be launching. The DP comes by to see the lab you plan to shoot in. As a client, what you want to do ahead of time is to think about what you will want to put in the shot(s) on the day the whole crew arrives, and to ideally even pull this all out for the recce and to go over the storyboard with the DP in at least enough detail to reveal whatever technical issues might arise on the day of the shoot. This will allow both of you to resolve problems BEFORE the shoot. This can range from plugs to automatic blinds on the windows outside that you need to figure out how to program not to shut at the wrong time they day of the shoot. The devil is in the details, we like to say at Fullframe, and to keep the devil at bay, it’s important to think things through in detail before it’s too late. So do take a location scout as an opportunity to do a bit of a rehearsal, if not a full dress rehearsal, of the shoot. Don’t just treat it as a quick glance over generalities.

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Trust the production team during the shoot

The shoot is where all the preparation pays off and then comes to life. At this point, your role is mostly about access and support. Make sure everyone involved on your side is aware of the schedule, location details, and their role (if any) on camera.

Also make sure you keep an eye on what’s being done and, ideally, what shots are recorded, to make sure you’re happy with them. For that a monitor or what we call a “video village” is perfect. You can watch each take, along with the Director or Producer, to make sure that what’s going on tape is what you want to see in your final video. For that it helps a lot to be familiar with, and to have on hand, the storyboard.

Be smart, and humble, about your input, however. The goal is to keep an eye on things and validate, not to micro-manage and start telling people how to do their jobs. A seasoned video production company brings years of expertise in lighting, framing, directing talent, and capturing what works best on screen. If you’ve aligned in preproduction, let the team do what they do best.

Provide consolidated feedback during post-production

Post-production—editing, motion graphics, music, color grading—is where the magic really happens. Your involvement here is critical, especially during the first round of feedback.

The best approach? Consolidated, structured feedback. Gather internal opinions, discuss them as a team, and deliver clear, prioritized notes. Avoid the “Frankenstein effect”—when contradictory requests from multiple reviewers result in a disjointed final product.

For example, a medical technology client of ours once provided a Google Doc filled with over 50 comments from 6 departments. It took weeks to untangle. Contrast that with a Zurich-based startup that had their marketing lead summarize team feedback into one clear email—resulting in a final edit that nailed their vision within two rounds.

Understand the revision process

Most video production companies include a fixed number of feedback rounds in their proposal—usually two to three. These aren’t arbitrary; they help keep the process efficient and focused.

Going beyond those rounds adds time and cost, so it’s in everyone’s interest to make each round count. Review the edit thoughtfully. Share it with decision-makers. Collect feedback early.

At Fullframe we actually do not impose a limit on the iterations. We’re always happy to make additional tweaks if needed, but clear, consolidated feedback is critical to a smooth, effective post-production process, and it ensures your project finishes on time and on budget.

Plan your internal promotion strategy in parallel

One of the biggest missed opportunities we see is clients who wait until the final cut is ready before thinking about how they’ll use their video. Start planning distribution as soon as production begins, and, ideally, plan with the agency. Many video production companies do not deal with that aspect of production but at Fullframe we provide A to Z digital marketing assistance, so you can count on us to help advise and, if you so wish, run campaigns, video SEO efforts and more.

Will you need multiple formats—like shorter cuts for social media? Subtitles in multiple languages? Thumbnails or teaser images? These decisions impact how we edit and should clearly have been flagged at the time of the request for proposals. You don’t want to be announcing to your video production agency at the post-production phase that you now want a version in 1:1 and 9:16 formats for LinkedIn and Instagram. Such adaptations can not only be hard to pull off once the shoot is done, but can also take more time than you might think to do properly. It’s not just a matter of reframing a bit.

A pharmaceutical firm we worked with in Basel knew they’d present their video at a global conference and later post it on LinkedIn. We designed the edit accordingly—with an opening hook for social and a version with captions for accessibility.

If at all possible, make sure you involve your comms or digital team early to maximize the ROI of your video.

Treat your video like a long-term asset

Think beyond the launch. A great corporate video isn’t just a one-time play—it’s an evergreen asset. Use it in presentations, on your website, in email campaigns, or even as a training tool.

Ask your video production company to deliver files in formats suited to future use: clean versions without subtitles or music, individual clips for reuse, or a short-form version tailored for reels or TikTok.

We often revisit older projects for clients who want to refresh a voiceover, update a logo, or re-edit footage into a new campaign. Plan ahead, and your video will keep delivering value well beyond its debut.

In conclusion

A strong partnership between client and video production company is built on clarity, collaboration, and mutual respect. At Fullframe Creative Agency, our best projects come from clients who are proactive, responsive, and see us as strategic partners—not just vendors.

If you’re planning a new video, think of us not just as a production crew, but as a creative force that understands your goals, speaks your language, and brings your message to life on screen. With the right approach, your next video won’t just be beautiful—it’ll be effective.

Let’s discuss your video project