Frequently asked questions

What is your production process from start to finish?
After proposal acceptance, I will meet with your team for pre-production
planning to brainstorm, write, review, and finalize the script and/or storyboard
for your video. Then we will schedule dates for production and get all primary
and secondary (B roll, pickup shots, etc.) filming completed. Finally, postproduction
is when I will edit your video, including specifics like format (vertical
or landscape), music preferences, and lots more, and deliver the first cut, then
any revision cuts, and the final cut of the video. Once approved, you take
ownership of the finished video and all raw footage and post to your social
media profiles according to the release plan determined in our initial meetings
and pre-production. For retainer (recurring) clients, we will also plan for
frequency of new video production and longer term social media content
strategy.

How long does it take to produce a video?
This depends on the content, the length, and other factors of the desired video
content, as well as the needs of the client and availability for filming. I can
typically accommodate any urgency level with a video content and production
plan that fits the constraints of any situation, and will be able to advise about
any projects that may not be feasible along with next-best options. In general, if
a video needs to be filmed in one location on one day, with a run time of 3-5
minutes and not too many other complications, then I can turn around a video
within 1-2 weeks. It all just depends on the project – whether speed of release or
quality and impact of storytelling are the priority, I am able to accommodate and
get you the best video for your budget and within in your time constraints.

Can you work within our deadline?
In most cases, certainly. We can discuss rush turnaround specifics in those cases.
Rarely do I need to decline a project due to deadline constraints.

How involved do we need to be in the process?
Most of the client’s involvement is in the beginning, during brainstorming and
pre-production. I am a PMP-certified project manager and use proven project
management organizational skills, such as being heavy on planning ahead to
avoid issues in production and post that could waste time and money. However,
once the pre-production work has been done, the client only needs to be able to
help me with use of their location (when applicable) for filming, arranging with
key people to be featured in the video (also when applicable), and then also
spend time on video reviews to ensure that they approve of the final cut before
wrapping on the project. At any rate, I can accommodate most situations with
clients who have limited availability.

How many revisions do we get?
1-3 revisions after the first cut has been delivered. Any more than 3 revisions is
usually a sign that we missed something during pre-production planning.
However, I have a change management system to accommodate change
requests beyond 3 revisions if needed, with 4th and additional revisions adding a
nominal fee to the editing portion of the project cost to account for extra hours
worked. In most cases, clients have only occasionally wanted one revision to be
satisfied with the final cut of their video, which proves that we communicated
and planned well in pre-production.

How much does a video cost?
Video pricing depends on the desired content, length, and complexity of video
production. Whether your video content budget is a few hundred dollars or a
few million dollars, I work closely with my clients to value engineer
each project to ensure that we eliminate gold-plating so the video will be onbrand,
on-message, efficiently made, and meant to earn positive ROI, no matter
the budget level. It’s all scalable. Results tend to be more impressive with higher
budgets for production, but it is still possible to squeeze a lot of views and
conversions to sales from the right lower budget videos, as well.

Can you work within our budget?
Always. Details in the previous question, but I will stick within the budget based
on pre-production planning. If possible, during planning we can look at ways to
value engineer for cost savings. Only in rare cases in which the client wanted
many changes made while production or pre-production had already started was
it necessary to add change order fees to the project cost. In cases where the
client wants a video that they cannot afford, we will discuss alternative next-best
options.

What’s included in your pricing (pre-production, shoot, editing, etc.)?
Pricing includes full service pre-to-post production work hours, expenses and
travel (when applicable), and anything else agreed upon in early pre-production.
My services include consulting about ideas and brand content strategy, directing,
writing, editing, DP/filming, sound engineering, casting (when needed),
procuring original music or special effects designers (when needed), and various
other tasks involved in the video content production process.

Are there any hidden fees we should be aware of?
Never. All project costs are discussed before we get too far into pre-production.
We just need enough brainstorming and planning time for me to create a project
cost based on the needs of the finished script and/or storyboard. Pricing
transparency is guaranteed in any case. I have a change order system for changes.

Do you offer packages or a la carte services?
Both. Retainer packages usually are ideal. We can discuss specifics to determine
what fits best for you. Usual a la carte services include licensed drone piloting and
footage gathering, selling stock footage from my own library of video I have filmed
before, providing only directing, writing, voice over talent, on-camera acting
talent, or other single services if a client already has the rest of the video
production work accounted for (in those cases, I can only guarantee for the
quality of the one service I provided in the video, not anything else related to
how the video turns out or performs online). So yes, we can talk if you just need
me to do one task in your existing production. I am represented by a talent
agency, so I would give you their information if you were interested in casting
me to play a role in a video, which I have over 15 years of experience doing.

Can you help develop the concept and script?
Absolutely. This is typically part of my pre-production planning process. When
the client tells me either what they are interested in accomplishing with a video,
or more specifically, what they want the actual video to be about, I will help
them write the video into a script (if it has dialogue and actions) or just a
storyboard if it’s something simpler that just needs to be visualized into a rough
draft of the envisioned video.

Do you handle casting, location scouting, and storyboarding?
Yes, this is all part of the pre-production planning stage. Determining aspects like
casting and location needs also feeds into how I provide the project cost total.

What kind of videos do you specialize in?
Interviews, commercials, explainers, docu-series, social media shorts (vertical
format), courses and more broadly, drama and comedy (each has its place in advertising,
based on the brand). I am open to any genre or video type and can always offer a
unique take to make your content as fresh and original as possible.

Do you understand our industry/brand/tone?
I am always learning more about every industry, and how to use the appropriate
tone to feature each brand in the best light possible in every video I produce. I
do extensive research on your industry ahead of our brainstorming and preproduction
planning meetings to know what is usually successful in advertising
brands like yours, as well as what we could do to make your brand stand out in
the best way possible. Sometimes, brands in one industry or another all look the
same for a reason and advertise that way, but others are much more conducive
to using disruptive and original ideas to take the public perception of that
industry in exciting new directions with the innovating brand now leading the
way. It all depends, and begins with lots of great research.

Can we provide our own script or ideas?
Certainly. If you already know what you want to do and even have a script, then
that will help us cut to the chase and figure out the project requirements and
cost to make an existing script possible to produce. If I can offer feedback on a
script to help make sure it is ready for production before we start, I will send
suggestions and a client can decide whether or not they want to change the
script before we mobilize for production.

Who will we be working with directly?
Just myself, in most cases. This is my typical business model and how I can offer
efficiently made and affordable video production services to my clients. In some
cases, if we need to hire assistants or outside talent, actors, VFX specialists, or
anyone else, I can manage the procurement process and we could bring hired
talent on-board for the video and determine the best way for the client to pay
the additional people working on the production (typically just as 1099
contractors).

How do you handle project management and communication?
See #4 for details about my project management process. In short, I am PMPcertified
and follow the PMI project management framework. Communication
can be simple with email and text messages or calls directly between myself and
the business owner, or for larger organizations, we can prepare a
communication management plan to determine the client’s day-to-day go-to
contacts to handle a video production project, then managerial contacts if any
matters need to be escalated for approval, dispute resolution, or anything else.

Can you work with our internal marketing or creative team?
Yes, if you have a creative director, marketing director, CMO, marketing
coordinator, social media manager, or someone else (or a full team) for this
aspect of your business, then I would work directly with them and we would
create a brief stakeholder management plan to ensure than anyone not in the
marketing/creative team who needed to be looped in on project progress would
be informed to the level that they required. Keeping everyone interested in the
success of the video content being produced to completion is important, and we
would ensure that we planned for how to accommodate everyone’s needs
regarding the project.

Can you help us with video strategy, distribution, or ad placement?
I am able to advise about social media content strategy (what should be
produced and what it would accomplish, when to release it, how frequently to
release new content, and similar matters). As for distribution and ad placement
planning and execution, I would refer my client to an advertising technology and
purchasing specialist in my network that would be perfect for advising with
regards to these matters.

Do you offer analytics or performance tracking?
No, as the video content would be posted to my client’s social media profiles
(Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and others), and given the nature of those
platforms, I would not have visibility regarding views, shares, likes, subscriptions,
and more. The same would apply to paid placement in determining ROI metrics
such as impressions, cost per click (CPC), click-through rate (CTR), conversion
rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS). However, I can consult about this or refer clients
to an advertising technology and purchasing specialist within my network who could
provide services in gathering analytics and tracking advertising performance.

How can we measure the ROI of our video?
On social media, clients can measure their ROI using the various tools each
platform has available. The metrics include view count, likes, comments,
shares/forwards/reposts, follows/subscriptions, and more. The true accounts engaging
with your brand (meaning not bots – social media is full of them, but they are
easy enough to identify) will be great leads for future offer postings and other
brand messaging that is similar to the content of yours that they liked, and with
continued engagement with viewers on social media, the likelihood of
conversion to buyers increases. Capturing and keeping attention of viewers, and
then enticing them enough to become customers is the name of the game.

What equipment do you use?
I shoot on Canon, Samsung, DJI, and GoPro cameras (always adding gear when I
can). I edit with Adobe Creative Suite, primarily. I purchase licensed music from
Musicbed and also have Suno. I use a variety of lights, soft boxes, monitors, filters, lenses,
microphones, teleprompters, and other gear. I can typically get a lot of quality out of my
equipment without yet owning Red/Arri/Black Magic level cameras, which is part
of how I am able to offer affordable video production services.

Do you shoot in 4K or higher resolution?
I can shoot in 4K. I usually shoot in 1080p HD, at least, since it is versatile and
looks great on social media (most viewers will be watching your videos on their
cell phone screen).

Can you provide subtitles, voiceovers, or multiple language versions?
Yes, we will determine needs like this during pre-production planning. Captions
and subtitles can be applied with tools like CapCut, and then I am available to provide
voiceover acting services (for videos in which my sound would fit) in English, Spanish,
and Japanese (and am able to read for other languages in some cases). If a video
needs outside voice over acting talent or generative AI voiceovers, I can advise
clients about the best way to add these to the project. I also have access to agency talent.

Can you repurpose content for different platforms (Instagram, YouTube, etc.)?
Yes, this is determined in our pre-production planning to determine your
strategy for which platforms to use, and which format and editing style would be
ideal for each one. Typically, we will first finish the main final cut of your video,
and then based on the platform plans, create the specific video version for
Instagram, YouTube, and others.

Do you offer animation or motion graphics?
I am able to offer animation style filters on videos to make them look like
cartoons and other styles. I can also create essential video effects, as well as
practical special effects (all depends on the desire effects). If a client wants
animation or effects that I am not able to create, then I have VFX specialists in
my network that could help. I also work in Veo and other AI systems.

How will we receive the final video?
The final cut of the video and any additional edits of the video (shorts, verticals,
extended cuts, etc.), as well as the raw footage, will be sent to the client upon
final cut approval and project close-out via Dropbox Transfer.

How is payment for the video production project handled?
The client will provide a 20% deposit for the video production project before
production begins. The project cost total is determined in pre-production
planning (with the change order management system having been explained,
which is typically the only cause for alterations to the project cost once
production has started). Upon final cut approval, the project invoice will be
provided to the client with cost itemization. Payment in full will be due 30 days
after project close-out, when the project invoice will have been provided.

Do we own the video once it’s done?
The client will own the final cut of the video and all additional edits of the video
(shorts, verticals, extended cuts, etc.) as well as the raw footage. I will retain
ownership of all original ideas provided (intellectual property ownership
retention – the client cannot take an idea for an original story, character, song,
or other ideas for recurring videos and then go and have future videos made
using that intellectual property without my involvement). I will also retain the
right to use the final cut of the video for self-promotional purposes on the TSZ
Enterprises website, social media and in self-promotional media used internally
to advertise the past work and services of TSZ Enterprises to future clients. I will
usually not use raw footage from a video for this purpose, but retain the right to
use raw footage clips if needed for stock footage or self-promotional purposes
only. For clients who are sensitive to any of this, I am more than happy to be
accommodating and determine the best plan for my internal use of finished
videos from clients.

Do you keep backups of our footage?
Yes, I back up everything securely.

Can we get all the raw footage or just the final cut?
Clients can have the final cut, any additional edits of the final cut, and all raw
footage. Just not the rights to original intellectual property, as explained in #29
(that way I avoid giving away a valuable idea that drives all of the success of a
video content campaign without being appropriately compensated and credited
for that work).