Most clients who commission a corporate video have never done it before, or have done it once or twice and still have a loose sense of how the process works. That is completely understandable — it is not something you do every week, and production companies do not always do a great job of explaining it upfront.
What follows is a straightforward account of how a professional video production project moves from a brief to a finished film. The stages are consistent across most projects, even though the detail of each varies enormously depending on what is being made.
Stage one: brief and discovery
Everything starts with the brief. Before a production company can give you an accurate quote or meaningful creative direction, they need to understand what the video is for, who it is aimed at, where it will live, and what a successful outcome looks like.
The best production companies will not just receive the brief and price it — they will ask questions, push back on assumptions, and help you refine what you actually need. If you have not written a brief before, here is a guide to what a good one contains. This stage typically involves one or two conversations and some back-and-forth on specifics. It is worth giving it proper time, because the quality of the brief directly determines the quality of everything that follows.
Stage two: proposal and quote
Once the brief is clear, the production company will come back with a proposal — a document that outlines the creative approach, what the production will involve, what is and is not included, and the cost.
Read this carefully. The differences between quotes from different companies often lie in the detail: how many shooting days, how large a crew, how many rounds of edits, what the ownership terms are for the footage. A lower quote is not automatically worse, but it usually reflects a trade-off somewhere. Understanding what drives cost in video production helps you evaluate proposals on equal terms.
Stage three: pre-production
Once a project is confirmed, the work before the shoot begins. This is pre-production, and on a well-run project it accounts for more time and planning than the shoot itself.
Pre-production typically includes: developing a script or shot list, recces of filming locations, scheduling contributors, sorting logistics — access, parking, permissions, equipment requirements — and any creative development work such as storyboards or mood boards.
The depth of pre-production varies with the project. A one-day office interview with two contributors needs relatively little. A multi-location shoot with a presenter, drone work and motion graphics needs considerably more. Either way, what happens in pre-production determines what is possible on the shoot day itself.
Stage four: the shoot
On shoot day, the crew arrives — typically thirty to sixty minutes before filming begins — to set up cameras, lighting and sound. The shoot follows the shot list or schedule agreed in pre-production.
Shoot days are usually eight to ten hours including setup and wrap. For most single-location corporate shoots with interviews and b-roll, one day is sufficient. More complex projects — multiple locations, larger casts, specialist elements like drone or green screen — require more.
The most common reason shoots run over is locations or contributors that were not fully prepared. A clear schedule shared with everyone involved, and a single point of contact on the client side who can make decisions on the day, makes an enormous difference.
Stage five: post-production
Once filming wraps, the footage goes into the edit. Post-production on a standard corporate video typically begins with an offline edit — a rough cut that establishes the structure, pacing and narrative of the film. This is usually delivered within one to two weeks of the shoot.
From there, the process moves through review rounds. You watch the cut, give feedback, and the editor makes revisions. Most projects include two or three rounds of edits, which is usually sufficient if the brief was clear from the start.
After picture lock — when the edit is approved — the film goes through colour grading, audio mix, and the addition of any graphics or titles. These final stages add a level of polish that is easy to underestimate from a rough cut.
Stage six: delivery
Final delivery includes the master file plus any additional exports needed — compressed versions for web, square or vertical cuts for social, subtitled versions, different language variants if required. Agree what you need upfront, because producing multiple formats afterwards costs time and money that could have been built into the original project.
Ownership of the raw footage is also worth clarifying before the project starts. Some production companies retain it by default. Others hand it over entirely. Either is a legitimate arrangement, but it is better to know which applies before you sign anything.
How long does the whole process take?
For a standard single-day corporate video, a realistic timeline from brief to delivery is four to eight weeks. More complex projects with multiple shooting days, significant post-production work or involved stakeholder approval processes take longer.
The biggest variable is client feedback time. Projects where feedback comes back quickly and decisively move through post-production cleanly. Projects where review rounds involve many stakeholders, take weeks, or require significant changes to approved cuts take noticeably longer — and sometimes cost more.
Building realistic timelines into the brief, and being honest about internal sign-off processes, helps everyone plan properly. If you are thinking about commissioning a video and want to understand what a realistic project would look like, we are straightforward about timelines, costs and what the process involves.