Video creative brief template

Copy the structure; write content fresh per project. The nine required fields above transfer across video projects; the content inside each field has to be re-derived per shoot. Copying a hook constraint from one project to another is how teams produce videos that all open the same way regardless of campaign.

Fill in order: objective → distribution → lengths + ratios → audience → hook → story arc → sound → do-nots. The order matters. Distribution surface defines length and ratio constraints. Audience defines hook content. Hook defines story arc opener. Story arc defines sound strategy. Each field constrains the next.

Lock the brief before production starts. Video shoots are expensive; reshoots are catastrophic. If the brief is wrong, fix the brief before shooting - don't try to patch in edit. Edit-stage strategy pivots produce videos that don't quite work on any surface.

Shoot the longest length specified in the brief. A 90s hero filmed correctly cuts to 30s, 15s, and 6s. A 15s shot tightly can't extend to 30s. Default to filming the longest variant; cutdowns happen in post.

Brief the cutdown plan up front. Tell the director which moments must survive into the 15s cut. Without that direction, the cutdown editor guesses - and ends up cutting the wrong 15 seconds. The brief is where the cutdown plan lives.

Don't shoot separate footage per length variant unless you have to. Cutdowns are 10x cheaper than reshoots. The only reason to shoot separately is when length variants serve fundamentally different surfaces (e.g. CTV hero + Meta Reels acquisition can't share footage cleanly because the pacing is too different).

Brief every aspect ratio the video will ship in. Composing for 9:16 in a 16:9 master loses vertical framing; subjects end up center-cut or off-frame. The brief specifies every ratio so the production team can frame each shot with safe zones for all required ratios.

Use multiple cameras for hero shoots that need both 16:9 and 9:16. It's cheaper than reshooting. Two cameras at the same shoot capture both orientations; one camera + reframing in post produces 9:16 cuts that look cropped.

1:1 is a compromise ratio. It works on Meta Feed and LinkedIn but doesn't fully nail either. If both are required, plan to crop from 4:5 (LinkedIn feed) or use 1:1 as a retargeting-only ratio while letting 9:16 and 4:5 carry cold acquisition.