--- name: "corporate_video_production" description: "Run a client video project end to end: write a brief that prevents reshoots, lock a treatment before any shoot day, keep revision rounds bounded, and deliver exports matched to each platform. Triggers on client video production, corporate video projects, video briefs or treatments, shoot planning, revision management, or multi-platform video delivery." --- # Purpose Most client video pain is not creative, it is process. Reshoots happen when the brief was vague. Revision hell happens when nobody counted the rounds. Bad exports happen when specs were assumed. This skill runs the whole client project as a discipline: objective-first brief, signed treatment, bounded revisions, platform-correct delivery. The sibling skill `client-video-deliverables` covers closeout mechanics: contract revision clauses, feedback translation, master/deliverable handoff packages, and archiving. Use it when the project is wrapping. This skill covers getting there without drama. # Workflow ## 1. Write the brief before anything else No treatment, no shoot, no edit until a written brief exists and the client has signed it. A brief describes the commercial objective, not just the format. "A two-minute video" is a format. "New hires must understand our compliance obligations without a two-hour induction session" is an objective, and it makes the finished video evaluable before a camera opens. Fill in `assets/brief-template.md`. The fields that prevent reshoots: - Objective and success criteria: what changes after someone watches this, and how we will know it worked. - Audience: who watches, where, and what they already believe. - Decision-makers: every approver named, with one single point of contact for feedback. An unnamed approver is a surprise third round of revisions. - Placements: every platform the video runs on, decided now, because placements drive aspect ratios, durations, and captioning. - Timeline with the review cycle built in: a straightforward corporate video with one or two revision rounds takes four to six weeks from brief to delivery; projects with legal or compliance review, multiple locations, or original animation run eight to twelve weeks. Never promise the short timeline and discover the long one. - Out of scope: stated explicitly, in writing, before work starts. The brief is the instrument that prevents reshoots. Every reshoot is a brief failure: something was assumed instead of written down. When a reshoot is requested, find the brief line it contradicts. If the brief was silent, fix the brief template for next time, then quote the reshoot as new scope. ## 2. Lock the treatment and the shoot plan The treatment is the creative answer to the brief: concept, tone, structure, and what the viewer sees and hears minute by minute. Fill in `assets/treatment-template.md`, then get it signed before spending production money. Include style frames or a storyboard where the look matters; a verbal "clean and modern" means twelve different things to twelve people. Pick the capture path before quoting, and name it in the treatment. There are three: client capture with your live direction over shot lists, framing, and coverage; a booked creator or studio shoot directed under your brand; or no capture at all, stock and motion graphics. Do not quote until the path is named, because each path has a different cost and risk profile. Then write the shoot plan: - Interview guide, not interview questions. A 30-60 minute guided conversation produces a two-minute profile film because you are hunting for stories, specific language, and moments of genuine engagement, not prepared answers. Capture far more than you will use; the edit needs room to find the best version of each point, not the only version. - Shot list for b-roll. B-roll is where most shoot time is actually spent: specific environments, specific activities, specific visual elements that illustrate operations, culture, or product without requiring anyone on camera. A shot list is what lets you confirm at wrap that coverage is complete. - Wrap rule: inventory against the shot list, back up all footage to multiple drives on-site, and edit begins within 24-48 hours. Gaps found at wrap get filled before the crew leaves, not discovered in the edit. ## 3. Run revision rounds like a budget Revisions are a finite resource. The discipline: - Agree the round count up front, in writing. Two included rounds of consolidated feedback is the industry default; beyond that, extra rounds are billed or quoted as added scope. Contract mechanics live in `client-video-deliverables`. - One round is one consolidated batch of feedback, addressed together, followed by one review. It is not a drip of comments over two weeks. Require the client to collect internal notes, resolve conflicts internally, and send one master document through the single point of contact. - Set a feedback window per round. 24-48 hours is standard. Silence past the window should count as approval under a deemed-approved clause, or projects stall. - Curate options to keep decisions small. Present three strong choices, not twenty auditions. Deliver a hero version plus one alternate read, not ten wild variations. Clients do not struggle because they lack taste; they struggle because too many open creative decisions at once creates pressure to keep exploring. - Count rounds out loud. "This is round 1 of 2" before the work starts, "one round remaining" before the last one. No surprises, no awkward money conversations later. ## 4. Deliver per platform, verified Do not ship one file everywhere. Plan the cut set from the brief's placement list, edit 16:9 and 9:16 in parallel to avoid re-framing delays, and keep brand elements (logos, lower thirds, fonts, tone) consistent across every cut so a viewer recognizes the brand from TikTok to YouTube. Full spec table, encoding recipes, and safe-zone notes live in `references/platform-delivery-specs.md`. The defaults that cover most corporate work: - YouTube long-form: 16:9, 1920x1080, H.264 High, about 8 Mbps at 30fps, AAC audio. - Short-form vertical (Shorts, Reels, TikTok): 9:16, 1080x1920, H.264, 6-8 Mbps at 30fps, AAC 128-192 kbps. - LinkedIn feed: 16:9, 1:1, or 9:16, up to 10 minutes, AAC audio. - Feed square/portrait cuts (Instagram 4:5 1080x1350, Facebook 1:1): reframe so the subject stays prominent, check text overlays are fully visible. Before handoff, verify every export with `bin/verify-delivery.py`: ```bash python3 ~/workspace/skills/corporate-video-production/bin/verify-delivery.py final-cut.mp4 --platform youtube-1080p python3 ~/workspace/skills/corporate-video-production/bin/verify-delivery.py final-cut-vertical.mp4 --platform reels ``` It checks raster, frame rate, video codec, audio codec, duration cap, and file-size cap against the preset and fails loudly on the first violation. Watch the full cut at the delivery raster before it leaves; spot-checking is how bad frames reach clients. # Output Contract When this skill runs a project, it produces: 1. A filled `assets/brief-template.md`, signed by the client before production spend. 2. A filled `assets/treatment-template.md` with the capture path named and style frames or storyboard attached. 3. A shoot plan: interview guide plus shot list. 4. A revision log: round numbers, what each round covered, what remains included. 5. A delivery set: per-platform exports, each passing `bin/verify-delivery.py`, named consistently (`___p.mp4`, e.g. `acme_brand_reels_1080p30.mp4`). # Operating Rules 1. Every factual claim about platform specs, codecs, limits, or industry norms must be verified against a checked source. Specs drift; `references/platform-delivery-specs.md` carries the date it was last verified. Re-verify any limit you are about to put in a contract. 2. No shoot happens without a signed brief and a signed treatment. Verbal approval is not approval. 3. One point of contact for feedback. Notes from five stakeholders arriving through three channels count as no notes until consolidated. 4. Revision rounds are counted and announced, never discovered after the fact. 5. If the client's own delivery specs exist, theirs win. Ask for them before building the package. 6. This skill is the process; `client-video-deliverables` is the closeout. Do not duplicate its contract clauses and archive mechanics here. Point at it. 7. Style: no em dashes, no marketing-speak filler. Write like a person.