How we work
Every film starts with a conversation. Not a camera.
A free call, then a paid strategy session, then cameras. In that order.
Most companies come to us knowing they need a film and not much else. That is a fine place to start. The first job is finding the one story worth telling, and we treat that as real work rather than free pitching.
Part one
Finding the story
Discovery Call
20 minutes · no charge
A short call to find out whether there is a film here at all. We ask what the business needs to happen and who you need to reach. If we are not the right studio for the job, we will say so on that call.
Story Strategy
1–2 weeks · paid, credited to production
Before anyone quotes a shoot, we do the thinking. We work out which story carries the weight, who tells it, and what the film has to accomplish. You pay for this phase because it is the phase that decides whether the rest is worth doing. What you get is a written narrative direction, and it is yours to keep whether or not you hire us to shoot it. The strategy phase is scoped and quoted on its own, separately from production, and credited against your production investment if you move forward. You know what the thinking costs before you commit to a shoot day, and nothing is paid for twice.
Treatment and Proposal
About 1 week · creative direction + itemized scope
We come back with a treatment: visual references, the story angle, and our point of view on what the film should be. The investment is itemized alongside it, so you are approving a piece of creative work rather than a line on a quote.
Part two
Making the film
Pre-Production
1–2 weeks · creative lock, schedule, shot list
You sign off on the treatment and that becomes the creative lock. From there we scout locations, build the schedule, write the interview questions, and produce the call sheet. Everything after this point is measured against what you approved.
Production
1–2 days · on location
A small crew, real locations, real people. We film the work as it actually happens instead of staging it. That is the difference between footage that looks like your company and footage that looks like a commercial.
Post-Production
2–3 weeks · two revision rounds included
We cut the film, grade the color, and design the sound. You get a first cut and two full rounds of revisions. Rounds beyond that are billed at our standard rate, and we tell you the number before you use one. When you approve the last change, that is picture lock.
Part three
Making it work
Delivery and Rollout
On delivery · master, cutdowns, captions
You get more than one file. We deliver the master along with the cutdowns, aspect ratios, and captions for the places you actually plan to publish, organized and named so your team can still find them a year from now.
The Partnership
Ongoing · 30 / 60 / 90-day check-ins
We check in at thirty, sixty, and ninety days to see how the film performed. Most clients move to an ongoing partnership after the first project, because one film answers one question and the next quarter always asks another.
The first call is free. The thinking that follows is the work.
What to expect
- Every inquiry gets a reply within one business day.
- A typical single-video project runs four to six weeks from kickoff to final delivery.
- Projects start at $7,000 for a focused brand film and run to $25,000 and up for a documentary series.
- Every quote is itemized before any work begins, so you know exactly what you are investing in.
Start with the conversation
Twenty minutes on a call is usually enough to know whether there is a film here. If there is, we will show you what it looks like.