A clear handoff before the first cut.

A lot of edits go wrong before editing even starts. The editor gets a folder of footage and a deadline, and has to guess the rest.

A brief fixes most of that. It doesn’t need to be long. It just needs to answer a few questions before the first cut, somewhere the editor can find it again.

Say who the video is for.

Start with the viewer. “This is for someone seeing our website for the first time. By the end, they should get what we do.” That gives the editor a lot more to work with than “make a brand video.”

Keep coming back to it in review. A new opening might look great but take longer to explain the service. If the goal changes, update the brief too.

List what you need back.

How many videos? Roughly how long? Landscape, vertical or both? Captions burned in, a separate caption file, or a clean version? Write it down before editing starts.

If some assets are missing, say so, and say who’s sending them. Mark anything that has to stay, like a disclaimer. Agree on the first-cut date and how many review rounds there are. And if you suggest a music style, say whether it’s a must or just an idea.

Explain your reference.

Two people can watch the same reference and notice completely different things. Point to the part you mean: the pace of the opening, the caption size, how little music there is.

“Use this pace, but keep our graphics simpler” is enough. The editor needs to know what you liked about it. They don’t need to copy the whole video.

Sort the feedback before you send it.

Pick one person to collect comments and settle disagreements. Your editor shouldn’t have to choose between two people asking for opposite changes.

Add the version and a timestamp, then describe the problem. “At 00:18 I still don’t understand what the offer includes” is easy to act on. “This bit feels off” isn’t. Say which notes are must-fix and which are just ideas.

A brief you can reuse.

Copy these into your project doc, next to the footage link:

• Viewer and purpose. Who’s watching, and what should they take away?
• Deliverables. Which files and versions do you need?
• Assets. Where’s the footage, and what’s still missing?
• Direction. Which references matter, and why?
• Review. Who collects feedback and gives the final OK?
• Timing. When are the first cut, feedback and final delivery due?

That’s it. Ten minutes on this usually saves a full round of revisions.