Once you have outlined your ideas, your needs, your budget and your timing – you should have a better understanding of what’s involved in video production and can begin the search for a suitable video production company. There may be many companies suited to your requirements, but the following suggestions will help you to narrow down the scope to a shortlist of potential candidates.

Where to look

The safest option is to select by recommendation; a satisfied customer is testament to the quality and service a company provides. You may have seen videos that you like which are similar to what you want and be able to find out which company produced it. Google and Online directories list video production companies, and related businesses and services. Be sure to look for samples in the company’s online portfolio and YouTube pages.  You will still have to choose one company to work with, so here are some things to consider.

Specialists

Understand the types of video and the services required for your professional video production. With this knowledge, you can judge how suitable a particular company is based on whether they have skills and experience in the right areas and for the type of video you want. Ask a lot of questions – like interviewing a prospective employee- and pay close attention to the answers. Does the person your are asking GET what you are all about? Do you feel comfortable?

Experience with your industry

A video production company really needs to understand your business, in order to produce the best possible video for your company. Can the company portray your brand and core values- what sets you apart from others, and your customer base. Experience in your industry can therefore be an invaluable quality, as it should mean that the company already has a lot of this understanding. Look again at the samples: do they represent similar businesses to yours- or can you see a good connection? If a company only has trendy- hip videos and Rap projects- maybe that isn’t the right place for your project!

Portfolio and sample work

Thanks to advances in technology, you can probably see a video production company‟s portfolio on their website. In any case they should be able to provide you with samples, and this can be more useful, since web-based video is usually highly compressed, and if your video is not intended for use on the web you will want to see what the company‟s work looks like on a TV screen or projector. When looking at samples of work, you should easily be able to assess the quality of the production in a number of ways like the technical quality of the video and sound. Don’t forget to think about how the videos make you feel – it may seem a bit strange but a large part of the effectiveness and ultimate success of video is the emotional response it evokes.

Stability

In this current climate, it is important to make sure that a company is solvent and has the ability to survive. You don‟t want a company going bust midway through your video project. And there are many good people who recently graduated from school – with a camera and a mac in their bedroom – but can they take your project ALL THE WAY to delivery?

Get references

A video production company should be able to provide you with a list of satisfied clients who you can contact. Talk to the referees about the company’s services and delivery, and find out what they are like. Did they make the project EASY- or was it a long, dragged-out process like building a website? Do you have time for that?

Did they help develop the concept for the video, and suggest ways to make it more effective? How did they organize and manage the production process, in particular the actual shooting? Having a good working relationship with your production company will make the process much easier and result in the best outcome, so take the opportunity to get honest opinions.

So, start here and see where the process leads you…