A good brief answers, before the edit starts, the questions your editor would otherwise ask halfway through. What is the video for, where does it run, how long is it, which footage matters, how should it look and sound, and when is it due? We read briefs every day, and the ones that get approved on the first draft are rarely long. They are specific.
What is the video for, and where will it run?
Start with the goal in one sentence. "Get podcast listeners to subscribe on YouTube" tells your editor more than "make it engaging." The goal decides the hook, the pacing and what the last five seconds ask the viewer to do.
Then give the platform, the aspect ratio and the target length. That means 9:16 for Reels and TikTok, 16:9 for YouTube, 4:5 or 1:1 for some feed placements. If you need the same cut in several sizes, say so now, because a vertical version is easier to frame when the editor plans for it from the first cut.
Name the audience too. A testimonial for existing customers can run slower than a cold ad for people who have never heard of you.
How much should you say about the footage?
More than you think. Your editor has never seen your shoot, and scrubbing two hours of interview to find the best thirty seconds is time you pay for. If you know where the good moments are, write them down.
- File names or folders, and which camera is the main angle
- Timecodes for your favorite takes, quotes and the line you want as the hook
- Anything off limits: a person who asked not to be shown, a blooper, an old logo
- Whether audio was recorded separately and needs syncing
- Any b roll, screen recordings, logos or graphics files that should go in
If you already know the story order, send a rough outline of your selects (the shortlist of usable clips) in that order. It turns the first draft from a search into an edit.
How do you describe the look and sound?
Show it instead. Name one or two reference videos and say what you like about each: the caption style in one, the pace of the cuts in the other. Words like "punchy" and "clean" mean something different to every editor.
One reference video with a note on what you like about it beats a paragraph of adjectives.
Send the brand kit: fonts, hex colors, logo files, your lower third style (the name and title graphic on screen) and any LUT or color look your other videos use. Say whether captions should be burned in, and in what style.
For music, give the mood and say whether the editor should pull from a library you license or source tracks themselves. Do not ask for a commercial song you have not licensed. It is the fastest way to get a video muted or taken down.
Who gives feedback, and by when?
Put the deadline in the brief, and make it the date you need the final, not the date you hope to see a draft. Your editor can work back from it and leave room for a revision round.
Then name one person who approves. Feedback from three people who disagree is the most common reason we see an edit stall. Collect notes internally, settle the conflicts, and send one set of time coded comments, each pinned to the exact moment it refers to.
A consistent editor makes all of this lighter. At Crispy Edits each customer works with the same dedicated editor on every request, and briefs get shorter over time because the editor already knows the brand, the fonts and what the client tends to change.
What can you leave out?
Leave out the company history, and leave out instructions on how to cut. "Add a zoom on every sentence" ties your editor's hands. "It needs to feel faster than our last one" gives them a goal and room to use their judgment.
Trim the wish list. If you want motion graphics, a color grade, custom animation and three versions, rank them. Everything you add costs editing time, and a clear priority tells the editor where to spend it.
The brief is not there to describe the video. It is there to answer the questions your editor would otherwise have to ask.
Write down the goal, the format, the best timecodes, a reference, the deadline and the one approver. If your brief covers those on a single page, your first draft will come back close.
