Advice on making a 30 second shoot for a new coworking space/hotdesk centre

[Mark Suszko]

There are a hundred ways to go on this, creatively. Can you answer a few questions first?

What is the budget?
Where will this be shown: Broadcast TV, web, Facebook, etc. ?
What is the deadline to shoot, to show the client a first draft, and to get the spot aired?
Does the client business have advertising materials, a brand identity, graphics, logos, etc. that need to be in the spot?
Does the spot need to match or integrate with any of their other advertising?
How much access to the facility do you have, in terms of showing other people using the service, examples of what you get with the desk/room?
Do you have actors available for this?
Are you able to take over a space for enough time to really shoot it well?
What kind of gear do you have access to for shooting this, in terms of lighting and camera?
What is the space like in terms of size of the space, number and type of windows, what kind of lighting?
Are you wanting to tell a story within the framework of the spot, or is this more of a meat-and-potatoes announcement that there is this service available?
Will you be recording testimonials from happy users or the facility management?

For someone beginning to do this kind of work, there is a really fun and informative documentary you should watch, called one, ten, hundred, on Amazon’s streaming service. It shows a production company making a promo spot three times: same commercial, but three different budget ranges, and what creative and logistical solutions they use for each version. It’s not always about how much money you throw at a project, but how you creatively solve a problem or meet a need. Study in particular the low and mid-budget examples and note the changes.

https://www.amazon.com/One-Ten-Hundred-Adam-Lisagor/dp/B07K3ZJPN7

You will want to actually write a script and make a storyboard before the shoot, to really know what you’re doing and get the client on board with it. It’s the most important organizational tool you have.

You might also want to browse the COW for the series of tutorials I did, called “Save This Script!”

[Graham Tees]

Wow! Mark that is such a excellent list of questions.

[Mark Suszko]

They’re pretty basic, but thanks. I’ve been doing this a while. The “Save This Script” tutorials I co-authored with Morley are handy for new commercial writer-producers and I think they are written in a fun, accessible style.