When choosing a video production company, there are certain things to look for. As a potential customer of these video production companies it is important to know upfront what a company is and is not willing to do. What is included in the costs of the company’s services. What kind of experience does the company have?

 

When researching potential video production companies it is beneficial to look at the compilation of works the company has produced up until now.  Even if the production does not stay inline with the goals of the current project being worked on, something of merit may come from researching it. The potential customer should look closely at the production company’s portfolio and judge it against what is expected with the project at hand. Is the video production company able to produce the affects required with the current project; lighting, sound, special affects?

 

The next step in finding a Los Angeles video production company is to find out the background of the different companies. Just because a company has years of experience does not mean that the people hired to work on the project at hand would have experience to match. Would a crew of industry newcomers be assigned to the project, or will there be a workable mix of experienced and not? This can easily be a make or break piece of information when looking at what company fits the needs provided. While no one should expect an A-List crew from top to bottom, it seems fair to expect a well balanced amount of experience mixed into any crew.

 

There are many industry awards that a production company has the chance to be awarded. The awards range from prestigious and therefore noteworthy, to awards that really serve no purpose other than for a company to be able to say they have won something. Be careful about getting pulled in by the glamour of a company that has a few awards that they include in their sales pitch. While awards can be a good way to judge a company, if the awards are worthy, it takes only a few moments to use the Internet and find out just how much weight should be given to any award.

 

Perhaps the most important thing to look for when finding a Los Angeles production company is cost. What is included in the cost being quoted by the company? Does the cost included things like travel, insurance, lighting equipment, and international shooting if required? If these are considered extras, what is the price of extras? It is extremely important to get an accurate idea of what items are included before making a decision. Often the lowest base price will not include everything needed to complete the project. As such, the lowest base price may not end up being the lowest overall cost once all is said and done. Being mindful of how quickly extra expenses can eat into a budget is a good way to avoid a surprise down the line. 

Hiring a production company can be one of the most important decisions a filmmaker can have. It takes a lot of searching and questioning to get the right production company for the needs of the project at hand. There are many different production companies to choose from, and not every one is as worthy of the investment as the rest. Getting the best deal doesn’t always mean getting the best price. Just as with any other type of service, it has to be said that “you get what you pay for.�  Shopping around for the biggest bargain is a good way to get poor quality in the final result. Just going out and looking for a good price won’t cut it when putting a project in production companies hands to make it the best it can be. Trying to go out and hire a big name production company for the film may not be plausible, but finding a middle ground has to be explored. Always remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

 So how can a filmmaker find out what production company is right for them? References from the Internet and from network friends are a great place to start. Someone who has worked with the production company being researched is a great place to find out how well the company will work with filmmakers. Does the crew show up on time, and are they generally a happy group? No one really wants to work with a company that has staff that is not on time and doesn’t seem at least somewhat happy. Also, it allows the chance to see how willing the company is to bend themselves to the needs of the film maker, as opposed to the filmmaker being at the mercy of the production company. In addition to references, a portfolio of films that the production company has been involved in should be available to anyone looking to hire the company. This is good to research since it allows a chance to decide whether the post-production quality equals what the current project calls for.

 

Nothing can prove the effectiveness of a production company to deliver quality quite like seeing the finished projects they have already completed. When asking for referrals and portfolios, if the production company is unwilling to come up with referrals, or seems to have a very small collection of finished works, this could be a bad sign. Most production companies are more than willing to show off what they’ve been able to accomplish, unless they do not have anything worthy of showing. Some production companies are willing to do almost anything to make money when it comes down to it, including luring filmmakers in with promises they simply can’t keep. If a production company isn’t willing to give definitive answers to basic questions about experience, staffing, and equipment it can be another bad sign. If the production company is sold on merit alone and does not give definitive answers when questions are asked, a filmmaker may end up with a product that they didn’t plan on.

 

The production company could use low-budget staff and equipment while still charging a premium rate. Overall, it comes down to using common sense while making many of the above decisions. A good production company will never pressure the filmmaker into a decision they are not full on board with. But it should be mentioned that the production company does have the advantage of experience and their suggestions may just give the film that extra something that make it a winner.

Many filmmakers have finished their film, and are wondering “What now?� The next step is really the most important step in the entire filmmaking process. That step is distribution. For most independent films, an internet based distribution plan is the best bet for getting the film out the door and creating some buzz. Selling a DVD on the Internet can be done with very little initial investment. This allows filmmakers with smaller budgets to get distribution of their hard work underway. How does a filmmaker go about getting that distribution plan set up? There are several options available in today’s market.

 

As with every step along the way in the making of the independent film, choices between price and amount of work put in is the first choice to make. In distribution, it’s all a matter of how much work a filmmaker plans to do themselves, against the profit margin on each sale of the DVD. This is really a personal preference on the part of the filmmaker.

 

If the filmmaker has the know-how to complete the distribution on their own, they can put in the leg work to get their film up on DVD sales sites or create their own personal site to sell from. In this situation, the filmmaker will become the distribution center, and will have to be willing and able to create the DVD, label, and cover for the film. In addition, all sales and shipping will go through the filmmaker themselves. Obviously, this is a lot of work, but almost always the profit margin will wind up being quite a bit higher in this situation then when control of the distribution is handed over to a third party.

 

The busy filmmaker is going to want to simply hand over a copy of the DVD they want sold on the Internet, a rough draft of what the label and cover should look like, and let someone else do the work. A little research will find several companies willing to do this. These distribution companies usually take a fairly large percentage of the revenue from the film sales for a relatively small portion of the work. For the filmmaker, however, this may be worth the cost to be able to keep the headache of sales and shipping out of their hands.

 

There is a middle ground on this as well. Some companies are willing to sell the DVD from their Internet site and ship to the purchaser, while the filmmaker creates the DVD, label, and cover. A specific quantity of DVDs is then shipped to the third party company. Many filmmakers find that if they are going to take the time to do this much, they might as well cut out the middle man and keep the extra profit for themselves. Again, this is a choice for each filmmaker based on personal preference.

 

No matter which choice is made, the filmmaker must still remember one thing. Whether doing everything on their own or handing everything over, the responsibility to create a buzz for the DVD they are selling on the Internet still falls on the shoulders of the filmmaker. A third party company may be handling the distribution, but they do not have the personal involvement in the film to have the want to sufficiently advertise it. If a DVD is going to sell well on the Internet, a filmmaker must find a way to get the word out about the film and create sales on their own.

Professional Video production or videography, is the art and service of producing a finished video product to a customer’s requirement and consumption.

 

The video production industry creates videos for a wide range of demands, from safety videos for use in corporate environments, to medical training videos for use in teaching. An example of a more everyday application is the wedding video.

 

A video production company takes a brief, produces a script, liaises with the customer and puts a production team together. This often includes experts ranging from camera staff to make-up artists. The film is shot and initial footage is put on broadcast quality tapes, edited and presented to the customer in a draft or “guide” form. Sound tracks, visual effects etc. are added in and the final video is presented to the customer.

 

With the increasing use of video in a wide range of commercial and government functions, and the increased access modern customers have to viewing video on a range of new devices, video production is a fast growing industry.