5 Insider Tips On Finding The Best Video Production Companies

After twenty-five years working with some of the largest and best film and video production companies in the south, I had the opportunity to launch my own New Orleans video production company. One thing I’ve come to appreciate since then is the importance of educating clients that are new to the video production game. It’s not at all unusual for a client to know they need a video, but not have a clue about how to begin the process. Ironically, many of these same folks are also working under a tight deadline, perhaps for a trade show or new web site.

Often, video production companies will come recommended by an associate or friend, hopefully someone who has used their services in the past. Another approach of course is the good ol’ Internet. Doing a Google search for a potential video production company can be somewhat intimidating. Depending on your market, there may be dozens of search results and ads, all promising they are your best choice.

How to Search for Video Production Companies

For the purposes of this article, I am assuming that you are searching for a production company that can create a corporate video, promotional or marketing video, or any other video about your company or product for use in sales, training, trade shows, public relations, etc.

When you use a search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) to search for a production company the first thing you may notice is the large numbers of wedding videographers that show up in the results. Unless you are actually looking for a wedding videographer, this only makes your job harder because most of these companies tend to specialize in that particular market.

Enter the power of negative search terms! You can easily use more advanced search techniques to avoid certain search results. In our example, the search term production companies -weddings will automagically clear out those pesky wedding shooters from your results. Use the negative or minus sign immediately before the term you want to avoid in the results.

Next, if you didn’t include a specific locale in your search, it probably returned a lot of out-of-town companies. Not that this is bad, but you should probably start your search looking for local companies. Simply include your location in the search terms, for instance new orleans production companies -weddings. Now your results should be focused on companies with a New Orleans association. This will also help narrow down the ads that are displayed on the page, emphasizing companies that are targeting your market.

Check Out the Demo Reels

One thing you won’t have a problem with is finding examples of a video production company’s work. Everyone involved with the business on any level absolutely loves to show off their sample videos, usually referred to as a demo reel or show reel. Before the Internet, this was actually a videotape or DVD that presented “best of the best” examples of the work. Today of course all production companies put their demo reel online.

Many professional companies shoot both commercials and “long format” videos, so look for examples of the type of video you are interested in producing. If you need a marketing or training video, but all a company has to show off is commercials, perhaps it’s best to move on to the next potential production company on your list.

Look for a variety of approaches and production techniques in the demo reel. The best video production companies apply creative concepts, visual treatments and storytelling techniques to craft a highly unique video suited for your particular project. Do almost all the sample videos feature the same on-camera spokesperson, perhaps the director’s wife? Wanna bet yours will too? Pay attention to the use of: scriptwriting, interviews, testimonials, narration, editing, graphics, animation, music, calls to action, video length, etc.

In total, all of these factors together help define the production value of a video. What is production value? That’s a topic for a whole separate article, but think of production value as the overall impression a video delivers in terms of quality. We’ve all seen “high production value” movies featuring big name actors, incredible special effects and popular soundtracks. We are culturally attuned to judging a video, even a 5-minute sales video, on its entertainment value. Does it hold your interest? Does it look professional? Does it give you a level of comfort about the product?

What is Your Comfort Level?

Ultimately, choosing a video production company is no different than many other large purchasing decisions. Are you comfortable the company can deliver the goods? Will you be able to sleep at night, knowing the deadline is fast approaching? Naturally, this will evolve further once you begin discussions with a potential production company.

Hopefully these tips will help you get started in your search. I plan to follow up with a future post on what questions you should ask potential video production companies once you have narrowed down your list.

In summary, here again are five tips on finding the best production company for your project:

1. When searching the Internet for production companies, use negative search terms (-weddings) to narrow down the search results
2. Use your location in the search terms to find companies targeting your market area
3. View the online demo reels to determine if a production company is experienced in your type of project
4. What is your gut feeling about the reel’s production value? Does it infer the quality level you want to be associated with?
5. What is your initial comfort level? Does the company inspire confidence? Are you excited to learn more?

If you have any additional tips on finding the best video production companies, please share them in the comments. Oh … and don’t forget to check out our demo reel!