The contract is signed on a Tuesday. By Friday the client’s marketing coordinator has asked what you need from them, their director wants to “see something soon”, and nobody has said who approves the cut. The shoot is in three weeks.
Most friction with a client comes from questions nobody settled at the start: who signs off, where the logo files are, how notes arrive, which file is the final. This checklist puts the first 30 days in order. Several items have a post of their own, linked where they come up.
In short
- Most friction comes from questions nobody settled at the start: who signs off, where the files are, how notes arrive.
- Name one approver per video at the kickoff and send a written recap the same day.
- Collect logos, fonts, names and approved claims before anyone needs them, in one shared folder.
- Send a small first deliverable so the client learns the review link before deadline day.
- Send a five-line update on a fixed day each week, and check in at day 30.
The first 30 days at a glance
| When | What happens | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Welcome email, kickoff booked | The client has a date, an agenda and a list of what to bring |
| Days 2 to 5 | Kickoff call and written recap | One approver is named and the client has replied to the recap |
| Week 2 | Files and contacts collected | Nothing in the shoot or the edit waits on a missing file |
| Weeks 2 to 3 | A small first deliverable | The client has left a note on a frame |
| Week 4 | First real round, then a check-in | Both sides know what to change next month |
The small first deliverable is the step most studios skip. Before the main cut, send something with little at stake, like a 15-second teaser or a selects reel from the first interview. The client learns the review link on that instead of on deadline day.
The kickoff call
Book 45 minutes and send the agenda with the invite: what the video is for and where it will run, who’s who on the client side, which files you need, how review and delivery work, and the dates that matter to them.
Where it will run becomes your deliverables list, so ask about every platform, including the ones that “might” happen. The answers about each video go into a one-page brief.
For who’s who, get a name for each role:
- The approver, the one person with the final say on each video. Handling conflicting feedback covers how to pick them and who watches which round.
- The reviewers, and what each one checks. If legal or brand signs off on claims, put their review in the schedule now.
- The day-to-day contact, who answers quick questions and collects files. Often a coordinator, rarely the approver.
- Whoever handles invoices. Many companies need a purchase order number before they pay, issued by someone you’ve never met.
- The people on camera, and whoever manages their calendars.
- Anyone outside the company who needs access, like a media agency.
Collect the files before anyone needs them
Send the list right after the call, with a date next to each item.
- Logo files in vector format (SVG, EPS or AI), for dark and light backgrounds. A PNG saved from the website won’t hold up on a full-screen end card.
- The brand guide, with color values and the rules for logo placement.
- Fonts, as files licensed for video, or at least the names so you can license them before the edit.
- Names and job titles of everyone on camera, written by the client rather than copied from a call. The lower thirds checklist explains why.
- Claims, product names and disclaimers that legal has already approved.
- Footage, photos and music the client owns, and what the licenses allow.
- Two or three reference videos, with a line on what they like in each.
Agree on one shared folder and one person on their side who keeps it current. When files arrive across four email threads, someone ends up hunting for the logo the night before the edit.
Agree how review and delivery will work
For review, every version goes out as one link and notes go on the frame instead of into a phone call (sharing a video for client review has the details).
Agree how many rounds are included and what counts as one (stopping endless revision rounds). Set how many business days the client has to send notes and what a late answer does to the delivery date (when the client takes too long).
For delivery, take the deliverables list and agree on format, aspect ratio, length and subtitles for every file.
Give the client a short code of three or four letters and put it in every file name, so ACME_004 means the same video in your edit suite and in their inbox (a video file naming convention shows the pattern).
Say where the final files will live, for how long, and from when they can be downloaded. Write down whether raw footage and project files are included.
Send the recap the same day and ask the client to reply if anything is wrong. It’s the email you’ll forward when someone asks, two months in, how many rounds were included.
Set the communication cadence
Keep the project conversation in whichever channel the client prefers, even WhatsApp, as long as notes about a cut go on the frame.
Send a five-line update on a fixed day each week: what moved, what’s waiting on them, the next dates. A client who knows Friday brings news stops writing on Wednesday to ask how it’s going.
Agree on reply times both ways; one business day is a fair start. Keep shoot days and delivery dates somewhere the client can see them, since an attachment is out of date a week after it goes out.
At day 30, book 20 minutes to ask what’s working and who else needs access. Clients often have a small complaint they haven’t raised, and it’s better heard now than at renewal.
A welcome email you can copy
Send it on day one, short enough to read on a phone:
Subject: Welcome aboard, and what happens next
Hi Ana, great to be working with you on the launch series. Here’s how the next few weeks will go.
Kickoff: Thursday at 10:00, 45 minutes. Please bring whoever will approve the videos, even if only for the first 15 minutes.
Before the call, it would help to have:
- Your logo files and brand guide
- Names and job titles of everyone on camera, spelled the way they should appear on screen
- Two or three videos you like, yours or anyone’s
- The dates we should plan around, like launches and events
Each version will reach you as a link. You watch in the browser, click the moment you want changed and type your note. There’s no account to create, and this two-minute guide shows how: [link]
I’m your day-to-day contact, and you’ll hear from me every Friday with what moved and what we need from you.
How this works in RecReview
In RecReview a new client starts with a name and a code of up to six characters, like ACME. The code becomes the prefix of every video code for that client (ACME_001, ACME_002), the same pattern you agreed at kickoff.
Upload the client’s logo, or type their website and RecReview fetches it. Your logo and theirs sit together at the top of the client’s portal, and review emails carry your logo.
Contacts go in the People tab. Each one is a manager or a reviewer, and you can mark more than one as primary.
When a video is approved, the email with the final download goes to primary contacts first, and when you send a version, the recipient list starts with them.
Routine notices about a new video, script or plan are emailed only to primary contacts when the client has any; everyone else sees them in the portal. If the portal is on when you add a contact, RecReview emails them an invitation with the link.
Roles restrict nothing until you turn on contact roles in the workspace settings. Then only managers approve and download the final, while reviewers comment and ask for changes.
Per client, you choose how people get in: anyone with the link, a name and email, or verified sign-in with a 6-digit code sent by email or a Google account.
Downloads before approval are off by default. Turn them on for a client and every early download is logged and your team is notified. Shoot days from your production plans and delivery deadlines appear on a calendar in the portal.
For the welcome email, link the help center’s For your clients section, which walks the client through signing in, commenting, approving and downloading. The client portal page covers the rest.
