Most video proposals are written to win the job. They open with a reel, spend two pages on the creative idea and put the price on the last one. That gets you a yes.
The trouble shows up in month two, when the client asks for the raw footage, a third round or a vertical cut, and both sides open the proposal to see who’s right. If the answer isn’t written there, you negotiate it with the job half done.
The ones that hold up list every file, name the approver and put the client’s dates on the schedule next to yours.
In short
- A proposal that holds up lists every file, names the approver and puts the client’s dates on the schedule.
- Define a round as one consolidated set of notes on one version, and name one person who approves.
- Say how many business days the client has for notes, and what a late answer does to delivery.
- Write down what happens to raw footage, project files, music licenses and the client’s right to use the video.
The outline
Copy the sections into your own document and fill them in. Each one answers a question that otherwise comes up mid-project.
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| 1. Summary | Client, project, date, who it’s addressed to and how long the price is valid |
| 2. Objective | What the video is for, where it runs and who watches, taken from the brief |
| 3. Deliverables | One line per file, with length, aspect ratio, language, subtitles and format |
| 4. What’s included | Shoot days, crew, locations, interviews, graphics, where the music comes from |
| 5. Rounds and approval | How many rounds, what counts as one, who approves and how |
| 6. Schedule | Your dates and the client’s: script sign-off, notes due on each cut, delivery |
| 7. Price and payments | The total, and each payment tied to a milestone |
| 8. Music, stock and usage | What’s licensed, for which uses, and when the client’s right to use the video starts |
| 9. Raw footage and project files | What’s handed over, what isn’t, and how long you keep it |
| 10. Out of scope | What isn’t included, and the price of extras |
| 11. Acceptance | A signature, or a written reply accepting the proposal |
A file that isn’t a line in section 3 is new work, and the scope creep post has a test for the requests in between. The numbers in section 7 come from your own hours and a line-by-line budget.
Tie each payment to something both sides can see happen, like a deposit on signature, a second payment when the first cut goes out and the balance on final approval. Holding the download until payment covers the master in between.
Three sections cause most of the arguments, and they get example wording below. The wording comes from a studio and isn’t legal advice. Contract law changes from country to country, so have a lawyer read your version once before you reuse it.
Rounds and approval
Most proposals give a number of rounds. Fewer say who approves or what an approval looks like, which is the gap a “looks great!” on WhatsApp falls into when it turns out to be about the wrong version.
Rounds and approval. The price includes two rounds of changes after the first cut. A round is one consolidated set of notes on one version. Anyone at [Client] can comment on the review link, and [Name, role] approves. A version is approved when [Name] clicks Approve on the review link or confirms in writing which version is approved. Rounds beyond the second, and changes after approval, are billed at [price] per round.
Put a person’s name there. “Marketing approves” lets anyone in marketing reopen a decision a colleague made. Keeping each round to one list of notes is covered in ending endless revision rounds, and proof of client approval covers what to keep when the yes arrives in a chat.
The schedule and the client’s response time
A schedule with only your dates makes every delay look like yours. Put the client’s dates in the same table:
- When the script has to be approved.
- How many business days they have for notes on each cut.
- When the final approval is due.
Then say what a late answer does to delivery.
Schedule. The delivery date of [date] assumes notes within three business days of each version being sent. If notes arrive later, delivery moves by the same number of business days, subject to our team’s availability. If a version gets no reply for 15 business days, the project goes on hold, and restarting it means agreeing a new schedule.
Keep the part about availability. The editor you held for Tuesday moves to another job when the notes don’t arrive, so the new date can land later than one day per day of delay.
The production timeline post shows how to count working days between stages, and when the client takes too long has the follow-up emails.
Raw footage and project files
This one usually comes after delivery, often from someone new on the client’s side: “Can you send us all the raw files?” A client who paid for the shoot may assume the footage is theirs, and the studio may assume it isn’t.
The project file is less useful than it sounds. It won’t open properly without the same fonts, plugins and media, and some of the music and stock inside it can’t be passed on under its license.
Raw footage and project files. The fee covers the deliverables in section 3. Raw footage is available on request, on a drive you provide, for a handling fee of [price]. Editing project files are not included. If you need them, we’ll quote a buyout, and they’re delivered as they are, without fonts, plugins or stock media whose license doesn’t allow transfer. We keep the raw footage for [number] months after final delivery, and the master and project for [number] months.
Repeat the policy in the delivery email, so a year from now both sides can find the same sentence.
Music, stock and usage rights
Stock libraries license a track or a clip for certain uses, and the license bought for a website video might not cover paid ads, TV or a screen at an event. Section 8 says where the music and stock come from, which uses are covered and for how long.
A well-known song is quoted separately, and clearing one takes time as well as money. Music, logos and footage the client supplies are theirs to clear.
Say when the client’s right to use the video begins. If it starts with the final payment, a client who publishes a review copy is using something they haven’t paid for, and that’s easier to raise when the proposal said so.
Add a line on your portfolio too: whether you can show the video in your reel once it’s public.
How this works in RecReview
RecReview doesn’t write proposals, quotes, contracts or invoices, so the document stays in your editor and the price in your spreadsheet. It records what happens after the client signs, which is what you’ll check against the proposal.
Each video is a task, and every cut uploaded to it becomes the next numbered version. Sending a version to the client goes into the task’s activity history with the version number and the date, and so does each approval or request for changes the client makes on the review link.
The rounds and the days the client took to answer end up on the same list.
The client approves with a button on the review page, and only someone who has identified with a name and email can do it. The version then shows who approved it, the version number and the date and time, as in “Approved by Dana Reyes · v3 · Nov 04, 11:20 AM”.
If you turn on contact roles, only the client’s managers can approve and download the final, while reviewers comment and ask for changes. People who identify on a review link join as reviewers, so the approver named in section 5 can be the client’s only manager.
When that person says yes on WhatsApp or on a call, someone on your team logs it on the latest version with the channel it came through.
Downloads before approval are off by default for every client. On the review page the client gets the download button after approving the version, and in the portal once the task is marked as delivered.
You can allow early downloads for a client, and each one is logged in that contact’s history while owners and admins get a notification. More on the client portal.
