Every production company has a process. In most small ones it lives in the producer’s head, and it holds up until the producer takes a week off or a second editor joins.
A standard operating procedure writes down the parts of the job that repeat, so the next person does them the same way without having to ask.
In short
- Write down what happens on every job in about two pages, and leave the craft out.
- Give each stage an exit criterion anyone can check and one owner named by role.
- Most jobs go wrong at handoffs, so ask for a note with every internal export and have one person merge the client’s notes.
- Let a tool do the steps that follow from something that already happened, and put a name next to every judgment call.
- Review the SOP every quarter, and let whoever hit a problem write the change.
Two pages, not a manual
Write down what happens to every job, whatever the client: the stages, what has to be true before a job leaves each one, who owns it and how work changes hands.
Leave the craft out. How to grade a log profile or pace an interview belongs to the people doing it, and a document that tries to cover it goes stale fast.
Start from the last three jobs you delivered rather than from how you wish things worked. Write down the steps they had in common, and where they differ, keep the version that went better.
Anything that varies from job to job gets its own document, linked from the SOP: the brief template, the pre-production checklist, the file naming convention and the folder structure.
Stages with a clear “done”
Each stage needs an exit criterion anyone can check. “Script done” is an opinion. “Script approved in writing by the person named in the brief” can be checked by opening an email.
A stage starts when the one before it is done, so you don’t need separate entry criteria, and that rule alone stops a shoot from being booked on a script nobody approved.
| Stage | Done when | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Brief | Signed, with the approver named | Producer |
| Script | Approved in writing by that approver | Producer |
| Pre-production | Checklist closed, call times sent | Producer |
| Shoot | Media copied twice and checked | Shooter or DIT |
| First cut | Reviewed in-house, sent with a goal for the round | Editor, then producer |
| Revision rounds | Final version approved in writing | Producer |
| Delivery | Package sent, download link tested | Producer |
| Archive | Folder archived, footage policy applied | Editor |
Each row gets one owner, named by role. When a stage has two owners, each assumes the other has it covered. In a three-person studio the producer will own most rows, which is fine as long as it’s written down.
Post-production stages overlap, so the SOP says when each one may start. Color and the final mix wait for picture lock. Sound design and graphics can start on the rough cut, as long as everyone knows they’ll need another pass once the cut is locked.
Next to the revision rounds, note how many the contract includes and what happens when they run out (how to stop endless revision rounds). The delivery row points to your delivery package, and the archive row to how long you keep raw footage.
The handoffs that break
Most jobs that go wrong go wrong between two people. From editor to producer, the classic failure is an export dropped in the team chat at 11 p.m. The producer opens it on a phone the next morning and can’t tell which version it is or which music is still temporary.
Ask for a short note with every internal export saying what changed and what’s known to be unfinished. If the file name follows the naming convention, nobody has to guess the version.
From producer to client, a cut sent without context gets reviewed on everything, temp grade included. The producer’s message says what this round is for and when the notes are due. Who signs off was settled in the brief.
Then the notes come back by email, in a call and on WhatsApp, sometimes contradicting each other. The SOP names one person, usually the producer, who merges them into one list on the version before the editor starts.
Freelancers get the same rules in their job sheet, and a new client hears them at the kickoff.
What to automate and what stays with a person
If a step is the consequence of something that already happened, a tool can do it:
- When a version goes to the client, the job is waiting on them, so the board can show that and the internal deadline can stop counting.
- When the client approves, the task is done.
- When one stage closes, the next one’s checklist can open by itself, and nobody should have to remember to send the review email.
Deciding that a cut is ready to show, choosing between two stakeholders’ notes and telling a client a date will slip are calls someone makes and answers for. The SOP puts a name next to each.
Keeping the SOP alive
An SOP drifts from reality within months unless someone checks it. Put a version number and a date at the top, and book half an hour each quarter to read it against the last few jobs.
Delete the steps nobody follows, or write down why they matter.
Between reviews, whoever hit the problem writes the change. The editor who lost a morning to an uncleared music track adds a line about licenses to the brief stage. The document’s owner approves the edit, but the person closest to the problem writes it.
New hires make good testers. Ask them to follow the SOP on their first job and mark every place where it didn’t match what happened.
An SOP outline to copy
Paste this into a doc and fill in the brackets.
[STUDIO] VIDEO PRODUCTION SOP
Version 1.0, [date]
Doc owner: [name]
1. BRIEF
Done: signed, approver named
Owner: [producer]
2. SCRIPT
Done: approved in writing
Owner: [producer]
3. PRE-PRODUCTION
Done: checklist closed
Owner: [producer]
4. SHOOT
Done: media copied twice
Owner: [shooter/DIT]
5. FIRST CUT
Done: internal review passed,
sent with round goal and date
Owner: [editor] > [producer]
6. REVISION ROUNDS
Included: [2] rounds
Notes merged by: [producer]
Done: final approved in writing
7. DELIVERY
Done: package sent, link tested
Owner: [producer]
8. ARCHIVE
Done: folder archived
Footage kept until: [date]
Owner: [editor]
HANDOFF NOTES
Editor > producer:
version, changes, unfinished
Producer > client:
round goal, due date, approver
FILES
Naming: [link]
Folders: [link]
REVIEW
Every quarter. Changes are
written by whoever hit the
problem.
How this works in RecReview
In RecReview your SOP’s stages map to three fields on each task:
- The phase is where the video is in its life, from Planned to Finished.
- The status is the column on the board.
- The blocker says who the video is waiting on, with a client or an internal category.
Owners and admins can add, rename and reorder all three under Workflow in the workspace settings and choose which statuses count as done.
Approving internally, sending to the client and requesting changes are permissions, open to owners, admins and editors by default and adjustable in the Team settings.
Automations are rules with a trigger, optional conditions and actions that run in order. Only owners and admins edit them, and any rule can be switched off without deleting it.
The Video Production, Agency and basic presets already handle the review loop. Sending a version to the client marks the task as waiting on the client, and the preset moves it to In review and pauses the internal deadline, while the date promised to the client stays put.
A request for changes puts the task back in To start, and an approval moves it to Delivered and the Finished phase.
The Video Production preset also moves a Planned task to Pre-production when a script is uploaded and creates the step subtasks from Script to Final Delivery as the work moves.
A stage the preset doesn’t have, like a color pass, can be one more rule: when the Editing subtask is completed, create a Color subtask due two days later.
When a rule changes the status, the phase or the blocker, pauses a deadline or sends an email, the task’s activity history shows it under the rule’s name.
If a client approves on a call, log it on the version and choose how they told you, and it counts the same as an approval in the app. More on the workflow automation page.
