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    Outsourcing video editing: an agency handover brief

    Niels JansenUpdated

    Give an external editor a short brief with approved footage, required exports and one feedback owner. Agree which choices the editor can make and who approves the final cut.

    Check the starting material

    Confirm the purpose, available assets and feedback owner. Approved selects mean editing an existing selection; raw footage still needs selection. For an existing timeline, identify the sequence, application version, missing media and unavailable effects.

    Copy this editing brief

    1. Purpose, audience and platform: [what should the viewer understand or do?]
    2. Assets: [folder, selects/timeline status, approved assets and usage permission].
    3. Reference and brand rules: [captions, fonts, colours, logo, music]. Include a rejected edit with comments where useful.
    4. Deliverables: [cuts, lengths, language, aspect ratios and exports per cut].
    5. Timing: [first cut, consolidated feedback, final delivery and review rounds].
    6. Decision rights: [editor freedom, change approver, agreed sound, colour and motion work].
    7. Approval: [feedback owner, final approver, creative and technical checks].
    8. Editable handover: [exports only, or agreed project copy, media and dependency notes?]

    Completed example: one interview clip

    This is an illustrative brief. Counts and dates are chosen assumptions, not a client case or FutureFlows package.

    • Purpose: invite marketing managers on LinkedIn to a product demo. Inputs: a 12-minute interview, approved selects, logo and reference edit.
    • Style: follow the reference for pacing, fonts and captions; use the supplied logo on the end card. The agency confirms wording and usage rights.
    • Output: one 30-second English vertical cut, 9:16. Deliver it with burned-in captions and clean: two exports of the same cut.
    • Timing: first cut 30 September, one consolidated review on 1 October, final files 2 October. The agency producer owns feedback; the creative lead approves.
    • Decisions: the editor chooses order and transitions within the selects. Scope covers editing, agreed captions and exports. Sound, colour, motion, extra formats or searching all raw footage require a new scope decision. No editable project handover in this example.

    Agree review and delivery checks

    The editor checks captions, typos, audio, safe zones and export settings; the agency checks content and style. Replace "shorter" with "Remove the repetition at 00:18 and put the product demo straight after the opening." Save approved style choices for later briefs. For an agreed project handover, the recipient also checks that the package opens.

    Test one recurring format. Record preparation and internal review time, repeated corrections, and whether agreed files arrived on time. Review those records before expanding the next batch.

    FutureFlows edits supplied footage for agencies, with motion work within the agreed scope.

    Explore outsourced video editing