A useful AI video brief describes the communication job before the technology. “Make something with AI” is a production method, not an idea, audience, or outcome.

The studio needs to know what viewers should understand, feel, or do—and what must remain true while the visuals become imaginative.

Want to put a brief together now? Use the brief builder below. It helps organise your answers into text you can copy or download, without sending them anywhere.

1. State the job in one sentence

Name the audience, message, and intended response.

For example: “Introduce a new snack range to New Zealand retailers with a 30-second film that makes the products feel familiar and energetic.”

That is more useful than a list of tools or visual effects.

2. Explain where the video will run

List the actual placements: website, sales presentation, event screen, YouTube, Meta, TikTok, internal launch, or broadcast. Include intended campaign length and territories if known.

Placement affects runtime, framing, captions, pace, sound, legibility, and the level of scrutiny a shot will receive.

3. List the deliverables

Specify what the quote should include:

  • Main runtime and aspect ratio
  • Vertical, square, or cutdown versions
  • Number of hooks or alternate openings
  • Captions and text-safe versions
  • Voiceover, music, sound design, and graphics
  • Clean masters or translated versions
  • File formats and delivery deadline

If the list is uncertain, mark priorities rather than pretending every version is essential.

4. Supply the source material

Useful inputs can include:

  • Brand guidelines and current logos
  • Product and packaging artwork
  • Approved photography and 3D files
  • Scripts, claims, and mandatory wording
  • Location, character, wardrobe, and period references
  • Previous campaign work
  • Examples of desired tone—and examples to avoid

Confirm who owns or has permission to use the supplied assets.

For a product-led ad, download the readiness checklist. It helps your team collect the current packaging, references and approval responsibilities before production starts.

5. Mark what must be exact

Separate creative freedom from non-negotiable facts. A brand colour, product label, historical uniform, survivor likeness, or architectural detail may need a higher review standard than an atmospheric background.

The Griffin’s project required controlled product and character references. Once We Were Children required historical corrections and careful treatment of survivor stories. The right control depends on the subject.

6. Name the approval team

Identify one person who can consolidate feedback. Also name specialist reviewers for legal, product, cultural, historical, or factual checks where needed.

Agree when they will review:

  1. Scope and visual direction
  2. Treatment, storyboard, or shot plan
  3. Representative tests
  4. Rough edit
  5. Final details and masters

Late changes are harder once shots have been built into an edit and sound mix.

7. Discuss AI use and risk openly

The brief should record how synthetic imagery may be used, which people or assets may be represented, and whether labelling is required. Avoid prompts or references that rely on material the production is not authorised to use.

For sensitive, regulated, or factual work, include the client’s legal or compliance process. A production studio can flag questions, but it cannot provide a blanket legal guarantee.

8. Give the real deadline and budget range

Include launch date, internal approval dates, and any fixed event or media deadline. A budget range helps the studio decide whether to concentrate on fewer hero shots, simplify versions, or recommend another method.

Read what shapes an AI ad quote in New Zealand if the budget is still being formed.

A copyable brief checklist

  • Audience:
  • Single most important message:
  • Desired response:
  • Channels and territories:
  • Main runtime and aspect ratio:
  • Required versions:
  • Source assets supplied:
  • Details that must remain exact:
  • Visual references:
  • Things to avoid:
  • Approval owner and specialist reviewers:
  • Usage or disclosure requirements:
  • Deadline and approval dates:
  • Budget range:

To see how a brief moves into production, explore Lucid Lab’s AI video production service, with finished examples, inputs and approval stages.

Once those points are clear, send the brief to Lucid Lab. The first production decision may be AI, live action, animation, or a deliberate mix of all three.