Questions, answered
Budgets, timelines, travel, French, feedback and the rest. If your question isn't here, ask Corbino or book a time to chat.
Four things: what you want people to do after watching, who you're trying to reach, where the video will live (your website, LinkedIn, Instagram, TV) and when you need it. A rough budget range helps too, even if it's wide.
If you can't answer all of these yet, that's normal. A good producer will help you work through them on the first call. That's where most of our projects start.
An ad agency develops the strategy and the creative idea, and often plans where the ads run. A production company makes it: directors, producers, crews, editing and motion design.
Some teams do both. We often start upstream with brands, helping shape the strategy, message and script, and we also work behind the scenes for agencies once their concept is approved.
Look past the reel and ask a few practical questions:
Clients tell us they choose us for being organized, calm under pressure and easy to work with.
Most projects move through five stages: strategy (goals, audience, message), pre-production (script, casting, locations, schedule), the shoot, post-production (editing, colour, sound, motion, captions) and delivery in every format you need.
Your producer runs the project from kickoff to final delivery, and you review every edit in our online portal.
No. Scripting is part of pre-production. For scripted work, like explainers and commercials, we write it with you. For unscripted interviews and employee stories, we write question guides instead, so people sound like themselves rather than reading lines.
If you already have a script or a brief, we'll build from it.
Start with the goal and the format usually follows:
If you're unsure, a quick call with a producer sorts it out.
It depends on the concept, crew size and deliverables. A one-day interview shoot and a multi-day campaign with talent, sets and a dozen cutdowns are very different budgets. Every budget breaks into three parts:
Understanding those parts helps you see where the value is and what's worth investing in. A producer can give you an accurate range on a quick call.
A good quote is itemized, so you can see exactly what you're paying for. Look for the deliverables (how many videos, lengths and formats), shoot days, crew, editing and motion, rounds of review, and anything like talent, music or travel.
It should also spell out what isn't included. Every quote we send is itemized and includes caveats that cover both, so there are no surprises later.
Full-service productions usually take six to eight weeks, from prep through post:
Projects with just one part, like editing only, can take less time. Clear goals and quick feedback speed every project up.
Every production dollar should show up on screen. That's how we plan every shoot.
Often, yes. The things that slow a project down are usually securing crew and locations, and waiting on approvals. With clear goals up front and quick decisions, a production can scale up fast without cutting corners. We handle tight deadlines often.
Per project works well for a one-off launch or campaign. A retainer makes sense when you need a steady flow of content: you plan the year once, the team already knows your brand, and recurring production gets more consistent and efficient.
Many of our clients retain us for quarterly or year-round content plans, as an extension of their marketing team.
Most people get nervous once the camera rolls, even confident presenters. What helps:
Making non-actors comfortable is our specialty. Jon has interviewed some of the country's highest-profile business leaders for over a decade. A great interview is about knowing when to lead, when to listen and when to let silence do the heavy lifting.
Expect setup to take longer than you think: lighting and sound are what make a video look and feel professional. A producer runs the schedule, the director guides the people on camera, and the crew handles the rest.
From your side, it helps to have one person on set who can make decisions, and anyone appearing on camera should know their time slot and what to wear.
It depends on the project, the budget and how the video will be used. ACTRA is the union for English-language performers in Canada. Union talent is common for commercials and paid campaigns, while employee stories and many social videos feature non-union people, often your own team.
We're a union signatory, so we can work with both union (ACTRA) and non-union talent and help you choose what fits.
Yes. We're Toronto-based, but we film across Canada and beyond. We travel regularly to Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Muskoka, and keep a reliable network of local crews across North America, so we can also hire locally and save you travel costs.
It's smoother to plan both languages from the start than to translate afterward: bilingual talent, a director who can work in both languages, and a schedule that captures both versions.
Jon is a bilingual director, and we source French-speaking crew, translators and on-camera talent. CATIE's national campaign and ReelShort's French feature were both shot bilingually.
You get minutes, not hours. Athletes have tight windows, and creators are used to controlling their own camera. The trick is planning hard, pivoting fast and keeping the set calm, so personalities shine while the brand stays on message.
We've filmed Scottie Barnes for PlayStation and Chris Boucher for Smartwater, and built an arena for four creators for Hasbro's NERF launch.
If you need photos anyway, capturing them on the same day saves a second production: same people, same locations, same look. Behind-the-scenes stills are also great for social.
Video is our core, but we can add photography and behind-the-scenes stills to most shoots.
Yes, and it's worth asking. A professional production should carry liability and equipment coverage and handle the clearances commercial work needs. We're fully insured.
Shoot for where most people will watch. Vertical (9:16) is native to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. Horizontal (16:9) still suits websites, YouTube, presentations and TV.
If you need both, plan it before the shoot so every shot is framed for both crops. We build for Instagram first and adapt for LinkedIn, TikTok and Connected TV.
People-led video tends to do well: leaders sharing a point of view, employee stories and behind-the-scenes moments. Keep it short, make the point early, and add captions, since many people scroll with the sound off.
We make thought leadership and employer brand content built for LinkedIn.
As long as it needs to be, and usually shorter than you think:
For BDO, one shoot gave them a :60 and :30 plus :15 and :06 cutdowns.
Plan every deliverable before the shoot, then cut the footage several ways: a hero video, shorter cutdowns, vertical versions and clips for social.
Our Asset Maps help too. They're time-coded transcripts of the key moments, so you can keep repurposing the content across your channels long after launch.
Yes. Send us your footage, even if another team shot it. Our editors and motion designers deliver polished, platform-ready cuts with colour, sound and captions.
Ask before the project starts, because it isn't always included. With us, raw footage is available on most projects for an additional fee. Let us know up front and we'll include it in your quote.
Revisions get expensive when feedback arrives in scattered emails from different people. The fix is to gather everyone's notes in one place, leave them on the exact moment in the video, and agree on who has the final say.
We use two tools for this. Asset Maps are time-coded transcripts so you can pick what goes in the edit, and our review portal lets every stakeholder comment right on the timeline. Fewer rounds, clearer notes.
Most explainers land in 60 to 90 seconds. They start with the script, which follows a proven pattern, then voiceover auditions and a recording session, then animation that supports the story.
Our motion designers are in-house, so the whole process stays under one roof.
A short, scripted, vertical series with recurring characters and a cliffhanger every episode, made to be watched on a phone. Brands use them for campaigns, product launches and building a community on social.
We were ReelShort's first Canadian production partner, and their first French-language feature, which we produced, became their highest-viewed international launch. See branded micro-dramas.
Like a TV series, just faster and vertical. We write or adapt the scripts, cast the actors and handle every production detail, from locations to wardrobe, hair and makeup.
On set, we shoot vertical-first with three cameras, capturing 10+ script pages a day, so a whole series can be shot in about two weeks. Then we edit, subtitle and localize every episode, in English or French, and release it with a platform partner or on your own channels.
Mostly behind the scenes, to speed up timelines and remove bottlenecks. It's also opening up new formats. The creative decisions still sit with people: AI could never fully replace a producer.
A great video doesn't work if no one sees it. Hollywood's rule of thumb is to spend as much on marketing a film as on making it. Every video should be discoverable, searchable and actionable: people can find it, get the point quickly and know what to do next.
We format every video for the platforms it will run on, and our social strategy service can handle scheduling, publishing and reporting. More for social teams.
Usually in one of four ways: director-led treatments and bids for big creative ideas, producer-led content sprints for high-volume deliverables, field crews for activations and testimonials, and case-study films for award submissions.
We work white-label or co-branded. Our measure of success is the callback. More for agency producers.
It shows what it feels like to work there, not the perks. Real people telling real stories beats a polished script. The strongest employer brand content covers recruiting, culture and leadership, and keeps going after launch as an ongoing library.
For Float, we made a recruitment campaign after their Series B that helped them scale their team. More for HR teams.
Keep it human and to the point. Film leaders in conversation rather than reading from a prompter, and say the important thing early. The goal is an update that feels confident, warm and on-brand across the whole organization.
We make CEO announcements, holiday videos, AGM and milestone videos, and employee comms. More for brand teams.
To build trust. Accounting, legal, financial and consulting firms use video for service-line marketing, thought leadership from their experts, internal comms and recruiting. In this space, execution is credibility: every detail signals quality.
We've partnered with many of Canada's most trusted professional services firms, including broadcast campaigns and the Ask BDO YouTube series for BDO.
Early on, explain the problem you solve with an explainer, demo or hero film. In growth mode, stretch into employer brand, customer testimonials and social. Later, it's about what the brand stands for.
We've worked with tech companies from accelerators to Series D, including Float, Questrade and Apple.
Simplify the story, make every dollar show up on screen, and plan footage you can reuse for donor outreach, events and social. Authentic stories from the people you serve usually beat expensive production.
For CATIE's bilingual awareness campaign, people who saw it were four times more likely to know that a person on effective HIV treatment can't pass it on.
Corbino, our studio guide, can answer anything about services and process right now. Or talk to a producer.
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