Short answer
A useful AI video production brief states the business objective, audience, one message, approved product facts, intended channels and formats, creative territory, source assets, usage rights, approval owners, budget range and launch deadline. It should also separate non-negotiable requirements from ideas the studio can develop. You do not need to write prompts or prescribe every shot; a human-directed production team needs a clear decision framework and room to solve the film.
Key takeaways
What matters most
- Brief the outcome and the constraints before describing shots or tools.
- Name the hero placement, every required adaptation and the actual launch date.
- Supply approved product facts, assets, rights information and one consolidated approver.
- Ask for a treatment and visual test before committing to a full set of finished shots.
What should an AI commercial brief contain?
A production brief is a short agreement about the problem the film must solve. It gives a studio enough to propose a creative route, a scope and a realistic quote. For an AI commercial, it should also identify visual elements that must remain accurate, source materials that may be used, and who will approve likeness, claims and final media files.
The first draft can fit on one page. Attach the brand guide, product references, existing campaign assets and channel specifications rather than pasting every detail into the brief. Mark facts that are final, assumptions that need checking and choices you want the director to make.
The eight fields below are a practical starting structure. Each one changes the idea, the work required or the terms of use.
- Objective: the business action or perception the film should change
- Audience and message: who should care, and the single point they should retain
- Product truth: approved features, appearance, claims and prohibitions
- Creative territory: tone, visual references and what to avoid
- Media plan: placements, durations, ratios, languages and variants
- Inputs and permissions: brand assets, source footage, people, music and usage rights
- Governance: approvers, review rounds and required legal or platform checks
- Commercial limits: launch date, budget range and decision date
Start with the marketing decision, not an AI prompt
Write one sentence each for the audience, the change you want and the reason to believe. For example, a brief might ask a film to make a technical service feel dependable to first-time buyers, with one approved proof point. That is more useful than requesting 'a viral cinematic ad' or naming a model. The director can then decide whether the message needs character, product demonstration, metaphor, narration or a hybrid shoot.
Define success in terms the campaign can actually observe: qualified visits, recall research, view-through, completed enquiries or a test of distinct hooks. Do not promise a performance result that production alone cannot guarantee. If the media plan is still open, label the likely placements and give the studio a date when the plan will be locked.
Separate must-haves from suggestions. A mandatory packaging detail is a must-have. A reference film's lighting may be inspiration. Treating both as equally fixed often produces a crowded, derivative brief.
Define product truth and the visual failure points
AI production can create persuasive images quickly, which makes factual control more important. Supply final product imagery, dimensions, colourways, interface states, approved copy and the exact claims the brand can substantiate. Note what must never be implied: a capability the product lacks, an unapproved medical or financial outcome, or an endorsement by a real person.
The US Federal Trade Commission says advertisers and agencies need a reasonable basis for objective claims before publication. The UK's ASA/CAP has also warned that AI imagery and deepfakes can mislead, including through implied claims. For an international campaign, assign the brand or agency a named claims approver for each market; the production studio should not be asked to invent proof.
List the shots most likely to expose errors: close product handling, readable labels, recurring faces, dialogue, interfaces, hands or complex motion. The studio can test those early and propose conventional footage, compositing or a different camera choice when that better serves the film.
- Final packshots, logos, UI captures and brand guidelines
- Approved claims and the evidence owner for each claim
- Restricted depictions, competitors, trademarks and likenesses
- Details requiring exact continuity across shots and versions
Specify placements before asking for a price
A 30-second landscape master, a native vertical film and six performance variants are different scopes. State the hero placement, then list every additional duration, ratio, language, caption state, hook and end card. If the media agency has not fixed its inventory, give a provisional delivery matrix and ask the studio to price the uncertain assets as options.
This is operational rather than decorative. TikTok's in-feed guidance, updated in June 2026, sets format-specific requirements and safe-zone resources; Google Ads publishes separate video asset specifications and guidance for YouTube formats. A single centre crop can remove the product or CTA even when it uploads successfully. Brief the intended placements so framing can be designed, then recheck current platform specifications before final delivery.
An asset matrix also makes proposals comparable: one row per final film, with channel, duration, aspect ratio, language, captions, CTA and approval owner. The separate deliverables guide explains which master files, cutdowns and records to request at handover.
- Hero asset: placement, duration, aspect ratio and sound behaviour
- Adaptations: native ratios, cutdowns, alternate hooks and markets
- Text states: captions, supers, clean master and localised copy
- Final acceptance: platform preset and person who signs off the upload file
Give creative direction without prescribing every frame
Share two or three references and annotate what you mean by each: performance, pacing, lens language, colour, humour or sound. Say what is off-brand. A reference is not permission to copy another campaign, person or protected asset. Ask for an original treatment that translates the brief into a visual system.
Describe whether the film should feel photoreal, stylised, graphic, documentary or deliberately synthetic. State whether a recurring character, exact product geometry, spoken dialogue or familiar brand world matters. These decisions are more useful to production than a long list of adjectives such as premium, futuristic and dynamic.
The strongest first approval is usually the premise and a small number of style frames or motion tests. It lets the client evaluate story and visual direction before the team builds a complete edit around an unapproved look.
Name rights, review owners and change rules at kickoff
The brief should identify who owns supplied imagery and who can authorise its use in AI tools. Flag real people, synthetic voices, licensed music, stock, confidential product files and restrictions on training or retention. Rights and disclosure obligations vary by asset, model, platform and market, so unresolved questions should be marked for legal review rather than hidden in a general approval email.
A production brief also needs a decision path. Name one person who consolidates feedback from brand, creative, legal and media; specify which gates require approval; and set response windows. The commercial production agreement published by AICP is a reminder that specifications, authorised representatives and changes should be explicit. Your own contract must cover the specific AI workflow and territories involved.
Distinguish a correction from a new direction. Fixing a frame that violates approved packaging is a correction. Adding a new market, spokesperson, script or format changes the assignment. Set revision rounds and change pricing before production begins.
- Concept and script approver
- Product and claims approver
- Rights, likeness and disclosure approver
- Media and technical-delivery approver
- One person responsible for a single consolidated response
A one-page AI video production brief to copy
Project: [brand, campaign, product and launch market]. Objective: [one change the film should create]. Audience: [who, current belief and desired belief]. Core message: [one sentence]. Proof: [approved facts, claims and substantiation owner]. Desired action: [what the viewer should do next].
Creative direction: [tone, two annotated references and what to avoid]. Product rules: [exact features, visuals, logos, interfaces and restricted depictions]. Source assets: [files available and permission status]. Hero film: [placement, duration and ratio]. Additional assets: [one row per cutdown, hook, ratio, language and caption state].
Governance: [concept, claims, rights and final-file approvers; review rounds; feedback turnaround]. Timing: [brief lock, key approvals, media handoff and launch]. Budget: [working range and items priced as options]. Open questions: [decisions still needed, with owner and deadline].
Send this with the actual assets and a call about the unresolved decisions. The studio should return a treatment, production approach, delivery matrix, review plan, assumptions and priced exclusions. If the proposal describes only seconds of generated footage, it has not yet answered the brief.
