A useful launch brief tells the production team what has to become clear, what can be shown, and when the work needs to be finished. The camera package comes later.

If you are planning a launch film for an AI or software startup, bring these decisions to the first call. A rough answer is enough to start. Knowing who can make the final decision matters more than a polished deck.

Start with one person and one change

Who should watch this, and what changes for them when the product exists?

“We built an AI platform” leaves the script open in every direction. “A community operator can get help with routine work inside the tool they already use” gives the film something concrete to explain.

That was the useful angle in Circle AI Copilot. The product story stayed connected to the work customers do. The brief should make that connection before the founder starts rehearsing lines.

Write down the intended viewer, their current situation, the change your product makes possible, and the next action you want them to take. If those answers cover three different audiences, decide which one this film serves first.

Decide what the product can prove

List the moments that can be demonstrated reliably: a working flow, an output, a before-and-after, or a founder explaining a decision. Identify who will approve those demonstrations and claims.

For software, agree who captures the screen, which product version is ready, and what may change before launch. Graphics and interface animation need their own scope. They are work someone has to prepare, build, review, and deliver.

For Circle Website Builder, the story connected the public website to the member experience. That business change gave the interface footage a purpose.

Name the deliverables

“A launch video” can mean a short founder announcement, a product film, or a keynote. Those are different productions.

Specify the main film, approximate length, where it will run, caption requirements, aspect ratios, and any social versions. Agree whether a cutdown is a shorter version of the same film or a new piece with a different opening and story.

If you need footage for your own editor, say so. Production-only work should start with the editor’s requirements for cameras, audio, product capture, organization, and handoff.

Put approvals on the schedule

Bring the launch date, founder availability, product-readiness milestones, and the person responsible for creative approval.

A shoot can be organized quickly and still miss launch if nobody has allowed time for the script or edit review. Make room for the agreed revision rounds and decide how conflicting feedback gets resolved.

Project Eclipse used overlapping edit, motion, and music work to meet a compressed launch schedule. That requires clear responsibilities and decisions. It is a production choice to scope together, not an assumption to make after filming.

Make the budget match the responsibility

Separate creative development, shoot production, and post-production. A production-only figure does not automatically include scripting, editing, motion graphics, or every social version.

The budget calculator is a starting point for a short film or shoot. It can include raw footage, grading, or a finished edit up to 90 seconds. Larger films, complex graphics, and multi-location campaigns need their own scope. Read what the rates cover.

A brief you can send

Product: What is launching, and what will be ready to show?
Viewer: Who is the film for?
Main point: What should that person understand or believe afterward?
Proof: What can the product and founder demonstrate?
Delivery: Main film, channels, versions, captions, and approximate length.
Dates: Launch date, founder availability, and approval milestones.
Location: San Francisco, New York, or another city.
Team: Who owns product claims, creative approval, and editing?
Budget: A working range and what it needs to include.

Send that to Jordan, or book a call to work through it.

For a longer discussion of the script itself, watch my existing product launch video scripting training.