4 Questions to Prevent Sponsorship Production Disasters

Who will be included?

When a brand signs a sponsorship contract with you, they expect you to be the only person involved in bringing the work to life.

So imagine their surprise when you turn in a video featuring your partner who has a tattoo of a copyrighted cartoon character.

Uh-oh.

Or maybe you decide to film in public, only for the brand to ask if you got signed "releases" from all the people in the background, permitting you to include their names and likenesses.

Yikes.

Or maybe you enlist the help of a new ghostwriter to write a sponsored blog post. The brand then reposts the article on its website and is later sued by your ghostwriter for copyright infringement. Only then do you realize you didn't have an ownership clause in your contract with your ghostwriter.

Oops.

Believe me when I say it's always better to be upfront with the brand about who will be a part of your production.

What are you submitting?

Does the brand need a specific word count?

Do they need it shot in 4K resolution?

Do you have to capture still photos as well as video footage?

Should videos be shot in landscape or portrait orientation?

After production has wrapped, it's hard to go back and recreate assets you forgot.

Where will you produce it?

If you're producing a video, are you shooting in your family room? If so, do you have clearance for the painting on your wall?

If not, remove it before shooting.

If you're producing an event, where will the brand's signage go?

When will you submit it?

There's nothing worse than receiving a frantic message from the brand asking why you haven't submitted anything or completed the project yet.

Brands often have little understanding of how long it takes to produce solid work, so well ahead of time, pick a submission date and don't miss it.