How agencies buy, what they pay, what they will try to get for free, and why a good agency changes a year.
What the agency really buys
Three things, and the video is only the third.
Predictability: it has promised its client a date, and it is buying the certainty of keeping it.
Compliance: it has signed off a brief, and it is buying the fact that your delivery matches it line by line.
And capacity: it needs ten pieces next month, not one exceptional piece this month.
One direct consequence on prices: an agency rarely pays the top rate, but it pays regularly, and a year with six regular batches is worth more than three well-paid jobs far apart.
What to ask before accepting
Five questions, in the same message.
Who the end client is, and in which country the video will run.
Which channels, which duration, which territory for the rights, and whether exclusivity is requested.
How many rounds of feedback are included, and what counts as a round.
Who pays, within what deadline, and whether payment depends on the end client settling.
And whether the rushes are requested, and in exchange for what.
One rule avoiding most disputes: a payment conditional on the agency being paid is not a deadline, it is a transfer of risk. That is declined, politely, in the first exchange.
What makes you easy to rebook
Four habits, and they cost nothing.
Answering within half a day, even to say you will answer tomorrow.
Delivering a day before the promised date, not on the day at eleven at night.
Flagging a problem as soon as it appears, not at delivery time.
And asking your questions in one go, before starting, never mid-edit.
One detail weighing more than it looks: keep the same picture and sound settings from one batch to the next. An agency having to redo the grading on every delivery ends up changing creator.
What not to do
Three classic mistakes.
Accepting an underpaid first batch thinking the next will be at the right price: the first price becomes the price.
Handing over the rushes without invoicing them: they allow variants to be produced without you, and those variants are normally paid for.
And contacting the end client directly. Even where it is lawful, it ends the relationship, and the agency has more projects than the client.
What an agency takes on, and what it leaves
| Task | Handled | Left to the creator |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the client | Yes | No |
| Writing the brief | Often | Sometimes to clarify |
| Filming and editing | No | Yes |
| Securing payment | Depending on the contract | To be checked |
What to ask before joining a roster
The names of the end clients, the payment term, the number of revisions included, how orders are allocated and how personal data is handled.
What makes the relationship last
Delivering ahead of the date, naming the files as requested, flagging a problem before it becomes a delay. Those three habits are worth more than a low rate.
Over time
Two moves a quarter are enough.
Send an up-to-date availability, in three lines, to the person who orders, not to the general address.
And propose once a year an increase, in figures, based on what you now deliver beyond the start.
One last administrative point: invoice with the statements expected there, and ask for the internal order reference before issuing, because an invoice without that reference waits for the following month. The exact statements and the tax treatment are checked with an accountant.
