The document discusses the process of working to a client's brief in the creative media industries. It defines what a brief is and outlines the common structures of briefs, including contractual, negotiable, formal, informal, commission, tender, cooperative, and competition briefs. It emphasizes the importance of carefully reading the brief to understand requirements, timelines, and specifications. While contractual briefs cannot be negotiated, the document explains that it is generally good practice to negotiate other types of briefs to ensure feasibility and clarify expectations. Finally, it notes that working from a brief provides opportunities for skills development, industry experience, and networking in addition to financial compensation.

1. Unit 5: Working to a Brief in the Creative Media Industries
November 1st 2016
Task One.
CWC Productions are looking to expand their business into the area of
television and video production. The managing director has little experience of
what is involved in working on a client’s brief and has asked you to write a
report on the ‘working to a brief’ process.
Your work must be presented in the form of a report. The following headings
must be covered in your report:
 Structure of briefs
 Reading a brief
 Negotiating a brief
 Opportunities created by a brief
Your report must include at least two examples of different video production
briefs to illustrate the points you are trying to make.

2. Introduction
A brief is a statement of a client’s requirements for a task that needs to be
completed. It is given as a task to someone the client is hiring to complete
said task. For example, a graphic designer can be given a brief to design a
new logo for a company; the brief will contain a deadline and what the client
wants from the designer.
This report will identify what is involved in working on a client’s brief, as well
as explain the different types of structures, show you how to read a brief,
negotiate with a client while working on a brief and explore the opportunities
that arise whilst working on a brief.
Structureof a Brief
Briefs can come in a multitude of different structures as the format can vary
depending on the task it is helping you to complete.
Contractual Briefs
A contractual brief is a legally binding contract between a client and a person
they are hiring to complete a task. It is very descriptive, contains fixed non-
negotiable content and will be written formally. The brief will state the required
duties of the employee, guidelines, legal and ethical information, a start date
and deadline, salary, hours required to work and a signature. Signing a
contractual brief is a legal commitment to a task and failing to comply with the
regulations can result in legal action for the employee or the client. A
contractual brief is often used in situations where there is a lack of trust
between the employee and client, for example if a client doesn’t know who
they are hiring that well or the client is a large corporation who needs to
uphold their professional formal reputation. See appendix A for an example of
a contractual brief.
Negotiable Briefs
Negotiated briefs content is decided on mutually by the client and employee
as both party’s compromise and come to an agreement on what the brief

3. should include. A negotiable brief will still contain the same information as the
majority of briefs such as start date, a deadline, salary and working hours, the
only difference is it can be altered by the employee rather than be final. The
client and employee can have equal input and it also allows the employee to
be more creative and suggest ideas that the client may not have otherwise
thought of, which is an advantage. However, the main disadvantage is the
client and employee may not come to an agreement about the task at hand so
consequently problems can arise. A negotiated brief is normally used when
the client is open to suggestions and ideas regarding the project at hand. For
example if a company want to create an advertisement video to represent
their company, the brief will state that an advert is required to be completed
but how the video is to be completed and what it will include is up to the
employee. See appendix B for an example of a negotiable brief.
Formal Briefs
A formal brief outlines the specifications of a product or service. It is well set
out and structured in a neat and orderly manner. It will be written solely using
formal language and high standards of grammar and punctuation so
abbreviations and slang will not be used. A formal brief is similar to a
contractual brief in its delivery, content and format but a signature is not
required for a formal brief. Meetings are often arranged by the client, which
enables the employee to ask questions to the client and discuss exactly what
the client wants the employee to create. Briefs of this style often feature
company logos and a formal font to make it look more professional. See
appendix C for an example of a formal brief.
Informal Briefs
An informal brief is usually a short piece of text delivered by email or face-to-
face in a meeting. It is not contractual and cannot be documented in some
cases. Informal briefs are known for featuring informal language such as
abbreviations, slang and grammatical errors. This style of brief is often seen
when dealing with friends, close colleagues or when very little or no money is
involved. Informal briefs are much similar than other structures of briefs and
can contain fewer requirements for the employee to complete. For example, if

4. you wanted your friend to help you film a project you’re working on, you could
send an informal brief. See appendix D for an example of an informal brief.
Commission Briefs
Commission briefs involve two companies; the larger company will employ a
smaller, private company for production purposes. The larger company can
also use the product or service created for external clients, who will then give
the smaller company a share of the profits. Commission briefs can be used in
the production of a film; the major film company may employ a smaller
animation company to create a title sequence, like James Bond. They will
include them in the credits and give them a fraction of the profits. This style of
brief can save time compared to a tender brief (see next paragraph) as the
company already knows who they would like to work with and doesn’t need to
look for potential employees. See appendix E for an example of a commission
brief.
Tender Brief
A tender brief are used by the client to advertise a project, then potential
employees have the opportunity to form a proposal and pitch it to the client,
the client can then choose who to employ. There is no limit on the amount of
people who can pitch which enables the client to choose whom they deem is
the most appropriate to the role. A tender brief includes a start and deadline
date, what is required of the employee, the budget and legal and ethical
information. For example, a tender brief could be used for a sponsorship for a
football team. The client, the football team have the opportunity to look at a
number of companies in order to find the best sponsor on offer. As the clients
have the choice about whom they wish to work with it can be a disadvantage
when many people apply for a certain project, as a lot of companies will have
put in large amount of work to pitch an idea to the client for it only to be
rejected. See appendix F for an example of a tender brief.
Cooperative Brief
A cooperative brief involves two or more companies who are contracted to
work on the same assignment. The brief will include the companies and client

5. names, what the client desires, individual role requirements, a start and end
date as well as payment and contact details. The main reason for this is so
each company can work on a section of the assignment that best suits their
skill sets, as one company may not have the necessary skills required to
complete the whole project, this approach results in a better project overall.
Another popular reason would be if the deadline is too close for one company
to complete the work in time, sharing the workload will enable the project to
be finished twice as fast. However, this format can be more prone to create
disagreements and conflict between the companies hired by the client. See
appendix G for an example of a cooperative brief.
Competition Brief
Competition briefs are released by the client in the hopes of attracting
potential employees who would enter the competition by submitting what the
brief requires, which is typically a pitch or idea. The client will then review the
entries and select a winner who will win the job or a prize. A competition brief
includes the competition details such as the requirements of what to submit to
have a chance to win, the start and deadline date, prize details and details on
entering the competition, such as where, who to submit to and how.
Competition briefs are commonly open to the public and used for short film
competitions such as the London Sundance competition or Winchester Film
Festival. See appendix H for an example of a competition brief.
Reading a Brief
Reading a brief is the most important step when working on a brief, as if done
correctly it will inform you about what the client requires from you, the start
and end dates for the project and salary information. However, as there are a
variety of different briefs available, reading a brief and extracting the vital
information can become tricky.
Knowing what structure the brief has is the first step, as this way you know
what is going to be expected of you as well as what to expect from a brief. Not

6. reading a brief properly can result in a project of a lower standard, which
could result in legal action.
All briefs include a deadline and start date, which will enable you to plan your
time wisely and work out whether you are capable of completing the project
within the time limit.
The second step is to find these dates and before starting the brief, establish
whether the project is within your capabilities.
The third step when reading briefs is to read the specifications and think about
whether you have the right skill set to successfully complete the brief.
If you do then the last step to cover is, after reading the brief; is it a project
you want to work on, or is the client someone you would want to do business
with.
I have annotated two briefs using the method above, which has resulted in
extracting the most important information as well as showing you what the
steps above may look like on real life briefs. You can find the briefs in the
appendix under I and J.
The two briefs I used were both competition briefs and were called ‘the
Norwich Film Festival’ and ‘the Cinemagic Belfast Film Festival’.
Both briefs mention the client’s name (name of the festival) in the opening
paragraph as that is who the project is for. This is followed by a description of
the task at hand and who is eligible to enter, such as what categories the
festival offers and what you need to submit for your application to be eligible.
After this, the prizes are mentioned which should entice the reader, as it is the
only form of payment for competition briefs. Next, the briefs state where and
how you should send your application. Lastly the brief mentions where to find
the competition guidelines and a deadline date, which are vital to fulfil if you
want your application to be valid.
Both of the briefs I annotated are what you will typically find when dealing with
competition briefs as they feature the same information, are in a similar order
and feature similar wording.

7. Negotiating a Brief
A brief doesn’t have to have the structure of a negotiable brief to negotiate it.
All briefs, except contractual briefs, are negotiable to an extent as there will
always be an opportunity to have a consultation with the client. Meeting with
the client are good opportunities to raise any issues you may have with the
project, so it is important to read the brief prior to the meeting and be
prepared so you get all of your questions answered, as many clients do not
like to have multiple meetings with their employees.
Popular areas of briefs where problems can arise are the start date and
deadline, budget or salary, the requirements themselves (idea) or legal and
ethical information.
A start date needs to be either in the present or future, otherwise you are
already at a disadvantage as you have lost time, and a deadline needs to
provide you with enough time to successfully complete the task at hand to the
client’s specifications, if the dates are not realistic, then negotiation would be
a sensible way of resolving this problem.
The budget should be realistic, once you have worked out how much it will
cost to make the project if you are going to be at a loss or not working for very
much, and then this could be an area to negotiate with the client. The legal
and ethical information on a brief needs to be correct and compatible with
your needs as well as the projects, if they are not then you could mention this
to the client.
Finally, when negotiating with the client, the requirements and specifications
for the project they need to be sensible and within your capabilities and skill
set. If they are not, depending on the structure of the brief, you can suggest a
different idea to work on or involve another party to help you complete the
brief. Either of these options would need to be negotiated and discussed with
the client.

8. Opportunities a BriefProvides
There are many opportunities available when working on a brief in addition to
the financial benefits. Working on a brief will expose you to new tasks;
dilemmas and you will have a chance to mix with a new group of people. This
will help you to develop your communication skills, enable you to add new
skills to your repertoire and through networking you can gain useful contacts
that can help you in the future.
Working within a professional environment can also help you to identify the
areas that you need to work on to improve your skill set, as well as offering
you experience that is valued by employers.
In addition to this, a project may allow you to travel, which will broaden your
mind, offer you a new perspective and inspiration, which you can incorporate
into future creative projects. Travel will also offer you experience which will
improve your CV and make you more employable in the future.
Conclusion
There are many different types of briefs that you can encounter or create in
the media industry and the way you would deal with each type of brief is
different. Reading a brief is the most important step to take when dealing with
briefs, the main information to look out for is a start date, deadline, what is
required of you and the budget. Once found, this information can be used to
create questions to ask the client for when you have a meeting booked or a
negotiation session planned. You cannot negotiate when working on a
contractual brief but all other types of briefs are negotiable. Negotiations are
helpful and can be vital for the employee to get the most out of the brief from
the client.
Briefs can offer many opportunities such as a financial benefit, improving your
skill set and self-development skills. Working on new projects can enable you
to create a network of useful people you can use in the future, in addition to
gaining experience, which can make you more employable in the future.

9. Bibliography
http://www.slideshare.net/veggieburgers4lyf/different-types-of-brief-16919081
https://warrenmusicvideo.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/types-of-briefs-in-the-
media-industry/