In brief: Choosing a video production company comes down to six checks before you sign. Ask for full videos from businesses like yours, find out who films and who edits, and see the brief, script and shot list before the shoot. Agree the number of revisions, the delivery dates and every format you need, such as 9:16 for Reels. Meta’s Reels ad guide suggests leaving at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom and 6% of each side free from text and logos. Instagram says its licensed music library is intended for personal, non-commercial use, while Meta’s Sound Collection is royalty free and can be used in ads. Kosmonk IT Pvt Ltd, a digital marketing agency in Ahmedabad, scripts, films and edits reels and brand videos with an in-house team.
You have seen a rival’s reels and they look sharp. Now you want the same for your own brand, so you search for a video production company in Ahmedabad and get a long list. Most of them show a stylish showreel and promise quick delivery. The real differences only show up once the shoot starts, so it pays to check a few things first.
The short version is this. Before you hire, look at full videos from your own kind of business. Find out who will be on the shoot and who edits, and see how they plan. Then agree the revisions, the formats and the music in writing. This guide walks through each check in the order you will meet it.
Key Takeaways
- Ask for full videos from businesses like yours, beyond the showreel.
- Find out who films, who edits and whether it is the same team every time.
- Get the revisions, formats and delivery dates in writing.
- Meta's Reels ad guide suggests leaving at least 35% of the bottom of the frame clear of text and logos.
What Does a Video Production Company Do?
A video production company plans, films and edits videos for your business. For most Indian brands today that means reels, short ads, product videos and sometimes a longer company film. A good one runs the whole job. That runs from the idea and the script to the final file that is ready to post or run as an ad.
The work falls into three stages. Pre-production is the planning: the brief, the script, the shot list and the location. Production is the shoot day itself. Post-production is the editing, the music, the subtitles and the colour work. A company can be strong at one stage and weak at another, which is why the checks below cover all three.
Some companies do all three stages with their own staff. Others plan the job and hire freelancers to film or edit it. Both can work, but you should know which one you are paying for. In Ahmedabad, the options range from one-person studios to agencies that also manage your social media and advertising. The services included can vary widely. Price is a separate question, and our guide to reel production cost in Ahmedabad covers it.
What Proof Should a Video Production Company in Ahmedabad Show?
Ask to see full videos from businesses like yours. A showreel is a fast cut of a company’s best moments from many jobs, so it tells you about style. It tells you very little about whether they can make a 30-second reel for a business like yours. That 30-second reel also has to hold a viewer to the end.
Ask for three complete videos and watch them on your phone, with the sound on. Look at the first two seconds closely, because a dull opening makes people scroll past. Check that the text is easy to read and that the person speaking sounds clear.
Then ask a simple question about each video. Who made it? If the answer is a freelancer the company no longer works with, the video is not proof of what you will get. If you can, ask to speak to one past client for five minutes.
To take a made-up example, an interior studio in Prahlad Nagar likes a company’s showreel. When it asks for full videos, it finds that only one of them is about interiors. That one was made by an editor who has since left. A quick check like this saves a wasted shoot.
Who Will Actually Be on Your Shoot?
Find out the names and jobs of the people who will film and edit your videos. A small shoot often needs a director, a camera operator, someone for lights and sound, and an editor. On a lean shoot one person may cover two of these. That is fine, as long as you know who is doing what.
The editor matters more than most buyers expect. The editor picks the best takes, sets the pace, adds the text and the music, and decides what the viewer sees first. Ask who edits, and whether you will be told if the editor changes.
Continuity is worth asking about. If a new camera operator turns up every month, your reels will look slightly different every month. A steady team learns your brand, your colours and how your staff behave on camera.
Ask what equipment they bring as well. Proper lighting and a clip-on microphone often matter more than an expensive camera, because muffled sound is very difficult to repair afterwards in the edit.
What Happens Before the Camera Rolls?
The planning should happen on paper before anyone books a shoot day. A good company sends you a short brief to confirm, then a script and a shot list for you to approve. The shot list names every shot, so nothing important is forgotten on the day.
Ask how they plan these four things:
- The brief. Who is the video for, what should they do after watching, and where will it be posted?
- The script. You should see the words, the on-screen text and the opening line in writing. Our guide to writing a reel script explains what a strong one looks like.
- The location and the time slot. To take made-up examples, a clinic in Vastrapur may need to film before patients arrive. A showroom on S.G. Highway may need a quiet weekday morning.
- The people on camera. Decide early who appears, whether staff, customers or the owner, and who will brief them.
Some locations, such as a mall, a hospital corridor or a housing society, need written permission before anyone can film there. Ask the company who arranges that permission, and how early it needs to be requested.
A company that wants to start filming without a script usually tries to find the story later, while editing. That tends to mean more revisions and a longer wait.
How Many Revisions, and How Long Will It Take?
Agree the revisions and the dates in writing before the shoot. Ask how many rounds of changes are included, and what counts as a round. A round usually means one set of comments on one version of the video. A list of comments sent in five separate messages can turn one round into five.
Ask for a simple timeline with dates. A vague “a few days” is hard to plan around. The timeline should show the dates for the script, the shoot, the first cut and the final files. Then check what the company needs from you at each step, because your own approvals can slow things down as much as their editing.
Here is a made-up case to show why it helps. A travel agency in Navrangpura wants three reels for a winter offer that starts in December. With dates on paper, it knows the first cuts arrive a week before the offer starts. That leaves time for one round of changes before the reels go out to its WhatsApp group of past travellers.
Which Formats Should Your Videos Come In?
Ask for every format you will need before the shoot, since some shots only work for one shape. Reels and Stories are upright, in the 9:16 shape. A feed post can be square, and YouTube and LinkedIn videos are usually wide. If you only ask for the upright version, a wide shot may be impossible later.
Meta’s Instagram Reels ad guide lists the ratio as 9:16. It also suggests leaving “at least 14% of the top, 35% of the bottom, and 6% on each side” clear of text and logos. Meta says this “will help ensure” key parts are not cropped or “covered by the profile icon or call-to-action”.
Ask the company to film and edit with this space in mind. Subtitles are worth asking for too, since some people watch reels with the sound off.
If the reels will run as ads, ask whether two or three different openings can be made for the same video. Ask what that adds, too. When people have seen one version many times, results usually drop, which marketers call ad fatigue. A fresh opening gives the same footage a longer life.
Who Owns the Music and the People in the Video?
Settle the music and the people on camera before the edit, because both are hard to fix once the video is live. Popular film songs are tempting, but they are not always cleared for business use. Instagram’s page on access to the licensed music library says “The music available in our library is intended for personal, non-commercial use.”
The same page says some business accounts do not get that library at all. It points them to Meta’s Sound Collection, which “provides access to over 14,000 songs and sounds which are entirely royalty free”. It adds that this music “can be used for commercial purposes like ads”. Meta’s Reels ad guide also lists licensed music among the things Reels ads should not contain.
So ask the company where its music comes from, and get the answer in writing for any video you plan to run as an ad.
People on camera need the same care. Staff, customers and hired actors should agree in writing before they appear. Our guide to testimonial reels covers what that agreement should include. Who keeps the raw footage is a separate question, and our list of questions to ask before you sign deals with it.
Green Flags and Red Flags When You Compare Companies
By now you can compare two or three companies side by side. Put the same questions to each, and notice how clearly each one answers. A company that answers clearly in writing will usually work the same way on the shoot.
Write the answers into one simple comparison sheet, with a separate column for each company. Seeing the replies side by side makes the differences obvious, especially on revisions, delivery dates and music, where vague promises are common.
Price comes into it too, of course. Compare companies on the checks above first, then on price, so you are comparing the same work.
Where to Start
Remember one thing: a good video production company shows you its planning before it shows you a camera. If you see the script, the shot list and the dates in writing, the shoot itself is far less likely to go wrong.
This week, pick two or three companies and ask each one for three full videos from businesses like yours. Ask who made them and who would edit yours.
If you would like to see how we work, our in-house team has made reels for 100+ brands. The team writes the script, plans the shot list, films and edits. See our video production service in Ahmedabad, or talk to us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I ask a video production company before hiring?
Ask for three full videos from businesses like yours, the names of the crew and editor, and how they plan the script and shot list. Then ask how many revisions are included, when each stage is due, and where the music comes from.
Is a showreel enough to judge a video company?
Not on its own. A showreel shows a company’s best moments from many jobs, so it tells you about style. Full videos from your industry show whether they can make a whole reel that holds a viewer.
Which video formats should I ask for?
Ask for 9:16 for Reels and Stories, and a square or wide version if you post on the feed, YouTube or LinkedIn. Agree the list before the shoot, because some shots only work in one shape.
Can a video company use any song in my reels?
It should not assume so. Instagram says its licensed music library is “intended for personal, non-commercial use”, and some business accounts cannot use it. Meta’s Sound Collection is royalty-free and can be used in ads.
How many revisions should a video shoot include?
There is no fixed number, so agree it in writing. Ask what counts as one round, usually one set of comments on one version. Then send all your comments together, so a round is not wasted.
