Service 02

Brand journalism

Sponsored content (the advertorial, if you prefer the older word) built like journalism: an angle, facts, and people talking about what they actually do. That is what makes it watchable to the end.

Where to start? Work

The approach

An angle, not a list of talking points

It does not recite the brand's messages: it shows a real situation where they become obvious. Most of the work happens before the shoot.

An editorial angle, defined and approved
Speakers talking about their own trade, not reading a statement
Real locations filmed, not just a set
The outlet's disclosure requirements respected
A running time calibrated to the outlet, from 45 seconds to long form

How it runs

From the angle to the airing

Angle and approval

An angle that serves your message and holds the viewer's interest. You approve synopsis, speakers and locations.

Preparation

Speakers, permissions, schedule, the outlet's constraints checked up front.

Shoot

2-camera interviews, sequences filmed as things happen, atmosphere sound. A light setup.

Edit

The main version, then shorter cuts from the same shoot, subtitled, calibrated for each outlet.

Deliverables

What you receive

Main version in the outlet's format and running time
2 to 4 short cutdowns in 1:1 and 9:16
Burnt-in subtitles: your films also work with the sound off
Commercial-content disclosure matching the outlet's rules
Thumbnails and stills from the shoot
Signed releases from everyone filmed

Equipment

The technical setup

2 cameras on interviews, on distinct shot sizes
Wireless lavalier and boom, audio recorded twice
Portable lighting, rigged in under 20 minutes
4K acquisition, delivery in 1080p or 4K to suit the outlet
Graphics in the brand's or the outlet's colours
A consistent grade across location and interview footage

Distribution

The outlet has the last word

Brand journalism is commercial content and has to present itself as such, each outlet in its own way. Those rules get settled at the writing stage.

For each outlet: what it requires, then what I do with that

Press and news sites

The content must be identifiable as commercial: a “sponsored”, “partner content” or equivalent label as set out in the outlet's own code.

I ask for that code before writing: it decides the running time, the format and the tone.

YouTube and video platforms

The video must be declared as commercial communication in the settings of the channel publishing it.

The brand goes into the story, not into an end card.

Social media

The partnership must be visibly disclosed, and the video plays with the sound off by default: the message has to survive on picture alone.

I frame with the vertical recrop in mind: what matters stays centred.

Regulated sectors

Healthcare, energy, industry: the wording, the claims and the faces on screen all go through your internal approvals before release.

Your approval chain goes into the schedule, however long it is.

The last word belongs to the outlet's code and your legal team. A constraint I do not know, I tell you rather than guess.

Frequently asked

What I get asked most

Do you deal with the outlet that publishes it?

Yes. Running time, format, disclosures and specifications are checked with the outlet before the shoot.

Can we approve the edit before it goes out?

Always. A timecoded work-in-progress, your notes in a single list, 2 rounds of changes included.

How many cutdowns can one shoot produce?

A well-prepared day: one main version and 3 to 5 short formats. The scope is decided before the shoot.

Who writes the commentary?

I do, with your approval. With an agency or a press team, I start from their brief.

Contact

A brand journalism to produce

The outlet, the deadline, the subject you have in mind: I come back with an angle and a figure.

Where to start? The other services