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Got a video production rfp once that was clearly copy-pasted from a template. Eleven pages, a scoring rubric, a section asking us to ‘describe our creative process.’ We answered it straight, so did probably eight other companies, and the org ended up picking based on price because every proposal read exactly the same. Nobody’s fault exactly. BUT that RFP was built to generate paperwork, not a good decision.
Here’s the reframe on a video production RFP. Its whole job is to get you bids you can actually compare and a partner who understood the assignment before day one. That means less boilerplate and more of the specific stuff, your actual goals, your actual constraints, your actual timeline. Vague RFPs get vague answers. Specific RFPs get you real thinking, for free, before you have even signed anything.
What to actually include in a video production RFP
The real goal, not just the deliverable. ‘We need a 90-second recruitment video’ tells a vendor what to make. ‘We need to fill 40 open technical roles and our current job posts are not converting’ tells them what problem to solve. The second version gets you a smarter proposal.
Your actual constraints. Real budget range, real timeline, any approval layers (legal review, comms sign-off, security clearance for footage). Hiding your budget to ‘see what they come back with’ just wastes everyone’s time, yours included. It is also exactly the game we refuse to play, our pricing calculator is public so you can walk into the RFP process already knowing a real range instead of guessing.
Examples of what you like and do not like. Three reference videos, even from competitors, tell a production company more than two paragraphs of adjectives.
What to leave out
SCORE, the SBA-affiliated small business mentoring org, gives similar advice for any vendor RFP: specificity beats boilerplate every time. Skip the generic ‘describe your creative process’ essay questions. They generate polished-sounding paragraphs that do not actually differentiate anyone. Ask instead for a short treatment of YOUR specific project. Anybody can write about their process in the abstract. Only a company that actually read your RFP can write a real take on your project.
For how we approach scoping a project from an RFP, our corporate video production page walks through what we need to give you a real number, not a placeholder one.
Frequently asked questions
How many production companies should we send an RFP to?
Three to five is usually the sweet spot. Fewer and you are not getting a real market read, more and you end up drowning in proposals that are hard to meaningfully compare.
Should we include a budget range in the RFP?
Yes. A rough range gets you proposals scoped to what you can actually spend. Without it, you get bids anywhere from a fraction of your budget to five times over it, and neither helps you.
How long should vendors have to respond?
Two to three weeks is fair for a real, thought-out proposal. Rushed timelines usually just get you the template answer, not the specific one.
Putting together an RFP for your next project? We are happy to answer a scoping call before you even send it out. See our corporate video production approach.
