What Is a Brand Film

A story, not a sales pitch

A brand film is a short film about a business. It might follow a founder, a maker at work, a team, a place or a customer, but its job is to show who the business is rather than to sell a product in thirty seconds. People watch it the way they watch a short documentary: because they want to see where it goes.

Brand films usually run longer than ads, often a few minutes, and live on websites, YouTube, at events and in presentations. Shorter cut-downs carry the story onto social media.

How it differs from an ad and a corporate video

A commercial has seconds to earn attention and ends with an offer. Its structure is built around the call to action, and a commercial is the right tool when you need people to buy, book or sign up now.

A corporate video usually has a specific audience and a practical job: recruitment, onboarding, investor updates, training. Clarity comes first. Billie’s guide to types of corporate video covers these in detail.

A brand film sits between the two. It is made for a broad audience, it moves people before it informs them, and it lasts. A good one can be used for years, because it is about who the business is rather than what it is selling this month.

Finding the story

Most of the work in a brand film happens before the camera comes out. It starts with conversations: why the business was started, what is hard about the work, what the team cares about, what customers say when nobody is asking them for a review. Somewhere in those conversations is the story.

Billie approaches a brand film like a short documentary. The interviews come first and shape the shoot, so the film is built around real people saying real things rather than a script read to camera. That takes time with the people involved, and it is time well spent, because the best lines in a brand film are rarely ones anyone could have written in advance.

What goes into making one

A brand film moves through the same stages as any film, with more weight on the front end, where the story is found.

Story development and pre-interviews
A treatment that sets the tone, structure and look
A cinematic shoot: interviews, the work itself, the places it happens
An edit that finds the shape of the story
Colour grade, sound design and a score, original or licensed
A main film plus website, launch and social cuts

Where businesses use a brand film

The main cut usually goes on the home or about page of the website and on YouTube. It is shown at launches, conferences, trade shows and in pitch meetings. Shorter versions run on social media and as paid ads, where the story gives the brand something more interesting to say than a discount.

Because a brand film is about the business rather than a campaign, it tends to outlast campaign content. It is often the piece new staff, investors and partners are sent first. It also leaves the business with a library of footage, interviews and stills that can be drawn on for other content long after the main film is released.

What makes a brand film work

The brand films people remember have a few things in common. They are specific: one maker, one place, one decision, rather than a list of company values. They are honest about difficulty, because a story without any tension is just a brochure. They let people speak in their own words, and they trust the audience to draw conclusions without a voiceover explaining everything.

They also look and sound considered. Careful light, a real sense of place, clean sound and music that suits the story are what make people stay to the end. The logo usually appears late and briefly, because by then the film has already done its work.

Who it suits

Brand films suit businesses with a story worth telling: makers, producers, family businesses, founders with a clear reason for starting, organisations with a mission. Food producers, wineries and non-profits often have exactly this kind of story. A brand film is less useful when a business needs immediate sales from a specific offer, where an ad does the job better.

How Billie makes brand films

Billie’s brand film production covers story development, interviews, a cinematic shoot, an original or licensed score, and website, launch and social cuts. Le Grá, Faithful Flavours and Two Wheels, Billie’s own films, are on the Billie home page and show the approach. A brand film is usually quoted per project as Bespoke Production, or made inside a Creative or Studio Partner retainer for businesses producing ongoing content. Start a conversation.

Questions

How long should a brand film be?

Long enough to tell the story and no longer. The main cut is often a few minutes, with shorter versions for social media and ads. The story decides the length, not a template.

Do we need a script?

Usually not a word-for-word one. Most brand films are built from interviews and observed moments, shaped by a treatment. A scripted voiceover can work, but real people speaking in their own words tend to be more convincing.

Can a brand film be used as an ad?

Cut-downs of a brand film often work well as ads, because they give people a reason to care. The full film usually works best on your website, on YouTube and at events.

Is this a paid service?

Yes. Billie is a paid production company. Production Retainers are $1,500 NZD a month for Essential and $3,000 NZD a month for Creative, and Studio Partner is priced on enquiry. Projects outside a retainer are quoted per project as Bespoke Production, and Billie Private events are quoted per project.

Work with Billie

Every vision begins somewhere.

Tell Billie about the project, the timeline and which retainer suits, or ask for a Bespoke Production quote.

What is a brand film?