Choosing video coverage when stakeholders disagree

Start by asking who the video is for, not what each person likes. Most disagreements about coverage turn out to be different audiences wanting different things from the same day, and that can be solved by agreeing on separate outputs and one person to approve the brief.

Why do stakeholders want different things?

Each person pictures a different viewer. A department head imagines staff watching the speeches again, and a marketing officer imagines a short social media clip.

A sponsor imagines their logo on screen. A committee imagines a record for next year’s planning.

None of them is wrong. The problem starts when all four wishes go into one brief without being ranked, because the result is a longer shoot, a vague film and a quote nobody can compare.

An example: one annual dinner, four wishes

This is an illustration, not a client we filmed. Imagine a company annual dinner with around 300 guests, a stage programme and a sponsor table.

Read the table by output. The managing director needs a full recording of the speeches. Marketing needs short social clips.

The sponsor and HR wishes are shots on a list. Once the wishes are outputs and shots, the argument becomes a scope that can be quoted.

How do we settle the priorities?

Work through these steps with the people involved.

1. Name the decision-maker. One person approves the brief. Others advise, but do not each rewrite it.
2. List every wish in one sentence. Include who asked for it and who will watch the result.
3. Group wishes by audience. Staff, public, sponsors and archive often need different outputs.
4. Rank them. Mark each as essential, wanted or nice to have. Sound for speeches is usually essential; extra edits are usually optional.
5. Check for real clashes. Two wishes clash only if they need the same camera, the same moment or the same budget. Many do not.
6. Record what is left out. If the sponsor reel is not included, write that down.

The video decisions and approvals planner lays this out as a grid, so you can see who decides what. If your group is also working within a tight budget, our guide on choosing event video priorities on a limited budget shows what to protect first.

When two wishes really do clash

Some clashes are real. A director who wants no cameras near the stage and a marketer who wants close shots of the speaker cannot both be fully met from one position.

In that case, the choices are usually these:

• Pick the higher-ranked wish and say clearly that the other is reduced.
• Add a second camera position, if the venue and budget allow it. A multi-camera setup can be arranged on request and confirmed for your date.
• Split the output: a private, complete version for one audience and a shorter public version for another. The private and public video version planner can help.

What to put in the brief

Keep it to one page that everyone can read in a few minutes: the event, the date, the audiences, the outputs ranked by importance, the shots that must happen, the moments that must not be filmed, and who approves what. Build an event video brief you can send to put your answers into this format. Sponsors are a common source of extra requests, so the sponsor video coverage checklist is worth a look if you have them.

What we confirm for your event

• Which wishes change the number of cameras, crew or hours, and which only change the editing.
• What changes in the scope if the lowest-ranked wish is removed.
• How a request that arrives after the quote is handled: as a change to the scope, discussed and quoted.
• Who on your side gives instructions on the day.

Send us your ranked list and we will reply with what is possible for your kind of event.