Brand film production in Palm Beach CountyThe Film That Introduces You Before You Arrive
Epic Wolf is a West Palm Beach agency that plans, directs and produces brand films for businesses across Palm Beach County. A brand film is a short piece, usually built on interviews and real footage of the work, that tells a stranger who you are and why it matters. We write it from the brand strategy, assemble the crew through vetted partners and deliver the main film with shorter cuts.
Brand films
Most company films fail before the camera comes out of the case. Somebody books a crew, the crew films what is in front of it and an editor is asked to find a story afterward. The result is three minutes of handsome footage that says nothing a competitor could not say. A brand film is a writing problem first.
We start with the single thing a viewer should believe when the film ends, then decide who has to say it and what the camera has to prove. For a family office on Flagler Drive that might be the founder and nothing else. For a builder it might be a finished house and the foreman who framed it. The script or interview outline is approved before a date is set.
A brand film also has more than one job. It anchors the home page, opens the pitch meeting, runs silent in a lobby and becomes a short introduction for a paid campaign. We list those versions before filming so each one is framed and paced on purpose. Because Epic Wolf also builds the brand and the website, the film arrives with a page designed to hold it.
What it includes
Message and script
The one belief the film has to leave behind, written as a script or an interview outline before anything is scheduled.
Interview direction
Questions and coaching that get a founder or a partner to say it the way they would across a table.
Crew and production
Director, camera, lighting and sound assembled for the job through vetted partners and run by us on the day.
Locations and permits
Scouting, property permission and any film permit a public street, park or beach requires.
Edit and color
The main cut, graded and mixed, with title cards set in your brand's type and palette.
Licensed music
A track cleared for the places the film will run, with the license kept on file for you.
Short versions
A brief introduction cut, vertical clips and a silent captioned loop planned in the script.
Captions and delivery
Caption files and exports for the website, presentations and each platform, labeled by use.
Send us your website and the one thing a stranger should know about you.
We will reply with a film concept, who should be on camera and the versions we would plan from the shoot.
What to know
The rules behind brand films
- Who owns a commissioned film
The U.S. Copyright Office says a commissioned work is a work made for hire only if it falls within a listed category, one of which is a part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, and the parties sign a written agreement saying so. Otherwise the person who created the work is its author. Ownership belongs in the contract.
Source: U.S. Copyright Office Circular 30: Works Made for Hire
- A song is two copyrights
The Copyright Office treats a musical composition and a sound recording of it as two separate works, and says copyright in the recording is no substitute for copyright in the underlying composition. A film that uses a commercial track has both to clear, which is why most brand films use licensed production music or an original score.
- How Google reads a film on your site
Google says marking up a video with VideoObject structured data lets a site influence the description, thumbnail, upload date and duration shown in video results. The required properties are a name, a thumbnail URL and an upload date, and Google asks for a unique title for each video on the site.
- Captions are an access issue
The Department of Justice lists videos without captions among its examples of website accessibility barriers, because people with hearing disabilities may not be able to understand what a video communicates. Its guidance says videos can be made accessible with synchronized captions that are accurate and identify the speakers.
How the work runs
Decide what the film must prove
We agree on the audience, the belief and the versions, then write. You approve the script or the interview outline, the people on camera and the locations before a shoot date exists.
Run a calm set
The crew is sized to the script, not the other way around. A partner directs, the schedule protects the people who have never been filmed and we capture the extra footage every short version depends on.
Finish and place it
You review the main cut first, then the short versions. Each file is captioned and exported for its destination, and the page that carries the film is marked up so search engines can read it.
Questions
Brand films questions answered
As long as the story holds and no longer, which for most companies means a few minutes for the main film and well under a minute for the versions that run as ads or on social. Length should follow the placement. A home page visitor will give a film more time than someone scrolling a feed, so we write the long version and the short ones as separate pieces.
Whoever the contract names, so it has to be written down. The U.S. Copyright Office says a commissioned film is a work made for hire only when both sides sign an agreement saying so, and that otherwise the creator is the author. Finished films and raw footage can be treated differently. We spell out both in the proposal, and your attorney should review the language.
Usually not, if everything happens on private property with the owner's permission. The Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission says a permit may be required for private property when filming affects adjacent public areas such as roads or sidewalks. Exterior scenes on a street, in a park or on a beach do need one. We confirm the requirement for each location during planning.
Yes, if those versions are written into the plan before the shoot. A vertical clip needs the subject framed for a tall screen, and a short ad needs a line that works without the rest of the interview. We film those moments deliberately. Cutting them out of a finished widescreen film afterward nearly always produces weaker pieces.
Yes, we ask everyone who is identifiable on camera to sign a release before filming. A release records that the person agreed to appear and where the film may be used. Regulated firms have more to consider, since client appearances can fall under advertising rules for advisers, lawyers and medical practices. Your attorney or compliance officer should approve the release wording.
Keep reading
Go deeper before you decide
- Planning a Brand Photo or Video Shoot in Palm Beach CountyHow to plan a brand photo or video shoot in Palm Beach County: the shot list, locations and permits, releases, image rights, weather and a checklist.
- Filming and Photo Permits in Palm Beach CountyWhen a commercial photo or video shoot needs a permit in Palm Beach County, who issues it, how the Town of Palm Beach differs and how far ahead to apply.
- How to Choose a Branding Agency in Palm Beach CountyAn honest buyer's guide to choosing a branding agency in Palm Beach County: types of firms, what to look for, questions to ask, red flags and how to compare proposals.
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