I can’t believe it’s been so long since our last entry in Video AdVisory — reaching all the way back to February.  There’s a reason for that, and it actually leads to a practical hint.

Fact is, video production is a highly seasonal business, and at DigiNovations we’ve been absolutely flat-out since mid-February, producing some very exciting projects.

It’s good to know, as a marketing communications professional, what the “natural” ups and downs of the production cycle look like.  That’s because during the natural production lulls, you’ll find producers more flexible on schedule, more willing and able to accommodate new projects and new production concepts, and sometimes even more flexible on pricing and terms (especially if they have large on-staff teams).

Here’s what we’ve observed from our own blend of workflow — high tech companies, educational institutions, and not-for-profits.

January and early February are relatively quiet for video production, with budgets not yet fully approved.  Even when they are, companies are shopping for production companies during this period.  RFP’s fill the air, but most actual production doesn’t start on calendar-year projects till late February and early March.

The rise in production levels starts all of a sudden in late February, and doesn’t let up till June.  This is consistently the heaviest time of the year for us.

July and August offer a steady diet of work, but there’s always room for more.  The biggest challenge here, of course, is scheduling interviews around interviewees’ vacation schedules.  Summer shooting seems to be inherently less productive, since schedule conflicts can sometimes mean additional shooting days to catch those who were away.

September and October are rather odd months.  They always start out very full, but often are characterized by postponed projects into the following year — the victims of fourth-quarter budget-trimming.  We’ve learned to book very full at these times of the year, because we often see late postponements and cancellations in this time period.

November is another odd one: lots of last-minute projects that pop up, due to the “use-it-or-lose-it” phenomenon of marketing budgets.  We often scurry to deliver these projects in early December, and find that the second half of December is very difficult to schedule any shooting due to vacations, shutdowns, and end-of-year sales drives.

So if you’ve got flexibility, when is the best time to schedule your production?  The earlier in the calendar year you can get started, the better: January and February, you’ll find your producers primed and ready to get the year started out fast.  Try to do the planning in December if you can, so you can be shooting in early January and be first project of the year into the edit queue.  July and August are also great times to plan and shoot, though you should be realistic about the impact of vacation conflicts when shooting in the summer months.

A good production company will always be able to accommodate your needs, since they have a Rolodex bulging with freelancers to get your job done.  But by choosing the less harried seasons of production, you’ll be much more likely to get the production company’s on-staff “A Team.”  And that can never hurt the final product.