Building a Call For Pitches Strategy: What will the freelancer do?

STEP 1: Decide what job you want the freelancer to do

The first step in building out a call for pitches strategy is to work out the role you seeing the freelancers playing. There's a few options to consider based on the deliverables you will want to receive:

A) Fully Produced & Editing Videos

Great for scaling original story production on a budget with a smaller in house production team. By letting the Storyhunter conceive of the idea, produce and film it, and then edit the video, you can produce more stories by just providing feedback and building a unique style guide for your brand.

Role Freelancer Plays: Need freelancer to send pitch, work w/ our producer to develop the pitch/treatment, fully produce/shoot video, and edit video

Most Commonly For: Digital Media Companies. Often not the best for agencies or brands because they often have more revisions and a closer emphasis on the final edit.

Things to think about: Building a Style Guide, clarifying # many revisions per videos and price for extra editing days, potentially adding a credit to freelancer (can be a big perk), clarifying the editorial control freelancer will have.

B) Produced, Not Edited, Videos

Great for scaling original story production on a budget with a medium sized editing and production team. By letting the Storyhunter conceive of the the idea, and produce and film it, you can scale original stories with guidance in pre-production. But you can make really maintain your style and brand by having your videos edited in house.

Role Freelancer Plays: Need freelancer to send pitch, work w/ our producer to develop the pitch/treatment, produce video and send select shots with or without a transcript

Most Commonly For: Creative Agencies, Digital Media Companies, Show Producers

Things to Think about: Building a Style Guide, Focusing on Pre-Production, Creating Shot List, Clarifying the editorial control freelancer will have and how many days of work it will take

C) Produced In-house With Field Producer

Great for finding original story ideas, enhancing access and reducing logistics issues of remote shoots for a higher budget show or series. By hiring a local field producer who conceived of the story, you will not only find more authentic story ideas, you will also have someone who can ensure access to subject and deal with local logistical challenges when you send your crew.

Role Freelancer Plays: Need freelancer to send pitch, work as field producer or second camera while helping with any pre-production or field production needs.

Most Commonly For: Show Producers, Creative Agencies, Digital Media Companies

Things to think about: Clarifying the potential role of the field producer when hired and how many days of work the project would take, explaining in the brief what the show is and where it will be seen.

D) Already Produced Stories or Footage

Great to access stories or footage that were already produced by filmmakers around the world that may be sitting idly in people’s hard drives. By creating a call for a particular subject or theme, you may find a good deal for a video that just falls in your lap.

Role Freelancer Plays: Send sample of a video clip of a story they’ve already produced or footage they shot. Anything beyond that can be discussed on a case by case basis.

Most Commonly For: Show Producers, Digital Media Companies, Creative Agencies

Things to Thinks About: Whether you should also post another call because these calls can have less amounts of submissions, clarifying your needs in terms of rights to the footage, explaining where the footage could be shown if purchased.

Once you have worked out the role you want the freelancer to play it's time to create the Call for Pitches posting. Read our article on How To Write A Call For Pitches to discover what should be included per scenario you chose.