Pre-Production Checklist for Business Shoots: 7 Blocks, One Week and a Free Template

This video pre-production checklist covers everything that has to be decided before a business shoot: the brief, the story and shot list, the people, the locations, permits and drones, the crew and call sheet, and the post-production plan. It runs seven blocks, done in the first week of a standard 3-week production, and you can download the free template and use it on your next project.

Most checklists online are written for short films: casting calls, table reads, art departments. If you’re planning a corporate video, a brand story or a construction project film, most of that doesn’t apply, and what does apply (site access, client approvals, permit lead times, safety on a working site) isn’t in there. This is the checklist we use at Storimatic Studio for commercial shoots in Calgary.

Quick answer — what pre-production for a business video covers:

1. Brief: who the video is for, what it has to make them do, and where it will run
2. Story: the interview plan or script, and the shot list that proves it
3. People: interviewees, on-camera staff, releases and scheduling
4. Places: locations, site access and a tech scout
5. Paper: permits, drone approvals and a certificate of insurance
6. Plan: crew, gear and the call sheet
7. Post: the edit brief, approvals and delivery specs, agreed before the shoot

Pre-production takes the first week of our standard 3-week timeline: pre-production in week 1, the shoot in week 2, post-production and delivery in week 3. What can push the shoot date is usually a City permit, a drone authorization, an interviewee’s calendar or the client’s approval loop, not the crew.

The checklist at a glance

Block 5 is listed second on purpose: permits and drone approvals have the longest lead times, so they’re filed on day 1. Every line has its own row and owner in the free template.

Why pre-production decides the video

Two things go wrong on business shoots, and both are pre-production failures. The first is the shot you can’t get: the site super didn’t know a crew was coming, the room with the best light is booked, the drone can’t fly because the airspace authorization wasn’t requested. The second is the video that’s finished and then rejected, because nobody agreed on the message before the camera rolled.

Both cost more than planning does. According to Wyzowl’s 2026 State of Video Marketing report, 89% of consumers say video quality affects how much they trust a brand, and 85% say a video has convinced them to buy. The quality viewers judge is mostly decided before the shoot: the location, the light, the interviewee, the story structure.

And in Calgary the calendar is unforgiving. The City of Calgary lists minimum lead times of 5–10 business days for filming on streets and sidewalks, 5 for parks and pathways, 10 for City-owned facilities, 10 for drones flown from City property and 14 for anything on Calgary Transit (City of Calgary, Filming services). If a permit is in your plan, it’s filed on day 1, and the shoot date waits for it; the rest of the 3-week timeline doesn’t change.

The brief doesn’t start from zero either: it inherits its objective, audience and placement from your overall video marketing strategy, so each shoot plugs into a plan instead of standing alone.

Where pre-production fits in a 3-week production

When the shoot date moves. A City of Calgary permit can need up to 14 business days of lead time (Calgary Transit), and drones flown from City property need at least 10 (City of Calgary). A drone flight in controlled airspace also needs an RPAS Flight Authorization from NAV CANADA (Transport Canada). When a permit or authorization is still pending, the shoot moves to the first date it’s approved. Week 1 tasks still finish in week 1, and post-production still takes week 3.

The checklist

Each block below is a tab in the template. Work them roughly in order; blocks 1 and 2 have to be done before 3–6 mean anything.

Block 1: Brief and objectives

• One sentence on what the video must make the viewer do (request a quote, apply for a job, trust the brand enough to shortlist it). If you can’t write it, you’re not ready to shoot.
• Audience. A general contractor’s procurement lead and a homeowner watch differently; pick one primary viewer.
• Placement. Website hero, sales deck, LinkedIn, trade show loop, paid ads. Placement decides length and aspect ratio, so decide it now.
• Key message and proof. The one claim, and the evidence for it (a project, a number, a customer).
• Success metric. Quote requests, watch time, applications. Pick one you can measure.
• Budget and contingency. Hold 10–15% back for the reshoot day, the extra location or the weather move.
• Decision-maker. The single person who approves the brief, the script and the final cut. Committees produce late videos.
• References. Three videos the decision-maker likes, with a sentence on why. This replaces a mood board for most business projects.

Block 2: Story, script and shot list

• Interview guide or script. For testimonials and brand stories we use a journalist-style question list rather than a script; for explainers and safety videos a word-for-word script is right. Lock whichever you’re using by day 3 of week 1. Our guide to how a brand video should be structured covers the arc.
• Shot list. Every interview answer needs a picture that proves it. “We finish on time” needs the crew on site at 6 a.m., not a logo.
• B-roll list by location. Group shots by where they happen so the schedule can be built around setups, not scenes.
• On-screen text and graphics. Lower-thirds, stats, maps, logos. Collect the brand assets now (vector logo, fonts, colour codes), not in the edit.
• Length targets per cut. Hero (90 s–3 min), social (30–60 s), ad (15–30 s). One shoot should produce all three.
• Music direction. Licensed track or original; decide the licensing budget before the edit.

Block 3: People

• Interviewees confirmed, with a 45-minute window each and a backup person for the key role.
• Prep call with each interviewee. Ten minutes on what we’ll ask and why; no rehearsed answers.
• Wardrobe note sent. Solid colours, no fine patterns, company branding if appropriate, PPE if on site.
• Talent and appearance releases for every person who will be recognisable, including background staff and crew members who walk through frame.
• Client-side coordinator named: the person who gets people to the right place at the right time on shoot day.
• Hair, makeup and touch-up decided (usually a powder kit and a mirror; occasionally a professional).

Block 4: Locations and site access

• Each location scouted at the planned time of day. Light changes; a warehouse that looks good at 9 a.m. can be unusable at 2 p.m. Our guide to choosing an interview location covers what to look for.
• Power, parking and load-in confirmed. Where does the van park, how far to carry gear, is there a working outlet.
• Sound check. HVAC, traffic, machinery, the compressor that runs every 20 minutes. Note when it’s quiet.
• Site contact for every location, with a phone number, and a written go-ahead from whoever controls the property.
• Backup location for any exterior.
• Weather rule. Decide in advance what conditions move the day (wind for drones, rain for exteriors, cold for interviewees outside).

Block 5: Permits, drones and insurance

This is the block that moves shoot dates, so it’s filed on day 1 of week 1.

• City of Calgary permits  if you’re filming on any City property (streets, sidewalks, parks, pathways, facilities, transit). The application runs through the Calgary Film Commission’s production information sheet and then the City’s Film Services intake. The City lists minimum lead times of 5–10 business days for streets and sidewalks, 5 for parks and pathways, 10 for City-owned facilities, 14 for Calgary Transit, and 10 for flying a drone from City property (City of Calgary, Filming services); if the shoot date comes before the permit, the shoot moves. Use of a street or sidewalk is $31.50 per day, green spaces and pathways are $66.24 per day, and park bookings carry a $26.25 administrative fee per application (fees as of January 2026, before 5% GST; City of Calgary, Film permit fees).
• Certificate of insurance. The City requires one before approval, and most commercial property owners and general contractors will too. Confirm the coverage amount and named additional insureds early; a missing COI is the most common reason a job-site shoot gets turned away at the gate.
• Drone operations. In Canada the pilot must hold and carry a valid Transport Canada drone pilot certificate; operations near people or in controlled airspace need an Advanced certificate, and drones over 250 g must be registered. Corporate fines run to $25,000 for flying an unregistered drone. Calgary sits inside controlled airspace around YYC, so most job-site flights need an airspace authorization requested in advance. Flying from City property also needs a City drone permit with a minimum 10 business days’ lead time. Storimatic’s pilots hold the Advanced RPAS certificate, and we file the authorizations as part of pre-production. In controlled airspace, the pilot also needs an RPAS Flight Authorization from NAV CANADA before the flight (Transport Canada, Advanced operations).
• Location releases for private property.
• Music licence in writing, with the platforms and term it covers.

Block 6: Crew, gear and the call sheet

• Crew booked with roles named: director/producer, camera, sound, drone pilot, plus a client-side coordinator.
• Gear list by setup, with backups for camera body, audio recorder and batteries. A dead battery on a job site is a lost morning.
• Data plan. Card capacity for the day, on-set backup, file naming, who holds the drive after wrap.
• Schedule built by setup, not by script. Group everything at one location, and give each setup 30 minutes more than it needs.
• Call sheet sent 48 hours before: call times, addresses with parking notes, site contact, sequence of setups, interview times, weather, nearest hospital, and the one phone number that answers on the day.
• Wrap plan. What gets broken down first, who signs off on site, when the client sees selects.

Block 7: Post-production handoff and approvals

Agree these before the shoot; they’re what stops the edit becoming a second project.

• Deliverables list. Every cut, its length, aspect ratio, captions, and the platform it’s for.
• Approval chain. Who reviews the rough cut, who gives final approval, how many rounds are included. Two rounds is standard.
• Review method. A single link with time-coded comments, not email threads.
• Delivery date and format. File specs, where the masters live, who owns the raw footage.
• Repurposing plan. Vertical cuts, stills for social, quotes for the website. Decide now so the crew captures for it.

Once Block 4 is on the table, the next decision is where to shoot: these Calgary filming locations for business video list the right hour for light, whether a City permit applies and where the van parks.

The job-site addendum

Filming on an active construction site adds a page to the checklist that no filmmaking guide covers. We film on job sites across Calgary and this is the page:

• Permission from the general contractor, in writing, not just from the client. The GC controls the site.
• Site orientation for every crew member, on arrival, with the site safety officer. Budget 20–30 minutes.
• PPE for the crew: hard hat, hi-vis, CSA steel-toe boots, safety glasses, gloves. Interviewees on site wear the same, and it reads as authentic on camera.
• Restricted zones and live work marked on the shot list. No filming under a suspended load, inside a crane swing radius or in an excavation without the site officer present.
• Drone and crane coordination. If a crane is operating, the drone flight window is agreed with the crane operator, not around them.
• Progress timing. For progress reporting videos, schedule the shoot for a visible milestone (pour, steel up, envelope closed), not a date on the calendar.
• Noise plan. Interviews happen in the site office or a trailer, not beside the generator. Scout the quiet room.
• Client’s client. If the site belongs to the GC’s client (a developer, a school board), their comms team may need to approve appearance in the video. Ask on day 1.

What the client owes the production company

The fastest shoots we run are the ones where the client did their half of pre-production. If you’re hiring a studio, this is your half:

1. A named decision-maker who can approve the brief in one meeting
2. Three reference videos and a sentence on why each one
3. Brand assets: vector logo, fonts, colours, existing photography
4. Interviewee names, roles, phone numbers and availability
5. Site contacts and written permission for every location
6. Any facts, figures or claims the video will make, checked by someone who can vouch for them
7. The approval chain for the edit, with names

Hand over those seven things at the strategy call and the rest of the 3-week schedule takes care of itself.

Five mistakes that cost the most

1. Filing permits late. Calgary Transit needs at least 14 business days and a City facility at least 10 (City of Calgary), and those are minimums. File on day 1; a late permit is the most common reason a shoot date slips.
2. No decision-maker. A brief approved by a group is a brief that gets re-opened in the edit.
3. Interviews without a shot list. Great answers with no pictures to cut to become a talking head for three minutes.
4. Scouting at the wrong time of day. Light and noise both change by the hour. Scout when you’ll shoot.
5. Deliverables agreed after the shoot. If the vertical cut wasn’t in the plan, the crew didn’t frame for it.

Sound and Music Sourcing for Business Video

When the music and sound budget is tight, free sound effects for video from Creative Commons and public libraries can cover ambiences and transitions, provided each licence allows commercial use.

Download the pre-production checklist template

The template is a spreadsheet with a tab per block above, an owner and due-day column for every line, a status dropdown, and a progress counter on the summary tab. It’s built for business video and includes the Calgary permit lead times and the job-site addendum. Duplicate it for every project.

[Download the pre-production checklist template (.xlsx)] — also available as a Google Sheet.

How Storimatic Studio runs pre-production

Every project starts with this checklist on our standard 3-week timeline: brief and permits on day 1, story lock by day 3, logistics and the call sheet by the end of week 1, the shoot in week 2, and delivery in week 3.

Our producers file the permits, request the drone authorizations, scout the sites and coordinate with the general contractor, so the client’s involvement is the seven items above. See our process for how a project moves from quote to delivery.

Planning a corporate, brand or construction video in Calgary? Talk to us about video production in Calgary, or book a free 30-minute call at +1 587-215-9103.

FAQ

What is a pre-production checklist?

A pre-production checklist is the list of decisions, approvals and logistics that have to be complete before a video shoot: the brief, the script or interview plan, the shot list, the people, the locations, the permits and insurance, the crew and gear, the call sheet, and the post-production plan. For business video it runs seven blocks in the first week of a 3-week production.

How long does pre-production take for a corporate video?

One week. On our standard 3-week timeline, pre-production is week 1, the shoot is week 2, and post-production and delivery are week 3. If the shoot needs a City of Calgary permit or a drone authorization, the shoot date can move to fit the permit’s lead time, up to 14 business days for Calgary Transit (City of Calgary); pre-production itself still takes a week.

Do I need a permit to film in Calgary?

You need a City of Calgary permit to film commercially on City property: streets, sidewalks, parks, pathways, City facilities and Calgary Transit. Private property needs the owner’s written permission and, usually, a certificate of insurance, but not a City permit. Minimum lead times run from 5 business days (parks) to 14 (transit) (City of Calgary).

Do I need a licence to fly a drone for a business video in Canada?

Yes. The pilot needs a Transport Canada drone pilot certificate (Basic or Advanced, depending on the operation), the drone must be registered if it weighs 250 g or more, and flights in controlled airspace need an RPAS Flight Authorization from NAV CANADA. Flying from City of Calgary property also needs a City drone permit, with a minimum 10 business days’ lead time.

What should a call sheet include?

Call times for every person, location addresses with parking and load-in notes, the site contact’s phone number, the sequence of setups and interview times, weather, the nearest hospital, and the single phone number to call on the day. Send it 48 hours before the shoot.

What’s the difference between a shot list and a storyboard?

A storyboard is drawn frames for scripted scenes; a shot list is a written list of every shot with location, framing and what it proves. Business video almost always uses a shot list; storyboards matter for scripted commercials and animation.