A brief arrives that actually says things: the placements, the technique, the dates, a budget band, who signs off. For once the problem is not missing information. The problem is turning a page of decisions into a number you will stand behind, fast enough that the client does not cool off, and without pricing the smallest reading of the job and paying for it later.
This is how to read a brief into a first estimate, in the order that makes the number right. It takes about twenty minutes for a brief that is complete, and it tells you within five whether a brief is not.
Count before you think
The first pass through a brief is arithmetic, not judgement. How many things are being made? For a film: placements times languages, plus the master. For a site: templates, not pages, and how many of each repeat. For print: the piece, the quantity, the number of variants. Write the counts down before you form an opinion about the work, because the counts set the size of the job and everything else adjusts it.
“A launch film, around 30 seconds, for social.”
“Three placements in two languages: seven files including the master. Reels is the hero, so one shoot composed for 9:16, two adaptations, and six text-layer versions.”
Seven files priced as seven. The client said one film and meant all of them.
Find the technique, and price the fork
Technique is the biggest single fork in any estimate, and a brief that names it has done half your work. Live action, 2D, 3D and motion graphics can differ four times over. Design and build against design only. Offset against digital. If the brief says the technique is open, do not resolve it silently to the cheapest one. Quote two numbers, name the fork, and let the client choose with the prices in front of them.
“We have assumed motion graphics for this estimate.”
“The brief leaves technique open. Two numbers: motion graphics on your existing footage, 45k. A one-day live-action shoot, 120k. The difference is mostly the shoot day and the crew; the edit is similar.”
Read what exists as a list of what you will make
The "what exists" section of a brief is a list of costs in disguise. Every item not ticked is something you will source, shoot, write or license. No photography means a shoot or a library budget. No copy means a writer or a longer schedule. No music licence means a negotiation with a territory and a term attached. Put each one in the estimate as its own line, so the client sees where the number comes from and can take lines out.
“Estimate includes all necessary assets.”
“Lines in this estimate that come from what does not yet exist: product photography, one half-day, 12k. Copy for six pages, writer, 18k. Music licence, Denmark, one year, estimated 4k. Remove any of these if you can supply the item.”
Put the dates against the technique
A brief gives you a live date. The technique gives you a minimum production window. Put them side by side before you quote, because a date that does not fit is not a scheduling problem to solve later. It is either a smaller job, a different technique, or a rush fee, and the client should choose which with the quote in hand. A good brief will already have flagged the gap; your estimate should say what you propose to do about it.
“Timeline: we will do our best to hit the October date.”
“Live 24 October is 2.9 weeks away. Live action needs five. Two options: motion graphics on existing footage fits the date at 45k, or live action for a soft launch on 24 October and the full cut on 14 November at 120k.”
Use the budget band as a signal, not a ceiling
A budget band in a brief is not the client offering you that amount. It is the client telling you which size of job they were imagining. Read it against your count and your technique. If the band and the job agree, quote inside it and say so. If they do not, say that too, plainly and early: "The brief describes a 120k job and the band is 25 to 60k. Here is what 60k buys, and here is what the full brief costs." That sentence, sent within a day, is the difference between a client who trusts your numbers and one who feels sold to.
“Our proposal comes to 118k, which we feel represents good value.”
“Your band was 60 to 150k. The brief as written is 118k, inside the band. If you would rather be near 60k, the cutdowns for the second language are the line to remove; that brings it to 72k.”
Quote against the lines, and mark the open ones
Send the estimate as lines that map to the brief's sections, so the client can see which decision produced which number. Where the brief left something open, say what you assumed and what changes if the assumption is wrong. A quote that says "assumes two rounds of changes; a third is 8k" has turned the most common overrun into a choice the client makes in advance.
“Total: 118,000 DKK excluding VAT. Valid for 30 days.”
“Total 118k excluding VAT, against the brief dated 5 September. Assumes: two rounds of changes (a third is 8k), music licensed for Denmark only (worldwide adds about 15k), and the copy final by 1 October (later moves the date, not the price).”
When you do not know
If the brief is complete and you still cannot get to a number in twenty minutes, the job has a genuine unknown in it, usually a technical one: an integration nobody has seen, a print finish nobody has done, a location nobody has visited. Say so, and price the finding out. A half-day discovery at a fixed fee, followed by a firm quote, is a serious answer. What is not a serious answer is a number with the unknown hidden inside it, which is where every overrun you have ever had came from.
Briefs that arrive through your intake link come with the counts done, the technique named or marked open, the asset list ticked, the dates checked against the window, and the open questions marked in the margin. The twenty minutes become ten, and the number is right more often.
