Producing for Client Projects

I’m no stranger to working with clients – multiple internships and various pieces of freelance work introduced me to the process years ago. However, producing a short animated film for a client is quite another story. Today, I will be discussing a few of my experiences with clients and what I have come to learn.

Please note: all names have been exempt to maintain anonymity.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with quite a few tricky clients. Why is that lucky? Well, you often learn much more from a challenge than you do from something easy! And of course, ‘tricky’ clients are often just clients who are very particular about what they want – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

When a client has a specific idea in mind, it can be near-impossible to shake them from it.

Some clients hand over the creative vision to the studio; others simply want the studio to complete a pre-existing idea. Both have positives and negatives. A client who doesn’t know what they want can be overly indecisive, whereas a client too fixated on their vision can frustrate the creativeness of the director and other artists.

On one particular film which I produced, it was immediately clear that our client knew exactly what they wanted. They provided a script, and gave a clear description for what the visuals should be. When I voiced any concerns about certain aspects not being feasible, they were often eager for us to figure out a way to make it work rather than to find a compromise.

For some clients, the project is deeply important – especially when they feel happy about having come up with an idea for it. It is always worth considering the client’s viewpoint and what reasons are causing them to feel so attached to certain ideas. Doing this will help in finding a new suggestion which they find suitable, as it still fulfils their desires. I found that taking a moment to think about our client’s hopes for the project helped greatly in effective communication

Clients often come from different worlds, and don’t understand animation’s pipeline.

When a client asks to entirely rework a scene half way through production, it can be easy to feel frustrated. In all likelihood, a lot of people have already spent a lot of time on the original – work that may now go to waste. This would also require altering schedules, stretching the budget more, and potentially disrupting the personal plans of artists and producers alike.

It’s crucial in these moments to remember that the client, more often that not, does not realise how many sacrifices they are asking you to make. This may not be a process which they are familiar with, and as such they have likely not spared a second thought to the volume of work big changes may require. My stance is that, with some clients, it can be beneficial to take the time to explain the process to them: even more so if it may require a budget increase. Many clients like to feel included in the process, and aiding them in understanding why a change they’ve requested might take a long time can dissuade them from making such a change completely.

I have worked with a client similar to this, who wanted to be involved in every step of the process. To keep them in the loop, I supplied regular updates as to the state of the film. Whilst this took some time out of my day, it was clear that without this contact our client would become unhappy and lose confidence in the state of the film.

Of course, there are also clients who are largely just interested in the final outcome. Bigger reworks should still be broken down to them, too, if they will require a budget or timeline change.

Knowing when to say no.

Whilst my previous two points relate to appeasing the client, it is incredibly important to know when to say no – as long as you are not only saying no.

Often having a limited understanding of which changes are easy and which changes are difficult, as discussed above, clients are prone to asking for things which simply are not feasible. I have had to tell clients that we can’t make the change they requested because of this. It is more frustrating for the client if you agree upfront, and then have issues down the line because of this.

What is worth doing, however, is breaking down why the client wants this change made, and searching for an alternative solution which will achieve the same goal. I produced a project on which the client requested an extra scene be added at a point when we were nearing completion and were picture-locked. It would not be possible to add this scene. However, rather than just saying ‘no’, I offered some reassurance that some other areas of the film covered similar topics already. We also were already planning to get some voice lines re-recorded, so I offered to them that we could add a few lines into the script to convey what I saw as the purpose behind that extra scene.

I have found the ‘No, but what about…’ technique to be useful in nearly every client-facing situation, producing or not.

Whilst working with clients sometimes requires delicate navigation, these collaborative opportunities can lead to some of the most memorable, impressive, and crazy collisions of worlds. I look forward to the next one I work on!