A video production contract is structurally different from a generic deliverables agreement: a crew has to show up on a set day, someone has to consent to being filmed, and the finished cut is not the same asset as everything the camera recorded. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 15 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
These are the fields and clauses a video production contract needs. Leaving one out doesn’t necessarily void the contract, but each gap is a spot where you and your client can end up disagreeing about what you actually agreed to — or, in the case of a talent release, a spot where you can’t legally use the footage you paid to shoot.
Client & producer names
Full legal names (or registered business names) for both sides — who the contract actually binds.
Project scope & deliverables
The number and length of finished, edited videos, any social cutdowns, and the formats you receive at delivery.
Shoot-day scheduling
Call times and locations for every shoot day, plus a weather contingency and a rescheduling fee for a client-caused change.
Payment schedule & rate
The total fee split across a deposit, a payment on completion of the shoot, and a final payment on delivery.
Revisions policy
How many rounds of revisions on the edit are included, and the hourly rate for anything beyond that.
Raw footage ownership
Who owns the raw, unedited footage after the project — separate from the finished, edited deliverable, and usually not the same answer.
On-camera talent release
Signed consent from everyone who appears on camera during the shoot, and the licence terms for using their likeness.
IP/ownership transfer on final payment
Ownership of the finished video transfers to the client only once final payment clears — not on delivery of the last cut.
Kill-fee / termination clause
What happens if either side ends the project early — notice period, and a kill fee covering crew and equipment already booked.
Signatures & date
Both the client and the producer sign and date the contract. It isn’t binding until both have signed.
A designer or developer produces files against a spec, on their own schedule, at their own desk. A video production has a physical shoot day: a crew, equipment and possibly a location booking that all have to line up on a specific date, and that can be derailed by weather, an unready location, or a client who reschedules at the last minute. The contract needs a real production schedule — call time, location, a weather contingency decided jointly by a fixed deadline on the day, and a rescheduling fee that applies when the client, not the weather, is the reason the day has to move.
The finished video a client pays for is the edited cut, not the raw footage the camera captured. Every take, angle and set-up that didn’t make the final edit is a separate asset, and by default it stays with the producer — kept on file for a limited retention window, then archived or deleted. A client who assumes they’re also entitled to the raw files, months later, for a re-edit or an archive, is assuming something the contract has to say explicitly, not something that follows automatically from paying for the edited video.
And unlike a website or an app, a video usually has people in it. Anyone who appears on camera — a hired presenter, an employee, a customer giving a testimonial, even a member of the public caught in a wide shot — needs to consent to being filmed and to how that footage will be used before it’s published. The template above handles all three: a dedicated production-schedule clause, a clause that separates raw-footage ownership from the finished deliverable, and an on-camera talent release that covers everyone the client brings to set and everyone the producer casts separately.
Fill in the template above and send it to your client for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.
Not legal advice — for large productions or unusual terms, have a local attorney review your contract.