The Challenge
A hotel group approached us to refresh the content library for 8 of their properties across Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives. Each property needed 30 deliverables: 10 video pieces, 10 stills and 10 social-first vertical clips. Total output: 240 assets. Budget for a single production team. Timeline: 3 weeks including travel days.
The math was tight. 21 days minus 5 travel days left 16 shooting days for 8 properties. Two days per property. Any delay .. weather, equipment failure, travel disruption .. would cascade through the entire schedule.
Route Optimization
We mapped the 8 properties and built a route that minimized air travel. Bangkok (2 properties) to Koh Samui (1 property) to Bali (2 properties) to Lombok (1 property) to Male (2 properties). Five flights total. We booked morning flights so travel days still gave us sunset shooting windows at the arrival property.
Each property received a pre-production packet 3 weeks before our arrival. Room block requests, shooting schedules, dietary requirements, drone permit status and a list of questions about construction, renovations or seasonal conditions that might affect the shoot. Three properties flagged issues that changed our shot list before we arrived.
The 2-Day Shoot Template
We developed a standardized 2-day schedule that could adapt to any property. Day 1: 5:00am sunrise exteriors and pool. 7:00-9:00am interiors (3 room categories). 10:00am-12:00pm food and beverage. 4:00-7:00pm lifestyle, activities and sunset hero footage. Day 2: 5:00am repeat sunrise if Day 1 weather was poor. 7:00-11:00am remaining rooms, spa, gym, public areas. 12:00-2:00pm drone aerials. 4:00-7:00pm any gaps from Day 1 plus farewell sunset content.
This template guaranteed coverage of every key space in 2 days regardless of property size. Larger properties got tighter per-space time. Smaller properties got more creative time per space. The priority list was always the same: hero exterior, pool, best room, restaurant, then everything else.
Quality Control On the Road
With 2 days per property, there is no margin for reshoots. Quality control happened in real time. Every 2 hours, we reviewed footage on a calibrated MacBook Pro. If a shot was soft, badly exposed or poorly composed, we flagged it immediately and reshot before moving to the next location.
We also ran a nightly backup and organization session from 8:00-10:00pm. Every clip rated, organized and spot-checked. By the time we left each property, we knew exactly what we had and whether any gaps existed. On two occasions, we rescheduled our morning departure to add a 6:00-7:00am pickup session for missed shots.
Post-Production at Scale
240 deliverables in 10 working days. That is 24 finished assets per day. The only way to hit this is systematic. We color graded all footage from each property in a single session using batch processing in DaVinci Resolve. The hero video for each property was cut first, then the style and grading were replicated across all other pieces from that property.
We delivered in waves. Properties 1-2 (Bangkok) delivered on day 5 of post. Properties 3-4 (Bali) delivered on day 7. Properties 5-6 (Lombok and Koh Samui) on day 9. Properties 7-8 (Maldives) on day 10. This gave the client content to review and approve while we were still editing, which spread the feedback workload for both teams.