Phase 1: Discovery Call
Every project starts with a 30-minute call. Not a sales pitch. A diagnostic. We ask 7 questions: What is the property or destination? Who is the target guest? What platforms will the content live on? What existing content do you have? What is the budget? What is the timeline? What does success look like?
Most clients can answer 5 of these clearly. The two they struggle with are target guest and success metrics. A hotel that says "everyone" is their target guest will get content that speaks to no one. We push until the answer is specific. "Couples aged 30-45 with household income over $200K who have been to Southeast Asia before and are considering their next trip." That is a target guest.
Phase 2: Pre-Production
This is where most production companies cut corners and where we spend the most time relative to competitors. Pre-production for a 5-day shoot takes 2-3 weeks. We build a detailed shot list organized by location, time of day and content type. Every shot has a purpose tied to a specific platform and audience segment.
We request property floor plans, sunrise/sunset times for the shoot dates, restaurant menus, spa treatment schedules, activity calendars and staff availability. We identify which staff members are camera-comfortable and which spaces need to be cleared of other guests. We check drone regulations for the country and secure permits if needed.
Phase 3: Production
Shooting days run 5:00am to 8:00pm. We chase light. Sunrise and the hour after it are for exteriors, pools and landscapes. Mid-morning is for interiors when natural light fills rooms without harsh shadows. Midday is for food content when restaurants are setting up for lunch service. Late afternoon is for lifestyle and activity content. Golden hour and sunset are for hero footage.
We shoot with a 2-person crew. Director/cinematographer and one assistant. Gear travels in 2 Pelican cases under 30kg total. We shoot video first, pull stills from video frames or capture them in transition moments. Every location gets a minimum of 3 video setups and 10 still compositions.
Phase 4: Post-Production
Editing starts on travel days. While we fly from one location to the next, rough cuts are happening on a MacBook Pro. First delivery of rough cuts happens within 48 hours of the final shooting day. This matters because the client's feedback window is typically 5-7 business days and we want to maximize it.
Color grading happens in DaVinci Resolve. We build a custom color profile for each property based on their brand guidelines. Sound design uses licensed tracks from Artlist or Musicbed. Captions and text overlays are formatted per platform .. different text sizes for Instagram versus TikTok, different safe zones for each.
Phase 5: Delivery and Strategy
Final assets arrive in a shared drive organized by platform, content type and posting priority. Every asset has a filename convention: property_platform_type_sequence. Each delivery includes a content calendar recommendation .. which pieces to post when, in what order, with suggested caption direction. We do not write captions. We provide the hooks and key points. The brand's voice should write the copy.
Post-delivery, we offer a 30-day performance review. We look at which content performed above or below benchmark and why. That data feeds into the pre-production for the next shoot. After 2-3 cycles with the same client, we know exactly what works for their audience and the content gets sharper every time.