Clients & Agencies: Save Money by Sharing Project Files
💡 Want to cut production costs without cutting quality? Start sharing project files between creators, agencies, and in-house teams — and only pay top rates where it counts most.
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“Here’s the opportunity many people miss:
You could be paying expert rates only for expert tasks.
Because now that clients (marketing and comms teams), agencies, and production companies all use the same software — like Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve — and there’s basic video knowledge in all teams, they could easily work more efficiently together.
But most don’t.”
How It Used to Be — And How It Is Now
10–15 years ago, only the production company had the skills to work with video.
Today that has changed and that opens up for new opportunities.
Now, most clients have someone in-house who can do basic video editing.
Many agencies even have full teams who help with video tasks.
Production companies still focus on the high-skill work that needs expert knowledge.
How This Could Save You Money
Here’s the opportunity many people miss:
You could be paying expert rates only for expert tasks.
Because now that clients (marketing and comms teams), agencies, and production companies all use the same software — like Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve — and there’s basic video knowledge in all teams, they could easily work more efficiently together.
But most don’t.
Let’s say you hire a top creative person or team.
And usually you need their skills for the actual filming and the big creative ideas.
But after the shoot, the work becomes more technical.
This includes:
Editing
Color grading
Adding Subtitles
Exporting in different formats (like 9:16, 1:1, 16:9)
These tasks take time, but depending on the project, not all of them require high-level creative skills.
If your team knows how to do one of these tasks, you can save money by handling that part in-house.
This way, instead of paying expert rates for work you can manage yourself, you save your budget for the parts that truly need professional talent.
How Easy It Is to Share Project Files Today
After a shoot, the raw video files are copied to SSD drives and shared on set. Once both sides have the same rawfiles, you don’t need to transfer them again.
Instead, just email the project file back and forth.
It’s small, fast, and lets different people handle different tasks.
Real Example
I get hired to make the video look really good for the agency’s client.
After filming, both the agency and I keep a copy of the raw video files.
The agency edits the video.
(I usually do that, but this agency has that skill in-house and wants to use their own team.)
Then they send the project file back to me.
I do the color grading and send it back.
(That’s something they don’t know how to do.)
They add the final subtitles and export all the formats. Done.
(Something I also can do, but this agency wants to handle it in-house.)
In theory, the end client could also be part of this.
If they had someone on their team who knows how to export formats or make simple edits, they could be part of the post production too!
Try This on Your Next Film Project
Look at what your in-house team can already do — or bring me in to train them!
If someone on your team can handle editing, subtitles, or exporting, you might not need to outsource.
That means saving time and money — and building your team’s skills.
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If you found these insights helpful, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter - and if you're a freelancer, don't miss my top advice on running a freelance business at onemancrew.