How to Film Executive and VIP Interviews
- Aug 20
- 3 min read
3 Must Haves for Creating Professional Executive Interview Videos
When mapping out your corporate digital marketing strategy, be sure to include executive interview videos. This type of content helps build brand trust with clients, attract top talent, and solidify your company's values to your employees. It goes without saying that VIP interviewees are often very busy; it's crucial that your videos are not only professional, but efficient as well. The last thing you want to do is to have to ask the CEO to re-shoot a video because the quality is unusable. Keep reading for our top tips on how to create the best executive interview videos.
1) Pre-Production Tip: Outline - Don’t Script
This one might come as a surprise, but it's the crucial first step of interview pre-production. While we love a good script, they aren't conducive for a genuine interview. One of the primary goals of an interview video is to make a natural, human connection and put a face to your brand. However, when interviewees are focusing on sticking to a script, it creates a corporate video that feels clunky and insincere--the exact opposite of the video's intention. Instead of filming a scripted video, we suggest doing an interview video with your executives. High-quality professional interview videos do more to represent your brand and connect with viewers than text and generic marketing. Getting to know executives on a genuine level leaves a lasting connection. Bear in mind, however, that being entirely unprepared causes difficulties. An interview that is 100% off the cuff causes shooting delays and costly re-shoots if compliance doesn't like their answers. To get the perfect balance, we recommend creating an outline on talking points the VIPs should hit, without putting specific words in their mouths.
2) Production Tip: Film in a Quiet, Neutral Location
As a corporate video production team that has filmed countless interview videos, we know that shoot location matters more than you'd think. Professional videos look best when production choices are highly intentional. Clean audio, soft lighting, and well-framed shots put the audience at ease, allowing them to focus on and connect with the video content. While filming at your company's building may seem like the logical choice, a buzzing office or shared space is busy, loud, and loaded with distractions. For example, on one of our corporate video shoots, we were asked to film interviews in the company's lobby. By the end of the day, we had lost count of the amount of times we needed to pause and/or restart a take because people walked by, loudly talking on their phones. Instead, we recommend finding a corner of the office that is not occupied that you can turn into a video set. The goal is to create a neutral backdrop that is neither distracting nor bare. To do so, be sure that your shots do not contain any busy signs or complicated photos behind the subject. At the same time, there should be a dynamic element to the shot composition. Consider incorporating neutral props (like plants, bookshelf, or abstract art) in the background.
3) Post-Production Tip: Edit for Audience, not the Executive
Executives and brand VIPs can be fountains of insight. After all, that's why they're being featured in your corporate interview video. However, even the best advice and most compelling stories won’t engage listeners if they're not in the right package. While the interviewees need to be pleased with the end result, interview videos need to be edited for the audience. Different platforms require different editing. YouTube series can be 10 minutes long, while an Instagram video should max out at 60 seconds. If the video is for your website, around 2 minutes is the sweet spot. Confining your video content to one nugget of information at a time helps to ensure that the audience stays focused and watches until the end (and potentially comes back for more). Instead of using the "talking head" footage for the entire length of the video, we recommend covering 50% to 75% of it with B-roll. Keeping it short, sweet, and visually interesting pulls in viewers, keeps them engaged, and sparks that personal connection that can only be achieved with quality professional video.
Angela Wolf Video offers corporate video production services near Philadelphia, PA.
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