Showreel

A showreel is built from twenty or thirty seconds of every project that was worth something, cut to music and rhythm. The crew usually makes it between jobs, often in January when things are quiet. It is not a portfolio, it is the craft in shorthand: one to two minutes, because nobody finishes a longer one.

A client choosing a production company watches a showreel for a few seconds. In that time they learn whether we hold focus, light and rhythm. They learn nothing about whether we delivered on time or are easy to work with. So the showreel mostly decides whether we reach the shortlist.

How it is made: pick five to eight projects, one shot from each that stands on its own, and arrange them so the first five seconds are the strongest. Music has to be licensed even for your own calling card. Updating the showreel once a year is enough; more often is wasted work. Older projects drop out on their own once better ones exist.

A showreel lies in both directions. A studio drops in shots from projects where it did only part of the work, and a client builds an expectation their budget cannot carry. If a shot excites you, ask what it cost, who directed it and how many people worked on it. That answer tells you more than the whole reel.

Our rule is that a shot only enters the showreel if we can show the whole project behind it, budget range included. Every clip has a case study to go with it. When you are choosing a studio, ask for one complete film from start to finish alongside the reel.