Quick Tips on Choosing Television Documentary Production Companies

The production of television documentaries has become increasingly popular as more and more people tend to enjoy watching documentary style films and real life stories. If you’re considering a project with various local television documentary production companies, or you’ve got a documentary in mind that you would like to film for TV, the process of choosing the most appropriate film company to work with is potentially challenging.

You’ve got to establish a relationship with the company that you’re considering and you’ll want to check out their skills and past projects before making a final decision.

Beverly Boy Productions is one of many television documentary production companies that provides world-wide production services. To learn more about our documentary style filmmaking, give us a call at 888-462-7808!

1. Search for Niche Specific Providers

Finding and choosing television documentary production companies will require that you search for those with niche specific ability to provide the services that you need.

You know you want to produce a documentary film, so search Google for, “Documentary film production.” You could also search for things like, “documentary video production,” or “television documentary production companies.”

2. Review Portfolio and Past Work

Checking out the portfolio to get an idea of the types of documentaries each production company has produced in the past will help you to decide whether they have the skills and expertise that you’re looking for.

Since you’re specifically interested in television quality documentaries, make sure that you’re looking into past projects and seeking out the companies that have a history of producing for TV.

This is different from producing for a website. Broadcast quality is significantly higher in general and requires more advanced skills and experience.

3. List Top Production Companies to Contact

Make a list of the television documentary production companies that have portfolios and past projects that exceed your expectations. These will be the companies that you follow up with to find out about their services.

Order your list from greatest to least greatest. This way you can allocate your time to researching the companies you are most interested in first, and those with least interest later on if you need to.

4. Ask for References & Contact Past Clients

Check the reviews for the documentaries that each company produced. Did the audience like them? Were they a big hit? 

Next, ask each of the television documentary production companies on your list if they would provide you with references that you can talk to. You should get 2-4 references from each company.

Your job is to call those references or email and ask them if they were satisfied with the work that the production company provided and if they would work together again. A good and positive reference signifies that you’ll probably have a positive experience, too.

5. Openly Discuss Your Project, Goals & Needs

When you’re done communicating with references and past clients, you should have maybe 3 or 4 television documentary production companies on your list that are top competitors for you and that you would consider hiring.

You should set up a time to speak with each of them, in-person. Give yourself an hour with each of the production companies to openly discuss your documentary, the goals, and individual needs of the project. 

During the conversation, think about how you feel about working with the particular production company. Think about how they communicate. Think about whether you could see yourself working with them or not.

Also think about how they are interacting with you. Are they asking you questions and providing their own vision for your project? Do you like it?

Use all of this to help you choose television documentary production companies that are most suited to your documentary film.

This is your chance to research and carefully analyze the competition to find the production crew that’s just right for you. For more tips, contact Beverly Boy Productions at 888-462-7808!