Video release form template

Why video needs its own release

Video captures more than a photo: a person's voice, what they said and how they said it, all of which you'll cut, reorder and caption. A good release covers the editing up front, so a guest can't later object that a forty-minute interview became a thirty-second clip, as long as the edit didn't change what they meant.

It also matters when the video sells something. If you use a customer's words to promote your product, the FTC's Endorsement Guides apply: the statement has to reflect the person's honest views and experience, and a connection such as payment or a free product has to be disclosed.

What the template covers

• The recording: the project, the date and the place, and whether it's video, audio or both.
• Consent to be recorded: including conversations during the session.
• Likeness, voice and words: the right to use all three in the finished piece and in trailers, clips, stills and transcripts.
• Editing: cuts, captions, translations and music are fine; edits that change the meaning of what someone said are not.
• Second thoughts: the person can pause the session, and for a few days afterwards ask that a specific answer be left out.
• Where it runs: your website, social channels, ads, events or broadcast, in a blank you fill in.
• Endorsements: the person confirms their statements are honest, and can ask you to stop using one in new ads if their views change.
• Pay and credit: a fee or none, and how the person is named on screen.
• Staff who leave: a way for former employees to ask you to stop new uses.

Mistakes to avoid

• Relying on a spoken OK at the start of the recording. It's better than nothing, but it's hard to find later and rarely says where the video can run.
• Leaving out audio-only uses. If the interview might also become a podcast episode, say so.
• Scripting a customer's lines. If a video presents someone as a real customer, the words should be theirs, or the video should say it's a dramatization.
• Featuring people at an event without asking. Post signs at the entrance for crowd shots, and get a signed release from anyone you put front and center.
• Not deciding what happens when an employee leaves. Write it down now, as section 6 does, rather than negotiating it on their last day.

How to send it with SignMaster

1. 1

   Open the template

   Choose Use this template above. It opens with the person on camera signing first and your company countersigning.

2. 2

   Describe the project

   In the gray blanks, name the project, the date and location, where the video will run, any payment, and how long a former employee waits for you to stop new uses. The on-screen name is theirs to fill in.

3. 3

   Send it with the call sheet

   Email it when you confirm the interview, so they read it calmly at home, with a sign-by date of the day before the shoot. Automatic reminders do the chasing.

4. 4

   Catch late arrivals

   Someone turned up who hasn't signed? Hand them your phone with Sign in person before they sit down under the lights.

5. 5

   Keep it with the footage

   When you countersign, the signed PDF and its certificate of completion arrive by email. Save them in the project folder next to the raw files.

Filming a series or a crowd

For a run of customer story videos or an all-staff shoot, bulk send the release from a spreadsheet with each person's name and email in their own row, and each person gets their own copy. At a conference booth or an open day, a public link printed as a QR code lets people sign on their phones before they step in front of the camera.