How to produce video for crisis comms
Crisis comms video is the format you build before you need it, not when the crisis lands. Three crisis tiers, a pre-built crisis kit that compresses production from 12 hours to under 2, a parallel approval chain that runs alongside production rather than gating it, and a quarterly drill that keeps the response chain warm.
Why crisis video is a prepared capability, not an ad-hoc response
The standard enterprise pattern: a crisis lands at 4pm, the comms team scrambles to draft a statement, the CEO is unavailable for the next 6 hours, the production vendor needs 24-48 hours to deliver, and by the time the video ships the news cycle has moved on, the regulator has issued their own statement, or the social media response has solidified around the wrong narrative. The video that lands at hour 18 is worth a fraction of the same video at hour 4.
The structural shift: treat crisis comms video as a prepared capability rather than an on-demand request. Build the kit before the crisis. Train the spokespeople. Pre-agree the approval chain. Run drills. Compress production from a 12-hour baseline to under 2 hours by removing every avoidable delay from the response. The CEO statement that lands at hour 2 sets the narrative; the same statement at hour 12 follows whoever else set it first.
The three crisis tiers
Tier 1: Active crisis (ship in hours)
Security incident with customer impact. Executive departure under negative circumstances. Regulatory action against the company. Harm to customers, staff, or community. Cases where the company's silence in the first 12 hours becomes part of the story. CEO on camera, 60 to 90 seconds, ships within 4 to 12 hours of incident detection. The format that protects the company's right to be heard before others define the narrative.
Tier 2: Reactive comms (ship in 24-48 hours)
Media story breaking that requires response but is not actively unfolding. Product issue affecting some customers but not a security or safety incident. Partner controversy where the company needs to clarify its position. Change of strategy needed in response to market movement. Function leader (CRO for product issues, CFO for strategy shifts, CHRO for partner controversy) on camera, 2 to 3 minutes, ships within 24 to 48 hours.
Tier 3: Repositioning (ship in 5-7 days)
Slow-burn reputation issue that needs structural response. Sector-wide concern needing the company's specific perspective. Brand recovery campaign after an extended difficult period. CEO plus customer or third-party voice, 3 to 5 minutes, ships within 1 week. The format that signals the company has thought carefully about its position rather than reacted defensively.
The pre-built crisis kit
Every element in the kit is built before the crisis lands. Each one shaves a specific window of time off the response.
Branded title and outro templates
Crisis-tier title cards pre-approved by brand and legal. Lower thirds and caption style ready to drop on any recorded clip. No "what does the title look like" question during the crisis. Saves approximately 60 minutes of design and brand review at incident time.
SME phone-capture protocol
CEO and key spokespeople trained on phone-capture with a $40 lavalier mic. They can record a usable take in 15 minutes from script approval. No crew dispatch, no studio booking, no waiting for production. Saves approximately 90 minutes of crew setup and travel.
Standing rush queue with the production partner
Production partner has crisis tier flagged in the workflow. Senior editor on standby during business hours; documented escalation for after-hours. Activation in under 30 minutes from request to editor on the job. Saves approximately 2 hours of vendor onboarding and project setup at incident time.
Distribution channels pre-mapped
Intranet, social channels, email distribution list, press release embed targets, analyst note distribution all pre-mapped to the comms team's playbook. No "where do we post it" question during the crisis. Saves approximately 45 minutes of distribution coordination at incident time.
Combined, the four kit elements reduce crisis time-to-publish by roughly 5 hours from a 12-hour baseline. The same crisis video that would ship at 8pm without the kit ships at 3pm with it.
