When the new direction is a new edit.

The first cut is approved. Then someone asks for a different story. Start by making the change visible.

A new direction is not automatically a bad request. People learn what they want by seeing the work. The problem comes when a major change is treated as a minor note, and nobody revisits the time, budget, or delivery date.

Write a before-and-after brief

Keep it short. Record the agreed audience, message, structure, runtime, and outputs, then put the proposed changes beside them. Avoid arguing about whether the request is “small.” Describe what would have to change in the timeline.

This example adds both a story change and a new deliverable. Separating them makes it possible to choose one without automatically committing to both.

Identify work that can carry forward

Some preparation may still be useful: organized media, cleaned audio, selected shots, title styles. Name what you can reuse. Estimate only the remaining and additional work you actually expect to perform. Include coordination, review, rendering and quality checks as well as timeline editing.

Then check your existing agreement. The right response may be an included revision, a separately approved add-on, or a trade between deliverables. A calculator cannot decide the contractual answer.

Offer a real choice

• Keep the original plan: finish the agreed cut using the remaining review process.
• Replace part of the plan: remove named deliverables to make room for the new direction, with a revised written scope.
• Add to the plan: agree extra work, fee, and schedule before starting.

“I can see the new direction. It changes the story structure and adds a vertical output, so I’d like to reset the scope before the next pass. I’ll show what we can reuse and the extra work involved. Then we can decide whether to adjust the deliverables or add time and budget.”

Close the loop before opening the timeline

Record the selected option, the person approving it, and the updated delivery date. Resolve which earlier notes are superseded. Ask the feedback owner to confirm that stakeholders are aligned. Otherwise, the next review may reopen a decision you thought was settled.

If the client declines the add-on, do not describe a proposed figure as a debt. Return to the agreed work and discuss the available options. For a genuine disagreement about obligations, obtain appropriate professional advice.