Corporate video for the pharmaceutical sector: what to bear in mind

Filming at a pharmaceutical company is not like filming at a software startup. Before I touch the camera, the content goes through the compliance department, and the words I use in the script matter as much as the shots.

This is what I've learned working with laboratories and medical device companies in Madrid: how I plan the script, what I ask for before going onto the plant floor and how I shoot interviews so that nobody ends up promising something the product can't promise.

What it is and why it matters

A corporate video in pharma is used to communicate culture, manufacturing processes and trials, or to introduce the scientific team. It isn't product advertising: that has its own regulatory route and I don't normally handle it.

It matters because the margin for error is small. A sentence that sounds like a therapeutic promise, an image of a patient without a signed consent form or a shot inside a clean room without the right authorisation can throw away months of the client's work.

That's why the process starts before the shoot, not on the day of filming. The script is reviewed with compliance, not just with marketing, and locations inside the plant are confirmed with the quality manager, not just with communications.

How to do it well

A script reviewed with compliance

I send the script to compliance before fixing a shooting date. I don't ask for a generic go-ahead, I ask for a sentence-by-sentence review: what can be said about efficacy, which terms are prohibited and which claims need a source cited on screen. If something takes time to be approved, I'd rather know weeks in advance than on set with the crew already set up.

Shooting on the plant floor or in the laboratory

Going into a clean room or onto a production line means a gown, a hairnet and sometimes a decontamination protocol for the equipment. I ask in advance what the camera can take in and what needs a cover or cleaning first. I film with as few people inside as possible and I check with the quality manager which shots are allowed before setting anything up.

Interviews with no clinical claims

With researchers or medical staff I prepare questions about process and career path, not about results. If someone improvises a line like 'this cures' or 'it's the best on the market', I stop the take and repeat it. It's easier to fix it in front of the camera than in the edit suite, when there's no other take left to use.

Common mistakes

• Shooting before the script has been approved by compliance.
• Using patient testimonials without informed consent specific to audiovisual use.
• Letting someone claim efficacy or say something cures a condition on camera without a cited source.
• Not asking about clean room rules before going in with the equipment.
• Publishing the video without a final legal review of the finished edit, not just of the initial script.

Frequently asked questions

If you work at a laboratory or a medical device company in Madrid and you need a corporate video that gets past the compliance filter without losing its natural feel, get in touch via /en/contact and we'll plan it together.