Start with the missing contribution, then decide whether another person, different evidence or a revised story can responsibly fill it. This worksheet helps the buyer organise that decision before asking production to rearrange the shoot.
Identify what the unavailable person was going to contribute
List the specific questions assigned to that participant. Separate personal experience, project facts and contextual explanation. Some facts may be checked through records; a personal account cannot simply be transferred to someone who was not involved.
Note what is already available. There may be an approved previous interview, suitable records or another contributor with relevant experience. Do not assume existing material can be reused without checking its permission, relevance and production suitability.
The key question is not “who can speak confidently?” It is “who can accurately explain the part of the project we need the viewer to understand?”
Assess a replacement by knowledge and role
Ask a proposed substitute what they directly did, observed or decided. Identify which points they can discuss from experience and which they would be repeating from others. Keep that distinction visible in preparation.
A senior title does not automatically supply the missing knowledge. A colleague with a narrower role may be better placed to explain a specific detail, provided the film makes that role clear.
Confirm that the proposed person is willing, available and appropriately authorised to participate. Do not send them a script written in the original speaker's voice or ask them to adopt someone else's experience as their own.
Compare three honest options
A replacement interview may preserve the original story if the necessary knowledge is genuinely available. Alternatively, the story can be revised around different supported evidence. A third option is to discuss moving the interview or production arrangement.
Compare what each option changes for the viewer. A narrated factual explanation might establish context, but it would not replace the unavailable person's personal account. A new speaker may bring a valuable different perspective while leaving the original question unanswered.
Ask production to assess the consequences for filming, editing, dates and scope. Avoid promising that changing the person has no effect simply because the number of interviews remains the same.
Complete the replacement decision sheet
- Original participant and planned contribution:
- Questions that now lack a first-hand account:
- Facts that can be checked independently:
- Proposed replacement and actual project role:
- Points they directly experienced:
- Points outside their knowledge:
- Existing material available for assessment:
- Revised story option and information lost:
- Availability and participation approval status:
- Production implications to confirm:
- Chosen option and authorised decision-maker:
- Preparation and factual checking still required:
Use the sheet to expose gaps, not to score personalities. A person marked unsuitable for one topic may be an excellent contributor to another.
A fictional substitution
A fictional project manager is unavailable for a planned interview about a sequencing decision. A marketing colleague offers to take their place but was not involved in the work. The site coordinator, however, participated in the relevant meetings and can explain a narrower part of the decision.
The team asks whether that narrower account and checked project records can support a revised story. It does not ask the marketing colleague to recite the absent manager's personal experience. Production assesses the proposed change before the plan is confirmed. This example is invented and does not describe a Live Images shoot.
Rebrief the production, not just the calendar
Send the revised participant's role, topic boundaries and preparation needs to the production contact. Update any titles, factual checking responsibilities and approval contacts affected by the change.
Live Images' Industry Standard is built around people who can discuss the project, with the scope and dates agreed during planning. Confirm the implications of a changed participant for your actual engagement rather than assuming a substitution is automatic.
Use the interview evidence worksheet to prepare the selected person once the decision is made. If the missing account remains essential and no suitable alternative is available, make that limitation explicit instead of filling the gap with unsupported confidence.
Sources and editorial note
Live Images — Industry Standard, checked 29 October 2026, supports the limited description of the current project-film service and agreed scope.
The worksheet and fictional example are original planning guidance. Confirm project facts, responsibilities and any proposed production changes with the appropriate people and the written scope. Prepared with AI assistance for Live Images.