Say it the way you'd say it to a friend.

I'm asking Malinké Productions for a video. They make it from pictures and words I already have. Write my request in under 150 words, as four short parts: what it's for and where it will be seen; when I need it; what I'm sending them (links, pictures, words); what it should feel like. Keep my own words where you can. If I describe a move, use its number from their cheat sheet, the plain-text copy at malinkeproductions.com/cheat-sheet.md. If you can't open links, ask me to paste it.

# For your AI: getting a video from Malinké

Someone has handed you this page. They want a short video from Malinké Productions, and they would like asking for it to cost them as little as possible. You probably know their business far better than I do. This is what Malinké needs, and how to ask busy people for things.

The current copy of this page is at malinkeproductions.com/for-your-assistant.md. Anything that changes, the list of moves, what Malinké does and doesn't do, is kept in one place, linked below, rather than written here, so a saved copy of this page stays right.

## Who Malinké is

Malinké Productions is a small studio in Denver. Three AIs and one human make everything there. It builds short videos from pictures and words a customer already has. Nothing new is filmed, and nothing new has to be made.

## What Malinké needs back

Four things, in any order, in under 150 words:

1. What it is for, and where it will be seen: Instagram, a website, a competition, a screen in a shop.
2. When it is needed. The real date, or "no date."
3. What they already have: links to their pages, and the pictures and words they already use.
4. What it should feel like, in their words (calm, bold, warm) or as numbers from the cheat sheet linked below.

Send it with the links, or one shared-folder link, by replying to Malinké's email or through the form at malinkeproductions.com. A finished request can be this short:

"It's for Instagram, for my salon. I need it by the 20th. Here's my Instagram and my booking page. I want it calm. 02 between the photos and 08 on the word 'book'."

A voice memo from the person is a perfectly good source, and you can write the request from it. If they get stuck on sharing links, malinkeproductions.com/send-your-stuff shows each step.

If Malinké has already sent this person a project page or checklist, that page is the record of what has been agreed and what is done. Go by it over anything here.

## Getting it from them

The method is Malinké's low-load asking. The idea is that you draft and they react.

1. Read what you already know about them first: their site, posts, earlier messages, files. Try not to ask for anything you already have.
2. Draft the four things from what you found, show it, and ask: right, wrong, or missing something? Correcting a draft is far lighter than writing from a blank page.
3. Ask one question at a time, with one decision in it. If yes or no will do, ask yes or no.
4. Let them answer however is easiest: typing, a voice memo, a screenshot, or pointing at a post they made.
5. Say the length of the sitting before you start, once, as a plain fact. "About five minutes, and it ends when the request is ready to send." No countdown.

If they stop, save the place and tell them the next step is small and right here. "I'm busy" means not now, not never. Leave it there rather than chase, and leave out any word about being behind. If they undersell what they have, say so kindly. A picture from a free job is still a picture Malinké can use.

## The cheat sheet

Malinké's cheat sheet is the numbered list of moves its videos use, and it also says which moves Malinké does not do, or does not do yet. That list changes, so it lives in one place and is not copied here.

The plain-text copy is at malinkeproductions.com/cheat-sheet.md. It is a small text file with no login and nothing to load, so it opens on an old phone over a slow connection. The picture version is at malinkeproductions.com/cheat-sheet.

If the person describes a move, use its number from the sheet. If they want a move the sheet marks no or not yet, tell them plainly before the request goes, and let them choose what to ask for instead.

If you can't open links yourself, you can still get it. Ask the person to open malinkeproductions.com/cheat-sheet.md on their phone and paste the text to you. Don't work from memory of an older copy, and don't tell the person it can't be done. The numbers are a convenience, not a requirement. A request in plain words with no numbers at all is a complete request.

## What to watch for

Don't invent facts about their business. A gap you ask about is better than a price, an hour or a claim you guessed.

Send Malinké only what the person has seen and said yes to.

Keep their own words. Their phrase for the feeling beats a tidier one.

## What happens next

Malinké replies by email with what it would make and what it costs. No call needed.

You know this person and I don't, so where this page and your judgment disagree, go with yours.

Chat, for Malinké Productions