36C24E24Q0026_2.docx

Amendment to a Previous Combined Solicitation

Amendment to a Previous Combined Solicitation

GENERAL INFORMATION

Regional Procurement Office East Building 32 Suite 1A1111 1010 Delafield Road Pittsburgh PA 15215-1802

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contracting Officer Ms. Millicent Covert millicent.covert@va.gov (Calls will not be accepted)

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

POSTAL CODE

COUNTRY

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY’S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION

Amendment to Solicitation 36C24E24Q0026 This amendment is submitted to provide further explanation for questions that have arisen from the solicitation.

Questions and Answers

1. Is there an incumbent or one that has provided services previously?

There is not an incumbent for this solicitation. This is a new contract for services.

3. Under Section C, Task 2, it states the videos should be animated, but elsewhere the solicitation seems to ask for first-person narrative videos. Can you clarify if the videos you are soliciting should be animated? The cost will differ greatly for animated video content, and we want to ensure competitive pricing.

Incorrect language was utilized in the Statement of Work. We don't need animated videos (meaning like a cartoon), we are hoping for live actors, either one person speaking or two people having a conversation.

4. There is no language concerning creative content distribution once the videos are created. Does the contractor also handle direct to consumer marketing?

We will handle everything after the videos are created. They will only be used in-house for a research project, seen by research participants, for the next couple of years at least. If a video or videos are compelling with shown efficacy in our testing, they could be distributed more broadly by VA, but VA would handle that.

5. Does the firm need to be a GSA contractor?

No, the firm does not have to hold a GSA contract to participate.

6. Does the firm need to be a VOSB or SDVOSB certified by the SBA? Our firm is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business that is self-certified.

In order to qualify as a SDVOSB or VOSB, the firm must be certified by the SBA at time of submission; otherwise, firm will be categorized as a small business.

7. Can the Government confirm that this is an SDVOSB set-aside solicitation on SAM.gov, and not a GSA RFQ, or an RFI/sources sought?

This is a solicitation based on Cascading Set-aside Procedures, which can be found on Page 9. We seek SDVOSB entities first; then VOSB if inadequate competition for SDVOSB is found; then total small business; finally, full and open. This is not a GSA RFQ or a RFI/sources sought.

8. Section 1.2 Pricing requests that offerors include their GSA pricing schedules and GSA contract numbers. Is it the Government’s intention that this is an acquisition limited to GSA MAS schedule holders?

“1.2 – Pricing” simply asks that if the firm also holds a GSA contract to identify services as such.

9. Are SDVOSBs who are not on GSA MAS also permitted to submit an acceptable response?

Yes, SDVOSBs may respond even without GSA certification.

10. Is there a desired page limit for this response?

Please respond with what is requested in “1.2 – Pricing” and limit past performance to last 5 contracts.

11. Can you provide examples of the tone and style intended for the testimonials and non-testimonial messages?

Tone and style should be similar to those for general public service announcements or health education campaigns.

12. How does the VA plan to distribute or utilize these videos? Are there specific platforms or media through which these will be broadcasted that we should consider during production?

Right now, the videos will only be seen by research participants in our research study. We plan to host the videos on a private YouTube channel, show them to research participants, and assess their responses. Eventually it’s possible they could be for wider distribution, which again would probably be via YouTube channel, hosted on a VA website, or similar.

13. For Videos 5 and 6, can you clarify what "control" is referencing as it relates to the videos? Will you use videos 1-4 and perform testing or do you envision a different type of video for control purposes?

“Control” in this sense is meant for keying in on the subject content of each rather than conditional control. Please consider the word “control” stricken from both.

14. Could you please confirm the location of where the shooting/production will take place? I would imagine at Michael E. DeBakey VAMC (Houston) and, possibly some in another studio setting?

Anywhere in the Houston metro area, or virtually if firm is not local to the Houston area.

15. The contract does outline the performance being 8 months but doesn’t really provide a detailed schedule of individual tasks (mainly production). Do you see the shooting of these “scenes” spanning across an eight months period? Could you possible break down what you think a shooting schedule will look like for this project of 6 LIVE ACTION videos? ex. 5 days of shooting consecutively? 10 days in a row? 3 days in March and 6 in June, etc?

Faster than 8 months would be better for us, but up 8 months was the maximum time allotted. I’m happy to work to develop a plan that works for both of us—but I imagine that a timeline might be something like a couple of months of planning/conversations/setting things up, shooting for a few days and then a period of editing the videos with feedback from our team before getting to the final product.

16. Will you be adjusting the response date on the amendment from 06 FEB 2024 to a different date or will the response date remain the same?

Solicitation deadline will be extended as no later than Friday, February 9, 2024, at 11:59 AM EST

17. Will you be directly emailing the addendum to everyone who has inquired about this solicitation?

All interested parties that have submitted questions will be contacted directly.

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Amendment to a Previous Combined Solicitation