Read the reel correctly
A reel shows taste and finish, not reliability. Ask which shots the designer personally animated and which they directed — on most studio work those are different people.
Questions worth asking
What was the brief, and what changed between boards and final?
What did you deliver besides the film — crops, templates, source files?
How do you handle a client who rejects the approved boards mid-animation?
Red flags
No style frames in the process. A reel of only trend-driven templates. Unwillingness to quote a fixed scope. No conversation about usage rights.
Scoping the engagement
Write the deliverable list before the budget. Every ambiguity in the deliverable list becomes a revision round later.