Trailers, teasers, pilots. Besides being an amazing exercise that helps filmmakers to figure out what their film is really about, these forms are an inescapable tool for letting other people know too.
I’ve edited and participated on dozens of trailers over the last 5 years, at the pitching stage and in some cases for theatrical release. And my view on them has evolved from necessary evil to essential exercise. I can honestly say that the trailer process has often been one of the key moments in a filmmaker’s creation.
It would be nice to say that they’re always successful, that every trailer fills its funding gap, or is a perfect capsule of a film. But it’s not always true. What it definitely is is a sketchbook for ideas, a sandbox for story, character, and craft.
PHIL JANDALY 