\n
There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.<\/p>\n
At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn Brady, co-founders of the Golden Trailer Awards, which recognize excellence in film and TV trailers. Now in its 25th year, the awards have honored ads for projects ranging from action-packed blockbusters like Deadpool & Wolverine<\/em> to Oscar-winning documentaries like 20 Days in Mariupol<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe Brady sisters founded the awards after graduating film school in 1999, when they were in need of a trailer editor for their own film and found that the people who worked on trailers weren\u2019t credited anywhere easily recognizable. In the years since, the Golden Trailer Awards have ballooned from 19 categories to 108, and the Bradys have had plenty of experience homing in on what makes a movie trailer effective, especially as the trailer-making industry has gained more respect from both fans and professionals alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go to an art museum, you can\u2019t really picture what Monet\u2019s face looks like,\u201d Evelyn told Marketing Brew. \u201cWhen you\u2019re watching a trailer, it\u2019s the same thing. You can appreciate the art. You don\u2019t have to see the individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Time is money<\/h2>\n
The Golden Trailer Awards recognize not only the excellence that goes into making trailers, but also the breadth of talent in the broader movie and TV marketing space. Though the original 19 categories are the ones that get honored on stage at a live show at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles in May, the number of categories has expanded in an effort to properly reward the intricacies of different types of trailers. New categories have brought in recognition for streaming series, video games, and campy movies\u2014which gets the cheeky Trashiest Trailer award. (This year, the horror film\u00a028 Years Later<\/em>\u00a0took home the top prize, while Severance, Wicked,<\/em>\u00a0and Sinners<\/em>\u00a0all won multiple accolades.)<\/p>\n\u201cThere\u2019s different types of movies out there. It\u2019s not all gloss,\u201d Monica said.<\/p>\n
Benedict Coulter, co-founder of the motion picture advertising company Rebel, has worked in the trailer-editing industry for decades, and he said that while working on blockbuster movies pays the bills, it\u2019s the smaller films that get his trailer editors the most excited.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we gather small independent movies, the editors are just like, \u2018Oh, I love this,\u2019 because you can kind of explore artistically a little differently,\u201d Coulter told Marketing Brew. \u201cYou\u2019re not trying to sell the bombastic presentation. You can go a little more into storytelling and artistic exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of the type of movie or TV project, the Brady sisters recognize that there are a few guidelines that generally make a trailer stand out for awards voters while also getting butts in theater seats. These include both technical aspects, like optimal lengths, and psychological tactics, like an emotional hook.<\/p>\n
Over the years, though, some of these trailer elements have changed, and Monica told us that trailers today start to feel long after the two-minute mark\u2014a far cry from trailers of yore.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody has short attention spans these days,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you go back as a viewer and watch a trailer from the \u201970s, where they\u2019re, like, seven minutes long, I\u2019m crawling out of my skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
\n
Get marketing news you’ll actually want to read<\/h5>\n
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
While traditional TV advertising has kept shorter trailers in vogue, digital advertising has allowed some trailers to run longer, which Monica said is ultimately in service to the fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the internet, you can see different movie marketing at all different lengths. You can have the people who just want a little bite\u2026then you have people who want to go deeper,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Trailer tricks<\/h2>\n
When a moviegoer sits down in a theater, the trailers before their feature of choice are chock-full of editing choices that may determine whether they make a return trip to see those other films.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the dialogue, you have the graphics, and you have the music that are all making anchors for a future purchase date, or a future date for you to go out and enjoy yourself again,\u201d Monica said. \u201cIt\u2019s the No. 1 thing driving people to the theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
When making trailers, Coulter said editors tend to balance techniques that have been proven to work and what might surprise an audience. While an editor might want to try something new and exciting, trailers go through multiple rounds of approval processes and audience tests to have the best chance at selling tickets, which ultimately takes precedence, he said.<\/p>\n
But when an editor does something unexpected, it can be worth the risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people who actually go to the theater, if there\u2019s seven trailers that have used the [same] formula\u2026but there\u2019s one that\u2019s really unconventional and went completely against the grain, that\u2019s the one you remember,\u201d Coulter said. \u201cAnd if that\u2019s the one you remember, then we\u2019ve done our job, because you\u2019re talking about the trailer, and then you\u2019re talking about the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Evelyn, music is what makes a trailer stand out. She\u2019s noticed that modern trailers tend to use current hits, which she supposes could be due to quicker licensing processes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat auditory recall for a consumer is so important,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I am humming that trailer for the rest of the day, for the rest of the week, that is marketing gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coulter agreed that music sets the tone for an effective trailer. He credits producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whom he\u2019s worked with on films like the original Top Gun<\/em>, for teaching him the importance of the first three notes of a song, which he said is key to catching and keeping an audience\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n\u201cMusic will separate you,\u201d Coulter said. Out of the dozens of trailers that could be made for a film (often by multiple different agencies), only one will get selected as the final one, which he said could come down to the head of marketing or director having a song preference.<\/p>\n
At its core, the trailer is meant to provide \u201cthe ultimate hook,\u201d according to Evelyn, but the top priority should also be to not give too much away. It\u2019s a common critique among some movie enthusiasts, who often complain that the joy of seeing a movie is diminished when the trailer reveals the entire storyline.<\/p>\n
But such a choice is not always the trailer maker\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you could give everything away in two and a half minutes, there probably wasn\u2019t that much there to see in the first place,\u201d Evelyn said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer. At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn Brady, co-founders of the Golden Trailer Awards, which recognize excellence in film and TV trailers. Now in its 25th year, the awards have honored ads for projects ranging from action-packed blockbusters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"\n
What makes a good movie trailer, anyway? | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway? | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T16:50:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T16:50:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1748623849_a1b026967c01b549f730ae754834e18f5fa21df2-1500x1000.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-30T16:50:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-30T16:50:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\"},\"wordCount\":1145,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\",\"name\":\"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway? | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-30T16:50:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-30T16:50:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway? | Brandiary","description":"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway? | Brandiary","og_description":"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2025-05-30T16:50:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-30T16:50:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1748623849_a1b026967c01b549f730ae754834e18f5fa21df2-1500x1000.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway?","datePublished":"2025-05-30T16:50:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-30T16:50:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311"},"wordCount":1145,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311","name":"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway? | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-30T16:50:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-30T16:50:49+00:00","description":"There\u2019s no question that the single most influential piece of movie marketing is the trailer.At least, that\u2019s according to sisters Monica and Evelyn","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=22311#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What makes a good movie trailer, anyway?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22313,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22311\/revisions\/22313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}