SELLING BY TRAILER

I’ve recently seen ads for a service that will make a “trailer” out of your script, or idea. This seems like a great way to show that your stuff has exciting visual potential, and specific marketing possibilities. However, are producers, agents, etc., going to watch these things? Is there a general vibe out there about this idea (which is made possible & affordable by dv, plus software like After Effects)?

Thanks very much!
Krista from Austin, TX

That’s a new one to me. I would say, save your money. You are selling you – your voice, your vision, your writing. You are not selling the trailer company. I can tell you, after reading thousands of produced and unproduced scripts, the ones that sell communicate these things on the page. If your idea or script does not communicate its own possibilities without a trailer, you need to develop it more. The producers are more likely to hire the trailer company if they like the trailer than they are to hire you.

If you are a writer/director, it is not unusual to shoot a short as a selling tool – but you are shooting it, not hiring someone else to do it. In that case, you are selling your own ability.

Even in the very rare case where there really is something special about your vision that is unlikely to communicate on the page, I would still not recommend that you hire a rent-a-trailer company. In that case, I would say, hook up with a director that understands what you are going for and shoot a short. That way, you are still promoting yourself (and the director) and not the rent-a-trailer company.