You spent two years making your film. Six months in post. Thousands of dollars you didn’t have.
Your trailer drops. It gets views. People say it “looks good.” But festival programmers ghost you. Distributors pass. Your screening has twelve people.
The problem isn’t your film. It’s that your trailer was built to impress editors, not convert audiences.
Here’s the truth: A trailer isn’t an editing problem—it’s a behavioral science problem.
Festival programmers, distributors, and audiences don’t respond to “good editing.” They respond to attention triggers, memory anchors, and decision psychology. Most editors were never trained in any of this. They know transitions and pacing. They don’t know why humans stop scrolling, what makes a film memorable 48 hours later, or how to engineer the intent to buy a ticket.
What You’ll Find Here
These guides decode the film marketing journey through the decision points every independent producer faces:
What You’ll Learn:
- How festival programmers evaluate trailers (and why 90% get ignored in the first 15 seconds)
- Why social media clips fail to convert while strategic trailer cuts drive engagement
- What “professional presentation” actually signals to distributors and sales agents
- How to unlock hidden commercial potential in films you thought had limited appeal
Who This Is For: Independent producers and filmmakers currently in production or post-production who need to transform completed work into marketable assets that attract industry attention, secure distribution, or build sustainable audience reach.
How to use the guide:
- Each guide follows your current stage .
- Reveals what industry gatekeepers actually evaluate .
- Provides decision frameworks.
- Shows next steps toward MAX-Q’s trailer editing services.
Where are you right now?
Festival submission mode
I’m submitting to festivals and need a trailer
MAX-Q Studio 