Strategic campaign to promote the film — trailers, posters, press, social platforms, festival strategy. Drives box office and audience reach as much as production quality.
Once you have the first cut, a second battle begins for the production – the campaign. Marketing isn't an afterthought once the film is finished. It runs in parallel, sometimes even during shooting, and determines whether your film reaches 50 or 5 million people.
On set, you'll often notice photographers suddenly appearing – these aren't paparazzi, they're stills photographers for the distributor. Every scene with star power is documented. In the edit, you'll then keep certain takes open because the marketing department needs shots for trailers that are visually striking and tell a story in 15 seconds. This is an art in itself: a trailer isn't just a summary. It's a miniature production with its own editing rhythm, its own sound design. I've seen trailer editors work against the editor because they need different pacing levels.
Today, marketing encompasses far more than cinema posters and TV spots. Social media campaigns run in parallel – Instagram Reels with behind-the-scenes material, TikTok snippets, YouTube featurettes. Some streaming platforms build automated trailers for different target audiences – a horror fan sees different scenes than a drama audience. Press work, press screenings, festival strategies – whether a film goes to Cannes or directly to Netflix changes the entire marketing approach.
Crucially: Marketing decides the release date, advertising volume, and regional focus. A film can be technically brilliant but disappear into the noise without a campaign budget. Conversely, solid marketing can turn a mediocre film into a hit. That's why distributors and producers are in the editing suite at the latest by the final editing session – they look for emotional hooks, scenes that could go viral, and who the target audience is. For you as an editor, this means: think in trailer logic while editing. Leave moments to breathe that can be isolated later. Think about sound impact for 5-second clips. Marketing isn't after the edit – it's happening while you're still editing.