What does a Trailer Editor do?

(An analogy with a Chef in the kitchen)
By Kuldeep Shah

If you think of a trailer as a dish, then a trailer editor is the chef.

Just like a great chef who takes raw ingredients and turns them into a delicious, memorable meal — a trailer editor takes all the raw materials of a film, series, or game and carefully combines them into a short, impactful piece that whets your appetite.

So what are the ingredients?

  1. The Breif
    Trailer editors usually start with a brief — a written document or creative conversations with the studio, marketing team, or showrunner.
    It outlines the vision, tone, and key selling points of the project. Sometimes it’s very detailed (“Make it thrilling, lean into female empowerment, end on a cliffhanger”). Other times it’s an overarching idea about the emotion.
    The brief acts like a recipe — giving the editor a general direction, but still leaving plenty of room to experiment and discover something unexpected.

  2. The Footage
    This is the visual base — scenes, shots, dailies, or full episodes. Like produce in a kitchen, it’s up to the editor to choose the freshest, most flavorful moments.

  3. Music
    Music is 50% of a trailer’s impact. Whether it’s epic orchestral, fast-paced action rock, moody indie, or dark gritty electronica, music sets the tone. A trailer editor often spends hours (sometimes days) digging through tracks to find the one that emotionally unlocks the piece. Often, we layer cues to build a musical arc from quiet to explosive.

  4. Dialogue & (someitmes) Voiceover narration
    These are your flavor notes — used sparingly or heavily depending on the recipe. Some trailers are dialogue-driven; others rely purely on mood and visuals.

  5. Sound Design & FX
    Hits, risers, whooshes, booms — the audio seasoning that elevates the cut. These help with rhythm, transitions, and tension.

  6. Graphics & Text Cards
    Titles, release dates, taglines — these are your plate presentation. Clean, impactful graphics help communicate key info quickly and stylishly.

A good trailer, like a good meal, is all about balance — a creative harmony between these elements. And just like in cooking, no two recipes are the same.

So what does a trailer editor’s day look like?

On a typical day, a trailer editor might be working on a 30-second TV spot or a 90-second teaser. It often starts solo — experimenting with structure, tone, and music — before showing the rough cut to a creative director or producer. Together, they’ll shape it to be clearer, funnier, more emotional, or more intense.

After internal rounds of revisions, the cut goes to the client (a studio, streamer, or game publisher), whose feedback leads to more polishing — sometimes a few rounds, sometimes many. Collaboration is key, and a strong trailer almost always has a strong team behind it.

Because the work is usually project-based, a trailer editor might work on a wide variety of campaigns in a single year — across film, TV, and games — making each week completely different from the last.

So the next time you see a trailer that gives you chills, makes you laugh, or gets you hyped — just know it didn’t happen by accident.
There was a chef in the editing bay, mixing flavors until it hit just right.

And now you know what a trailer editor does.