How to make a compelling sizzle reel.

Sizzle reels are short promotional videos also known as demo reels, highlight reels, show reels, promo videos, pitch tapes, or teasers. Actors, editors, videographers, and other creatives use them to showcase their work. In fact, director and producer Taylor Kavanaugh says that when looking to hire for a project, he considers two things: whether someone is easy to work with, and how good their sizzle reel is.

Sizzle reels also help sell TV shows to networks, raise the money to fund films, and provide an overview of an exciting new product. In these cases, the reel serves as proof of concept, selling the idea by generating excitement.

No matter what type of reel you’re making, these tips will help you learn to create a successful one. 

Traditionally, sizzle reels could be as long as 5 minutes. With the shorter viewing times on social media and so much other enticing content to compete with, expecting someone to watch an entire 5-minute video may be unrealistic. Now the average sizzle reel length is closer to 1–2 minutes.

What’s your video’s target audience? For example, if you’re pitching a show, are you trying to sell it to a network or to the prospective audience? “A network executive is going to want to know what demographic you’re trying to reach and who they can get as advertisers. An audience just wants to see the show,” says TV editor Gerry Holtz.

Think about your intended audience and what they’re looking for in your video. Try to answer their questions before they come up. If they’re likely to want numbers and evidence of research, give it to them. If they want quick cuts and energetic music, experiment with those for extra sizzle.

What’s the point of your reel? Is it part of a larger presentation or does it need to stand alone on YouTube or Vimeo? If you’re just trying to set a mood before you launch into the details in person, you don’t need to pack everything into your reel. But if your reel is your resume or your whole pitch, it has to make the case on its own.

That might seem tough to do in 60 seconds, but that’s plenty of time to show off your best stuff. “It’s much better to make it shorter and leave people wanting more than to make it too long,” Kavanaugh says. “Create an emotion. Show that your work is premium, show what you do well, and then point somebody to your website where they can dive in more fully.”

Also, when you’re showing off your work, make sure to clearly label the work you did in each snippet. If your expertise is in post-production, don’t let the viewer think you were the director or writer.

Narrative is how human beings make sense of the world, so even your sizzle should tell a story. “You want it to be exciting, but you also want to make sure it’s coherent. You want to make sure that at the end, people know what they’ve watched. It’s still got to have a beginning, middle, and end,” says Holtz. It should also be clear about what it wants the audience to do.