Most of what gets written about pitch trailers is written to sell you one. Everything here is what I would tell you on a call, with the sources so you can check me.
The $23,000 Whiplash short unlocked a $3.3 million feature that grossed fifty million and won three Oscars. Saw was greenlit off one scene. The verified ledger of proofs of concept, what the industry itself pays for one, and the numbers to know before you accept anyone's quote. Including mine.
Everybody wants to cut something to that trailer track. Most people do it wrong, because they cut to what the recording says instead of what it does. The whole method worked through on one piece of audio: measure it first, find the six things it is actually doing to a listener, then go looking for a subject that earns them.
Frontières at Cannes runs a section literally named Proof of Concept: two to five minutes of original footage, or you are not in. The Gotham's Shorts to Features track goes further, the short is the application. The requirements, verbatim, and what they actually mean.
What decides whether your sizzle is good is mostly what you hand the editor, not who the editor is. Most people send the wrong material and hold back the right material. This is free and it works whoever you hire.
More as I work it out. If there is something you want explained properly, tell me and I will write it.