Sizzle Reel

A sizzle reel is a short promotional video, often two to four minutes, that sells the feeling of a project before it exists. It may combine existing footage, test shoots, reference clips, music, and on-screen text to show tone, world, and audience appeal.

Sizzle reels are common for series and unscripted pitches and can strengthen a feature package alongside a pitch deck and lookbook. Reels built from other people's footage are for private pitching only and shouldn't be distributed publicly.

The best sizzles are short, tonally consistent, and end with a clear sense of what the finished project will be.