How important is artwork (key art, trailer, posters) when selling your independent film?

An Interview with film sales agent, Michael Hayes, of Prolific Pictures. The interview was recorded at the American show market (AFM) on November 2, 2022 in Santa Monica, California.

Transcript:

Question:
How important is artwork to the distribution of an independent film?

Answer:
It's almost at least from a sales standpoint it's almost more important than the film itself. I mean it is the first thing that people see whether it's an audience on a platform or a buyer. The trailer is usually the next thing that they see. That's sort of the series of steps that invest them in the film and invest them in clicking the button that says buy or watch or whatever. Wo it's insanely important. I think filmmakers should think about their poster before they even finish their script. Certainly they should think about that before production. They should know absolutely what the poster is going to be before production