But what if other people didn't think it sucked, like these guys...
Only one of those "guys" actually said they liked ("loved") your film, the others were complimenting you personally, not your film, IE. The achievement of completing a feature length film at your age and your potential. Also bare in mind that the terms "sucked" and "loved" are relative and therefore need to be taken in context. Although I haven't seen it, I'm assuming that your film doesn't suck and is in fact very good
RELATIVE to the other films in the
CONTEXT of the various amateur film festivals you entered. Once you release your film on the open market and charge for it, this context has changed (dramatically!) and therefore the subjective quality of your film has changed relative to your competition! You are no longer competing against a group of amateur/hobbyist filmmakers who entered the same film festivals you did, you are now competing against ALL other filmmakers: Not just relatively inexperienced amateur filmmakers similar to yourself but also highly experienced successful commercial/professional filmmakers, as well as everyone in between! Furthermore, much of the content you are competing against is lower risk or essentially risk free ...
This is what I'm thinking.. drop the rental price to 1.00 and sale of the film to 2.40 the price of a starbucks cup of coffee.
I believe you are making an error in logic to compare the cost of your film to the cost of a Starbucks because we are talking about the decision to purchase your product, and the price of the product is only one part of that decision making process. The worst case scenario for the purchaser of any product is to waste their money (and/or time) so at least an equal, if not the major part of the decision making process is the avoidance of this worst case scenario. As there are no absolute guarantees, the product purchase decision making process is effectively all about risk assessment. The decision to buy a Starbucks for 2.40 is a very low risk decision because I know what to expect and there's a very high probability my expectation is going to be met. Even if I decide to take the extra risk of ordering something I haven't tried before, it's still a moderately low risk because I know the general level of quality to expect at Starbucks. I don't know anything about your products though, all I have to go on is your lack of experience and the fact that I've never seen an extremely low budget feature length film which met my entertainment expectations.
Obviously, the lower the price of your film, the less there is for the potential purchaser to loose but: 1. If you halve the price of your film, you need twice as many people to buy it just to make the same amount of money and 2. As long as there is a price, there is always the possibility of the worst case scenario above. 1 buck or 4 bucks is next to nothing but "next to nothing" is NOT actually nothing. I would never want to completely waste 1 or 4 bucks, regardless of how much money I earn because it still represents some amount of my time/effort to earn! Consider what I said earlier about risk free ... I can choose to pay 1.00 to watch your film or choose a professionally made film on TV, essentially risk free. If after 5 mins or so I don't like the film, I can change the channel and I've lost nothing except those 5 mins. Furthermore, it's far more likely that a film made by an experienced professional and/or broadcast on commercial TV will at least meet my production value expectations, which lessens the chances of me wasting even those 5 mins.
I know I've made this whole product purchasing thing sound a lot more complex that it appears but unfortunately that's the underlying reality of most things. We constantly engage in complex tasks which don't appear complex only because we're so habituated to them that we take them for granted. Walking, hearing and talking are good examples but there are countless others.
I wont post my movie for free. One of the reasons is because my actors are on deferred payment and I want to pay them. They worked hard and need to be compensated.
That is a mature and laudable attitude! An attitude which I hope the often cut-throat nature of the film/TV world never causes you to loose. However, anyone with much experience of the film world knows that "deferred payment" pretty much always in reality means no payment. I virtually never accept deferred payment unless deferred payment is just one part of the payment and I'm willing to do the gig for that other part/s!
Lastly and
most importantly: DO NOT be discouraged by anything I've said, particularly the first paragraph, for two reasons: Firstly, if all you've ever heard is praise in response to your filmmaking then it's possible you believe your film is good and that you're a good filmmaker relative to other films/filmmakers rather than "good" only relative to your age and other amateur filmmakers. The latter doesn't mean you're a good filmmaker, it just means you have the potential to be a good filmmaker. One of the main factors which will enable you to realise that potential and become a good filmmaker is your ability to be objective/realistic about your films and your filmmaking abilities. So take my rather harsh seeming comments as encouragement to realise that potential rather than as discouragement!! Secondly, don't fall into the opposite but more common discouragement trap: If, as is almost certain, your current film has little or no commercial worth, don't be discouraged and view it as worthless! In addition to the obvious learning experience, your age, the fact you have completed a feature length film and the fact it has attracted favourable comments (albeit from the amateur side of the film world), are all still valuable resources. You are looking to enter an extremely competitive field, a dream job for many. Each of your filmmaking achievements and your age give you an edge over some of the others trying to get their "foot in the door" and in combination they give you a significant edge over the vast majority your competition. This should obviously be a source of encouragement rather than discouragement!
G