What would you pay?

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Flicker Pictures

Chime in if you have any thoughts on this...

What is the MOST you would want to pay for an indie film on DVD? I'm talking about films made by peers, not the latest big budget "indie" hit.

Are people finding much success selling on CreateSpace? What is the price/value tipping point? $5... $10... $1?

This ties in to THIS thread http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=28172 regarding DVD vs. Download.

Are DVDs dead? Still viable? Do people care much for extras? Behind-the-scenes?

Just curious!
 
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For a really good/known indie, $20 (including shipping)

For an average one, from $12 to $15 (including shipping).

I'd still get third-party opinions on the quality in general, before deciding whether to buy though. That's more of a deciding factor than pricepoint, for me.

Edit: If it's a digital download, it better be dirt cheap. There's none of the traditional overheads, such as duplication cost, packaging, shipping, etc... and I don't even get a DVD case with cover art!
 
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OK. Good to know.

So DVD art is still a part of the experience? As a graphic designer, I am still a fan of good art. At the same time, it's another thing to print, using resources, that sits on a shelf. Plus the case and DVD itself. There are pros and cons!
 
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Personally, I hate the idea of having to move to digital downloads. I watch a lot of the bonus features that come with DVD's or Blu-Rays. I even listen to the commentary tracks! In fact, i've bought discs purely for the features! Last year I bought 'Grindhouse' on Blu Ray, purely for the fake trailer making-of's even though I already own the two films on individual Blu Ray's and the Japanese six disc edition of 'Grindhouse' that I paid £60 to import!

If there was an efficient way to digitally distribute movies with the bonus features and cover art, some kind of dedicated iTunes type software, I'd be up for that. But 'till then, I'm sticking to real discs!

If I had to go to to downloads, I'd only wan't to pay a few £££'s.
 
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Most people don't care about DVD extras, artwork, etc.; most viewers don't even bother watching the credits!

What will drive the small budget indie film industry is marketing, and an easy-to use central access point; the main driving impetus will be low price. I'm not saying that it is right, but the prevailing attitude will be "it cost $300 million to make 'Avatar' and I can buy it for $18.99; why should I pay $4.99 for a film that only cost $100,000?" So, IMHO, very low prices will be what will attract buyers. "99 cents? Yeah, I'll give it a shot." Besides, would you rather have 500,000 downloads at $0.99 ($495,000 gross) or 10,000 at $4.99 ($49,900 gross)?
 
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OK folks .. listen to me..."People do NOT buy the price"

I was told that by my manager when I got a job selling used cars. IMO..It's true. OHH and I sold a few used cars for MORE than a new one. AND I sold some real cheap too.

You must FIRST sell the movie, then make the price palatable and the people will buy. I would not pay a penny for something I do not like. Sure there are the cheapwads out there who are only looking to buy ...err..steal, but heck they buy and consume crap. If it is too cheap, it has NO VALUE. YES, I would rather make the 495,000 than 49,500 but look if the movie is presented well and packaged, it will sell for $12.99 you will not get an exponential increase by giving it away IMO.

$12.99 and stick to it for a feature. Selling the title for $1.00 will not get you a huge increase in sales. You will be giving it away.

Look , take women of the night for example, yes you can get Street Sally for $10 in the alley OR you can get Charlie Sheen's "date" for $5,000. who does the better job of selling the goods, which would offer more in return ?

If you can add extra value, make a director's cut and charge more as a second title. If you are selling your movie on Createspace, you can repackage it and give it a different title charge the bargain price for it. Compare and see what works. I sell more $12.99 DVDs than $1.99 downloads of my crapola movie.







.
 
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So...

Alcove: would you rather have 500,000 downloads at $0.99 ($495,000 gross) or 10,000 at $4.99 ($49,900 gross)?
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Mad Hatter: If I had to go to to downloads, I'd only wan't to pay a few £££'s.
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IndieBudget: I sell more $12.99 DVDs than $1.99 downloads of my crapola movie.
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Rodripau: $5 fr SD and like $10 for HD
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ZenSteve: really good/known indie $20, average one from $12 to $15 (both include shipping).
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Quite the spectrum here! Some prefer DVDs, others downloads. ZenSteve's max is $20, Rodipau is $10. Alcove's formula gets me all giddy inside. Just imagine!

But, I would agree that (as noted) marketing is KEY and we're also covering well-tread ground of How Do Movie Makers...

  • produce quality product
  • offer it a justifiable value
  • create demand for content
  • reap rewards, rinse and repeat ;)

The 99 cent downloads are a great idea, but only seems to work out in your favor if you have a HUGE fan base. Right? The opposite is true with DVDs. Let's be generous and say your small fan base of 100 people actually want to buy your film at $15 (between $10 and $20). You've made $1,500. Not megabucks, but maybe you can get that credit card down a bit!

It would seem there is no magic bullet here. But I'm still curious. What was the last DVD you bought and what did you pay for it?

* What about charging .05 per minute of produced entertainment, which would average $4.50 for a 90-minute feature DVD? And charge .015 per minute of downloaded/streaming content, which would come out to $1.35? Just an idea...
 
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I understand where IndieBudget is coming from, but films and music are not cars, refrigerators or anything else with a physical value; the value of art and entertainment is perceived, not intrinsic.

The question asked is "what would I pay?" So my answer was from the point of view of the general public and the parent of 19 and 9 year old daughters with all the middle class accouterments (mortgage, etc.) in a tough economy, not as a filmmaker.

At 99 cents a pop I would be able to check out a lot of indie films. Unless there is an awful lot of buzz I'm not going to bother watching an indie if it's going to cost me as much as a big budget film*. Once I have found a director or an actor that has attracted my attention I would be willing to pay more to see further work (although probably not near as much as a "Hollywood" film). But they have to get my attention first. 99 cents is a great introductory rate; to me that is the marketing, getting the product out to a very large audience and hoping to rope in a dedicated hardcore following.



*Especially since I have to work on so much dreck, and I'm not even impressed with a large percentage of the big budget stuff I see :D.
 
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Ita all depends on the presentation. If I'm buying physical media; indie physical media, I want top notch. Why? Because there was no world wide marketing campaign for me to buy the movie. The product has, at most 10 seconds to sell itself, the time that it takes me to take a glimpse at the movie stand.

Also, with indie, I think digital is the way to go. I buy DVD's if I have previously seen the movie and liked it.

I'd pay 7 bucks for SD digital, 10 for DVD or HD Digital.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
I understand where IndieBudget is coming from, but films and music are not cars, refrigerators or anything else with a physical value; the value of art and entertainment is perceived, not intrinsic..
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I think the value of anything is perceived . If you were offered a refrigerator for $25.00 and you had no use for it, or it was painted pink would you buy it ? Would you buy a 1,000 ? I love the old blues tune "If I can't sell it, Im gonna sit on it !"

Brother why do some budgets of big movies include $150 million in advertising ??? People have stood in line for hours to see Avatar and forked over $15.00.. tell me it's not marketing & hype.

Ladies & gentlemen.. come get your 3D glasses , it's only $15.00.. next showing of Avatar in 3 hours, form a line right here !

I would not pay a penny to see Avatar. Hell, I got it off a torrent and still did not watch it.. it sucked IMO

HOWEVER............ no one has ever said I'm not opinionated & not frequently wrong :D or how do I say that ???

AND of course your opinion of what you would pay is correct.. it is your opinion.:yes:






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I've never purchased an indie digital download, and the only time I would is if it were made by someone I had actual contact with. For instance, if CrackerFunk's Antihero was available to download, I'd probably pay up to $30. But that's only because I've been following his adventure in filmmaking via Indietalk so I feel a connection to his project. If I'm just looking for a film to watch, there's plenty of indie movies on Netflix I can stream for my $8 monthly fee I already pay. I know this bad for the indie filmmaking community, but any extra cash I have is going towards my own projects, not someone else's.
 
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What will drive the small budget indie film industry is marketing
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The last indie movie I saw was Human Centipede (out of curiosity) just because I heard all the media buzz of people getting upset about how sick it was.

It really has nothing to do with a low price so don't price it below $5. If I haven't heard about it I won't watch it or even know about it just because it's got a really low price. If anything a low price says "This movie sucks so bad that we're trying to give it away for cheap".
I'd go with $10.
 
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Last night I ordered the remake of ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ on Blu-Ray from Play.com, for £12.99 delivered. To me, that’s a bargain price for a Blu-Ray. I haven’t seen this film, but I have read some fairly positive stuff (although Roger Ebert gave it zero stars, same as he did the original!). Of course, I’m a horror fan and I’ve bought this based, for the most part, on the title. I wouldn’t pay for a download of this film, full stop, but if a physical disc wasn’t an option, I’d maybe stretch to £5.00.


As far as paying for downloads, would a ‘Radiohead’ payment system work? You pay whatever you feel the movie was worth? Maybe with a minimum payment of $1.50? That way, SinEater could pay $30.00 for ‘Antihero’, but your average viewer, who just wants to watch an indie comedy, could just pay $4.00? Would filmmakers be happy to do that, bearing in mind that a number of people would only pay the minimum?
 
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If I had to choose between 2 unknown movies, one being $5 and the other $10 I'd take the later for sure. I'd assume either better film or newer.
I'd start off selling $15 and slowly drop price over time.
And I still prefer to own the DVD for now.

Owen
 
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As far as paying for downloads, would a ‘Radiohead’ payment system work? You pay whatever you feel the movie was worth? Maybe with a minimum payment of $1.50? That way, SinEater could pay $30.00 for ‘Antihero’, but your average viewer, who just wants to watch an indie comedy, could just pay $4.00? Would filmmakers be happy to do that, bearing in mind that a number of people would only pay the minimum?
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Yeah, that's kinda how I was thinking the Pay Per Minute would work, but pay what you want is good, too. I'm guessing most folks would stop at the minimum, so if it was $1.50 for a download, it could add up over time.

My first feature On the Fringe is on Amazon VOD for $1.99. Is it worth it? Dunno. But there it is. But the DVD for $1.50? Hmmm... that's a tough one. I think $5 for an indie unknown DVD is reasonable. That's the price of a Subway footlong.

Good ideas and input here.

The last DVD I bought was a collection of shorts from a few filmmakers I know back in New Hampshire. LINK HERE. I paid $9.99 + 2.99 shipping. Other than that one, my mom got me INCEPTION for Xmas.
 
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Math Context

There's something very significant that hasn't been pointed out much here. If you go with something like a 99c price, you have to make 20 sales to equal every sale of a $20 unit.

So if you sell 1000 copies for $20,000

That's much better than selling 5000 copies for a dollar.

Nobody selects a movie out of the millions out there based on how cheap it is, if anything the other way around.

Avatar for 300 million selling at 18.95, your movie for 100k selling for $15?

ok, that is a rational point, but we have to disregard it.

Why? Because really if you follow that logic to it's extreme, there's really no need for any of us to be here. Rupert Murdock can put together as many blockbusters as he wants without us. If people stop valuing unique and new ideas as highly as corporate production values then what is this all about?

So my point is that while your film about pan flute virtuosos may not have the budget of Avatar, it's probably a more interesting film, and thus worth more, to someone. Go ahead and charge 20 bucks.

If you made a horror movie with a home video camera in the woods behind your house with personal friends in the lead roles, please disregard this advice.
 
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I don't want to pay to download stuff off the internet. I feel like I'm slightly being cheated and cheating myself, I'd much rather have something tangible.

For an indie DVD... max I'd pay is probably $15 and then only if I specifically wanted to help the filmmaker. If I was just interested in the film then that max is about $10.
 
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