UNSOLICITED OPINIONS
Ooh, opinions can be a minefield - especially when it comes to art (I use that term very loosely when referring to my film). However, I recently got two pieces of unsolicited feedback that I thought I'd share.
The first one came from a fellow filmmaker. His film had screened at a festival we were playing at (an online fest), and he was from the Pacific NW like me. He found me on Facebook and just felt like contacting me to say how much he enjoyed our film.
To have a fellow filmmaker reach out to say that? I thought it was awesome! I mean, it was a simple statement, but as someone who knew what it takes to make a movie, I just really appreciated it.
The second comment came from someone who was helping me out in post-production (a non-crew member). He was helping me with some technical "stuff" and had to watch our movie as part of that. After he did so, I received a text asking if I had time to talk. Of course, I said "okay."
Initially, I thought there was a concern about the movie, but it wasn't that. He honestly just wanted to call and tell me how affected he was by our movie. In addition to the tech work he does, this guy is an actor who had been married for several years. And the ideas and themes I bring up in the film just spoke to him.
He said he felt like he understood me and could relate to me. And he said he felt guilty after watching the film and wondered if he owed his wife an apology (you'll understand when you finally watch it).
He told me how it felt like Kevin Smith film (one of the highest compliments I can imagine), where there was a ton of dirty jokes but real emotions were behind it all.
He said he loved our soundtrack and wanted to listen to it again! (Our music rocks!)
This was the kind of feedback I've always dreamed of, and he was the perfect audience for my film. While I love me some dirty jokes, I really hoped my story would speak to people with big dreams and the folks that are crazy enough to love those people.
His comments were the ultimate festival trophy in my mind. I hope some other audience members will feel the same way too.
