Filmic Pro Update with Max Schleser and Susy Botello

Filmic Pro has been acquired. Considering my respect for mobile filmmakers, I wish to acknowledge how our mobile filmmaking community feels. If you don’t know what Filmic Pro is, it’s the industry standard camera app for professional quality smartphone filmmaking.

Filmic Pro claims it was acquired in July. But it’s only shared that publicly last week, in September. There was no notice to its app users until an error (according to Filmic Pro), accidentally included a confusing subscription pricing list into a new terms of use agreement that appeared when you opened the app last week.

A weekly subscription service, for those who have it now, may not a problem. According to Filmic Pro, the users who are currently using the app, will be able to use their current app version. However, this is an evolving story.

There was an update on the same night I recorded this episode September 4. The update offered a discount for the new updated version of the app without listing what the discount was. Users had two choices, keep the old or throw the dice and agree to a discount without knowing what that would be.

I invited my colleague who is also a pioneer in this industry I met in 2011. Max Schleser agreed to come on the SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking to record Episode 130.

Listen to SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking in your favorite pod app or online.

Max and I share our respect for Filmic Pro, as pioneers in our industry. We both sat down in my car in 2013 and spoke with Filmic Pro’s founder Neill Barham and I’ve spoken with Neill several times since. I’ve not spoken to him for months, however, so I have no internal knowledge of the current situation.

Filmic Pro and its team created an incredible app when there was nothing else like it available. Everyone had the same features in the app, that Steven Soderbergh and other notable directors used in their films shot with iPhones. That, in itself, has inspired many members of our community to make films with their smartphone cameras at a very low cost.

Most of my podcast guests and people I meet talk about Sean Baker’s Tangerine being the film that helped them consider using smartphone cameras for their own films. Filmic Pro received accolades from many users of the app. When it became available for Android phones, their users grew in numbers.

As I explained in the previous episode 129 of the podcast, mobile filmmaking is mainstream and it’s here to stay.

Listen to episode 130 online or download an MP3 to listen anytime, anywhere. I hope you’ll listen through to the very end of the episode. After my discussion with Max, I share personal sentiments with our smartphone filmmaking community.

The image we speak of in this episode of our podcast is the Filmic Pro app in early 2013.

Let’s discuss where mobile filmmakers, and content creators go from here.

First, there are alternatives already available. I’m prepared to look at any apps out there that can fill the void that Filmic Pro’s acquisition has left, and recommend them to our community of filmmakers.

I’m inviting mobile filmmakers to my Smartphone Filmmaking platform to discuss alternatives and resources, compare features between apps now available, and what we would like to see in an existing or new camera app. Let’s have a conversation together as a community. Subscribe free to receive an email later today, with a link to participate in the discussion thread.

There are many groups of mobile filmmakers on social media having separate discussions. I hope all the groups can come together as a larger community to discuss this and share resources.

Having spent 13+ years in this niche with our film festival has given me an optimistic perspective about how supportive mobile filmmakers are to helping each other raise the quality of their filmmaking process. The power of a niche community is incredible!

In this episode 130, Max and I share some of the mobile filmmaking history since we connected in 2011. Filmic Pro was founded in May 2011. When we all started this, mobile filmmakers were happy to have simple camera features on a phone. The iPhone 4 did not have a focus and exposure lock. Everyone was happy to see each new update from the Filmic Pro app. Each version brought more pro features.

Mobile Film School (unaccredited) launched September 4, 2012. Our masterclass in mid-February 2013 we invited Max Schleser to San Diego.

Max Schleser in the back left preparing his presentation during the International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego, April 2014. At the forefront are festival judges, Craig Prater, former president of Heartland Films; and Penny Styles, film and television producer.

Now, the expectation is higher. Any new app that comes along will need to impress professional mobile filmmakers producing films and videos. Do not mistake professional mobile filmmaking with available income because pro smartphone filmmakers and enthusiasts include those with no budget, low budget and higher budgets to work with.

Max Schleser on right with Susy Botello forefront, and Jeff Turboff, during Mobile Film School (not accredited) Masterclass, February 15, 2013.

I’m thankful to Max Schleser joining me on short notice on a busy day to share the story of where we’ve been and where we go from here. Max is an instructor at an university in Melbourne, Australia. His strength is with experimental filmmaking. Max has a vast knowledge of the tools, the apps, the phones, etc. He’s always researching and experimenting. He also runs the Mobile Innovation Network and Association (MINA) currently based in Australia.

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones.

Now it’s your turn to participate in the thread where you can subscribe, which I mention earlier in this article.

I hope to see you in the discussion thread!

Follow Max Schleser: Https://twitter.com/MaxMobile

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