100 SECONDS ON THE RED SOFA: Filet2 min read
Reading Time: 2 minutes100 Seconds On The Red Sofa shines the spotlight on movers and shakers in the Singapore film and media scene, with each episode featuring a startup or initiative that is making waves and contributing to the industry’s growth and enrichment.
The Red Sofa has come a long way and has a rich history, dating all the way back to Sinema Old School in 2007. It’s seen a generation of young local filmmakers come into their own; now we’re dusting it off for another round.
Just like its name, which means “net” in French, Filet aims to provide a network for talents and filmmakers alike. Rather than just establishing the connections, however, it goes a step further by providing a platform with an advanced matching system. Talents and filmmakers who face challenges sourcing for each other are now able to do so easily with Filet.
This episode of 100 Seconds On The Red Sofa shines the light on Drake Lim and Leonard Pang from the Filet team, who explain the motivation behind this project and its possible breakthrough in the film industry.
Upon noticing the difficulties that filmmakers have in searching for talents and vice versa, Lim realised that there was a lack of a consolidated and fully functional platform dedicated for casting. With that in mind, Lim and Pang developed Filet, a universal platform that eases the process of hiring for both talents and filmmakers alike.
With Filet, the complexity of the casting process is eased as talents can set up their own profile on the website. Filmmakers then have the option of either putting out casting calls or scrolling through the talents’ profiles themselves. This allows both filmmakers and talents to have more agency and control over the casting process.
With the first phase of its launch in December 2018, hundreds of talents, independent filmmakers and production houses have already signed up on the platform. Lim and Pang aim to make the producer aspect available on the mobile app next and launch it by the end of May 2019.
Meanwhile, both the Filet app and website will be refined with more functions and the user interface will be upgraded in the next few months. In the long run, Filet aims to be disruptor to the entertainment industry by creating a centralised platform to be used by filmmakers and talents across a fully peer-to-peer business model.
With many potential users alone in Singapore, it is an ideal location to start such an initiative. The Filet team plan to go regional once local momentum has been built. Truly an initiative with potential, it will be interesting to see Filet help expand the local film industry.
For more information, please visit Filet. Filet also has an ongoing short film competition powered by Sennheiser. For more information about the competition, please click here.
