An interview with Christian Candido, Vision in Motion
A digital platform for independent cinema begins, first and foremost, with an understanding of the needs of the people who create that cinema.
In the case of Wild Filmmaker, the relationship with Vision in Motion began from precisely this perspective: Christian Candido initially joined the community as a filmmaker and director, and only later contributed to its development from a technological perspective as well.
We spoke with him about how the collaboration began, the development of the registration and payment system, and the way his direct experience in cinema influenced the design of the platform.
1. How did your relationship with Wild Filmmaker begin?
Christian Candido:
My relationship with Wild Filmmaker initially began as a filmmaker and director, not as a developer or web partner.
I met Michele Diomà, CEO of Wild Filmmaker, at the Cannes Film Festival. He introduced me to his idea of creating an international community dedicated to independent cinema. I immediately embraced the idea, also through my work Dreaming Vincent [LINK IMDb].
I subsequently submitted other screenplays and films through Wild Filmmaker's various events and took part in the community's initiatives.
The relationship therefore began first and foremost through a shared passion and a shared project connected to independent cinema, and only later became a professional collaboration through Vision in Motion.
2. What needs did the platform have to address?
Christian Candido:
At a certain point, Michele asked me whether it would be possible to equip the Wild Filmmaker portal with a payment system that would allow directors and authors from the international community to register for events and festivals.
For Vision in Motion, the challenge was to create a solution that would make the process as simple as possible for authors, while at the same time allowing Wild Filmmaker to manage registrations and payments effectively.
It was therefore important not to focus only on the visible part of the system, but also on everything happening behind the scenes: confirmation of successful payment and an integrated back-office within WordPress that would allow Wild Filmmaker to manage registrations and their associated payments.
3. How did you design the registration and payment system?
Christian Candido:
We worked within a very tight timeframe to create a customised payment system on Wild Filmmaker's WordPress platform.
The goal was to allow an author to register for an event or festival as simply as possible, complete the payment and receive confirmation of the successful registration.
At the same time, we developed a management system integrated into the WordPress back-office, so that Wild Filmmaker could verify and manage payments and registrations directly from its own platform.
The challenge was therefore not simply to create a payment system, but to make it an integral part of the platform experience, keeping the process simple for the author while making it manageable for those organising the events.
4. What is the difference between building a standard website and a platform for a community?
Christian Candido:
Technically, building a platform for an international community of authors represented a different challenge from creating a standard website.
Wild Filmmaker brings together an international community of between 2,000 and 3,000 authors from around the world. It was therefore not simply a matter of using a system already designed for this type of activity, but of adapting the technology to the very different needs of users, including payment and language requirements.
The greatest satisfaction was being able to create an interface capable of connecting authors and festivals in a more direct and simple way, offering an alternative to existing platforms such as FilmFreeway and Short Film Depot.
In this sense, technology was not the end goal, but the tool used to simplify the relationship between those who make films and those who organise events.
5. What role did your experience in cinema play?
Christian Candido:
My direct experience in cinema allowed me to understand the needs of Wild Filmmaker's users firsthand.
I was familiar with the needs of people who want to submit their work to international events and festivals: having a process that is simple but complete; being able to rely on dedicated assistance from people who understand the work of filmmakers; and, above all, being able to navigate a sector such as online festival submissions, which can often be complex and confusing.
This is also why we wanted to create something that was more than just a portal: a point of reference designed by a director for directors, where technology and first-hand knowledge of the film world could come together.
Technology at the Service of Filmmakers
The Wild Filmmaker experience tells the story of a way of designing digital tools that starts with people and their concrete needs.
In this project, Christian Candido's experience in cinema and Vision in Motion's web development expertise came together to build a platform capable of connecting authors and festivals and simplifying a fundamental step for people working in independent cinema: submitting and registering their projects for international events.