Stellenbosch filmmaker Joshua Farrer has turned zylen, his app for creatives, into a marketplace where users can connect to hire people, and pay securely, as well as find creative jobs. He announced the shift at Orms Cape Town School of Photography on 31 July.
Stellenbosch-based filmmaker and creator of the zylen app Joshua Farrer holds monthly zylen events at Orms Cape Town School of Photography, in order to connect filmmakers and content creators present and to create a space for like-minded people to network . The last monthly event was held on 31 July. PHOTO: Britannie Hohls
Zylen’s new developments
“Zylen has been in the making for the past year and a half,” said filmmaker Joshua Farrer, the app’s founder and a Stellenbosch resident. “We’ve pivoted, and the app helps filmmakers to find work and hire people, all in one place.”
The app began as a platform for creatives to showcase their work and connect with like-minded people, but recently shifted its focus, said Farrer at his monthly zylen event on 31 July.
The networking aspect for the zylen community now takes form through in-person monthly events in Cape Town, rather than online.
The redesigned zylen homepage, where filmmakers can now apply for creative jobs, or hire for projects. This is done securely on the app. PHOTO: Britannie Hohls
The ‘how’ behind the payment
“I think it’s really going to mean a lot for the film industry, especially if we start working on bigger productions using zylen to find and hire crew – we are really excited,” said Daniah de Villiers, social media manager for zylen.
“We have 200 guaranteed zylen users on the app,” said De Villiers.
When it comes to the new features, “we are polishing it to get it to the vision we have in mind”, which is part of the process of app development, said Farrer.
Zylen will have an escrow payment system, whereby the app holds a client’s payment until the work is delivered before releasing it to the freelancer, said Farrer.
Pictured, from left, are Joshua Farrer, Jess Holing and Liam Cockcroft at the monthly zylen event at Orms in Cape Town on 31 July. PHOTO: Britannie Hohls
Zylen creating connection at monthly event
Andrea Jacobs, a film editor and music composer, said the previous zylen event was the first one she had attended.
She described the event as a “comforting space” for people in film to build community, and that zylen was a way “to create together and to build a path for future South African filmmakers to work together in a new way”.