William Wilkinson

William Wilkinson

Victoria, Canada App Boy at Will Global Joined about 9 years ago

  • 1 story
  • 27 comments
  • 6 upvotes
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Jay Morris , Aug 13, 2016

    2) I do everything with my friend Oliver, we write and direct together, then split some responsibilities (like I do more producing and post/edit stuff and he does more DOP work) 3) Before RED I used a Canon 7D. 4) Depends how dumb they think your idea is.

    0 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Stephan Ango , Aug 10, 2016

    Fuckin try me m8

    4 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Febril Cuevas , Aug 10, 2016

    What was it like working in the same place as your brothers early on?

    It was definitely really fun starting out cause I was young and wanted to learn, and they were doing everything I wanted to be doing. As I got a bit older it became a bit more complicated, but by that time we weren't working together directly as our roles were quite separated. It definitely takes more work to keep your work and personal relationships separated. It's not for everybody, but I think we worked pretty well together when we did. Any problems had more to do with my juvenile anti-professional attitude.

    What influences your design/photography style?

    Damn, I dunno that's too hard a question to quantify. Everything I look at?

    What's your favourite snack?

    Gotta go with the humble potato chip on this one.

    1 point
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Braden Hamm , Aug 10, 2016

    I'm only a participant! It's tons of fun and I've made so many great friends.

    2 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Thomas Palumbo , Aug 10, 2016

    For a while I made all the crappy ideas too, and they were boring and nobody bought them. I think it's about avoiding a state where you're just sitting there trying to come up with app ideas. It's trying too hard. With Everyday, Manual and Slide they were all things I desired for a long time that were now possible. I wanted to do a daily photo project since I was 12, the idea came back to me when the iPhone 4 with facetime camera was released. It always bugged me that I couldn't use my iPhone like my DSLR and directly manipulate exposure values, then Apple unlocked that in iOS 8. In 2010 I briefly worked on a 3D app that could replicate the Nimslo camera by sliding your camera for movement, but it didn't create frame fast enough, then 240fps came with the iPhone 5. Follow your actual desires.

    2 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Kaj H , Aug 10, 2016

    I haven't installed Xcode in three years.

    5 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Bertrand Bruandet , Aug 10, 2016

    Hey thanks a lot! That's really cool to see.

    Favorite camera would probably be my medium format Contax 645. My all the time camera is definitely my iPhone. If I want a bit more than that, or I'm on vacation, I'll also carry my Yashica T4 or Ricoh GR1.

    1 point
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Dmitry Sholkov , Aug 10, 2016

    The commercials are my main focus, as they've been extremely effective so far. Manual wouldn't have blown up like it did without the commercial. Filmmaking is a big interest of mine so it's a natural progression. A captivating/funny video is a great way to showcase a new app.

    As for getting the word out about release I reach out to ask many relevant publications as I can. I'll make a list of email addresses for publications and writers that might be interested. I'll write a short template email and customize it quickly. If you have something new and newsworthy this can be very effective, especially if make a wide net. But still, it needs to be newsworthy. They aren't just gonna write about your cheap Angry Birds clone.

    Over time I've built relationships with people that know my work so it's gotten easier, but it's never a sure thing. It's always gonna be about the app.

    3 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Nate v , Aug 10, 2016

    Yeah! But like Braden said, I sold it. It was a lot of fun to make, but maintaining the site was a huge pain. Mainly because people would add fucked up porn and gore GIFs and I would have to view and moderate all of them. It was pretty popular but I didn't want to be one to throw crappy ads on it and ruin it, so I let someone else do it ;-)

    I sold it on Flippa and used to proceeds to buy a used RED camera. The company that bought it changed it to GIFS.com and added ads, then changed it into a Giphy clone, and now it's a video to GIF converter.

    2 points
  • Posted to AMA: William Wilkinson, App Maker / Filmmaker, in reply to Nick Looijmans , Aug 10, 2016

    For me, it's quite sustainable, and I don't feel like I've compromised. But I was willing to. When Everyday turned into a consistent side business I still stayed at my day job for a good three years before making the jump. This gave me a small financial buffer to try out making software on my own. At that point Everyday could only partially pay my bills if I was reliant on it. Luckily soon after I went indie, Manual became a huge hit that consistently sells well, and that has made my business much more stable. It's only been two years so it's hard to see too far in the future. Who knows how sustainable it will be in a few years time.

    But yes, my apps do well and I am able to live a nice life.

    3 points
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