Why create a streaming service for short films?
So Vilpa Max was born out of the idea that the behavior of the market is actually changing to short term formats. Every filmmaker started with a short film and there are more people that are investing into short film. So to be honest it is like a great opportunity.
Can you walk us through your curation process for the platform?
Everything started with doing my own short, The Undertone of David Jansen (2026). I was working for a production company called Caledonia Productions that are the US branch for the producers of James Bond, and basically what I learned from them is to have a good eye but also to have some standards in terms of music, in terms of sound and in terms of cinematography. Our mission is to give the best of short cinema to the audience. So we have a series of guidelines that we that we do when we scout for films.
How do you balance showcasing established award-winning films with giving space to like new and emergent voices?
This is one of the main things in Vulpa Max. Vulpa Max was born as this space where we can see Oscar-winning films, but we can see also the next emerging voices. And the way we do it is we just give the opportunity to the right people, to the right emerging voices, to be next to these Oscar winning films. In the end, I think what our catalog has is a lot of quality and you will find that the emerging voices look the same quality as the Oscar winning films. So it’s not about the category, it’s about the quality that each feature has.
What barriers do short filmmakers face today in getting international exposure and how will Vilpa Max help people overcome that?
I think filmmakers actually have a lot of barriers, a lot of things that prevent us to actually go international or to get the right promotion. Even Oscar winning films or Cannes Film Festival winning films, there’s no guarantee for them to be remembered the next year, even though they win, right? So I just observed that there’s like this gap and this gap just needs a bridge. That’s what Vilpa Max is, it’s a bridge. It becomes a bridge to these filmmakers and the right audience. So basically the streaming platform that we have is just our way to bridge these people.
How has your background as an author and as a short filmmaker yourself influenced the way that you approach this platform?
I would say I had the opportunity to work with very big producers, and I really learned from them what it is that they actually look for in those projects that become the best or the most commercial projects. By learning that, I just saw that not all the people have access to this knowledge or this kind of experience, but I had. I had to do something about that. So when I created Vilpa Max, I just carried over the same principles that the big producers have with feature films and that’s why this became such a great thing for the audience.
How important it is to you that this be an international collaboration, that this have a global approach to cultivating these films?
I just saw that the talent is a lot out there. So we partnered with a lot of filmmakers from all different backgrounds. We believe in the global language of cinematography, so you can find a catalog full of films from the United States, the UK, but also from the MENA region, from China, and people still understand them and identify with them. That’s the beauty of cinema.
Can you tell me about some things that you’re hoping to platform in Vulkamax that you’re excited about?
With the launching of Vilpa Max, we haven’t finished. Actually, it was just the beginning. And of course, we realized that we have to improve our features. It’s a constant improvement when it comes to an app. We work by getting to know our audience and then improving. So right now we’re building the whole ecosystem. We have iOS app but we’re building also TV and Android. We are getting more and more films and more and more opportunities for the filmmakers and our audience.
Can you tell me all about the cultural impact that you want to make with this platform?
Whenever we make art, it doesn’t matter which discipline we’re talking about, we always as artists and now as producers, have a responsibility. And I think the responsibility for Vilpa Max is to educate the audience on what is the cinematic approach for short films, the real cinematic approach. But also to educate the filmmakers on what is the outcome that they can achieve. Because we have started working with filmmakers who have extremely good films, but they just don’t know how to make the world see them. I think what we would like to see is our emerging voices becoming the next leading filmmakers in Hollywood and the world.
Aside from coming to your platform once they’ve made a film do you have any advice for people just setting out on their filmmaking journey?
I think the advice would be something that really helped me, which is to be open to making mistakes. Be open to learn. What I have done from the beginning, for example when I made my short film was that I went to people that had more experience than me, but also to people that were just starting just like me. And by having that kind of mixing of backgrounds, you can actually have a more nurturing experience.
What will success look like for Vilpa Max?
I think a successful Vilpa Max looks like a milestone for filmmakers; for new filmmakers, but also established filmmakers looking to improve their journey or to benefit their journey. We are that milestone, but we’re also a partner to the actual players in the industry. We don’t see ourselves as competitors. So our success would be to also keep partnering with them; to increase this bridge. The more people that can build this bridge, the better for everyone. But of course, it’s all about the audience response for now. It’s been amazing and we would like that to keep going that way.
I would also like to say we’re open. We have an open call for short films and for every filmmaker, they can just go to our website, which is vilpafilms.com and or follow our social handles, which is Vilpa Max and Vilpa Films in all social media and they will find the information for whatever they want to make their journey for their films to be seen.
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