Filmic, also stylized as FiLMiC, has faced a significant setback as its entire team, including founder and CEO Neill Barham, has been laid off by parent company Bending Spoons.
Once celebrated as a top-notch video capture application for mobile devices, Filmic Pro and its photo-oriented counterpart, Filmic Firstlight, are now left without dedicated staff.
Reports indicate that Bending Spoons executed a round of layoffs affecting various aspects of operations, maintenance, and development, bringing these functions in-house.
Anonymous sources close to the matter confirmed the layoffs to PetaPixel, disclosing that the company-wide restructuring affected personnel from top to bottom.
Founder and CEO Neill Barham’s departure from Filmic in November is reflected on his LinkedIn profile. The move has left the once-thriving company with an uncertain future, as no mention of Filmic or its applications is currently found on Bending Spoons’ official website.
Bending Spoons, an Italy-based app developer known for Splice and Remini, acquired Filmic in September 2022 with the goal of enhancing its capture apps, aligning with its focus on post-production. However, just a year later, the entire Filmic team has been disbanded.
The fate of Filmic Pro and Filmic Firstlight remains unclear. Signs of trouble surfaced with the absence of any mention of the applications on Bending Spoons’ website. Additionally, the most recent major update to Filmic Pro occurred last year, lacking support for external SSD—an unusual omission for an app previously known for prompt updates compatible with new iPhone features.
As Filmic faces an uncertain future, Blackmagic Design’s iOS app has risen to prominence as the preferred method for capturing footage with new iPhones. Notably, it was utilized by Apple’s in-house team for the production of its Mac event on October 31, further underscoring the shifting landscape in the mobile video capture industry.
