Camila de Ilhéus’s Sofia: 15‑second cringe, 7‑day app build
De Ilhéus says the film’s app was built in "7 days"; Saul Zaentz provided lab support and mentoring, with further development over "a couple of months".
Camila de Ilhéus says the dating‑app seen in Sofia was developed quickly for production: "Charlie Hoover delivered in 7 days." She kept the build practical — a working interface rather than a VFX mock — so the actors could interact with a real product on set.
The director also described the project’s development timeline around a script lab and mentorship, noting the team worked with mentors for "a couple of months" before applying for production funding. De Ilhéus credited the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund for lab support; no grant amount was given.
Those are the only hard scheduling figures she supplied; no budget, crew size or fee figures were disclosed in the interview. The specifics underline a production choice many shorts face: spend small sums on rapid, real tooling to save time on set, then refine story and edit through mentorship rather than extended reshoots or expensive VFX.
Figures come from de Ilhéus's Directors Notes interview (figures checked 17 September 2026)
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