Zillit is a private communication and production-management platform for film and TV crews, founded by Hollywood producer Deepak Nayar. Every production gets its own space where cast and crew share notices, schedules, documents, calls and emergency alerts, without ever swapping personal phone numbers.
Over 12 months, I built the backend that powers every Zillit app (web, iOS, Android and desktop) and the React web app crews use at their desks.
Client: Zillit LLC, USA
My role: Backend & web developer
Timeline: 12 months
Stack: Node.js, Express, MongoDB, Socket.IO, React, AWS S3, Agora, Firebase, Twilio
Results
1 backend, 4 platforms: web, iOS, Android and desktop all run on the same API, so every app behaves the same way.
245 API endpoints and 36 real-time events behind every screen.
23 languages, with data stored across 6 regions close to each crew.
4.6★ on the App Store, and Zillit has since secured backing from the BBC.
Private by default: crews collaborate without ever sharing personal phone numbers.
The challenge
A film crew is hundreds of people, many of them freelancers, who work together for a few months and then move on. Before Zillit, they coordinated through WhatsApp groups, email chains and printed call sheets: personal numbers handed to strangers, information scattered across apps, no sense of a set's hierarchy, and teams spread across languages and time zones.
What I built
Joining without sharing a number. Crew join a production with a project code and an admin's approval, then message and call anyone on it. Identity is tied to the device, with account recovery by email and security questions.
Zillit web app showing the Share Project Code dialog used to invite crew members
Shaped around a real film set. Every production starts with 57 film departments and 1,100+ job titles, available in 21 languages, plus fine-grained permissions for who can post, see confidential files or call whom.
QR login for the web. Like WhatsApp Web: scan a code with your phone and the browser signs itself in, with no password to remember.
One production calendar. Events with time zones, repeat patterns, reminders, invitees and conference calls, synced to every phone instantly. I built the calendar API, the reminder scheduler, and the month and week views and event form on the web.
Zillit web calendar month view with pre-production and production filters
Create New Event form with repeat, time zone, notification, location, invitees and call type
Chat, calls and documents. 2 dedicated real-time servers, one for chat and one for calls (Agora), with calls that ring on locked phones through VoIP push and Firebase.
SOS when it matters. Anyone can raise an emergency alert that reaches their chosen contacts by push notification and SMS.
Zillit SOS panel for choosing which crew members or outside contacts receive emergency alerts
Read the full case study, with the complete architecture and more screens, on my website: akshatarora.in/work/zillit
0 likes · 15 views · Feb 27, 2024
One Node.js backend for Zillit's web, iOS, Android and desktop apps, plus its React web app: 245 API endpoints, 36 real-time events, 23 languages and a 4.6★ App Store rating, for a BBC-backed film and TV crew platform.
