Own your tools
Software should not turn basic access into a recurring negotiation.
Built by one person. Built for people who still own their tools.
About Felty’s Movie Maker
Felty’s Movie Maker is a desktop video editor built for people who want their creative tools close at hand — local, capable, and not tied to a subscription or a cloud gate.
I’m Matt Kading, a/k/a “Felty,” and I built Felty’s Movie Maker around a simple belief: storytelling software should help you make things, not stand between you and your own work.
Desktop-first. Local by design. Built with Tauri, React, Rust, and FFmpeg.
01
A note from the builder
This project started with a feeling I never really lost: the sense that software could open a door. The first machine I used gave me that feeling, and I wanted this editor to carry some of that same possibility — not as a service to manage, but as a tool to use.
I built Felty’s Movie Maker because I still believe creative software should feel personal, direct, and fully yours. I wanted an editor that stayed close to the machine, stayed close to the files, and respected the person sitting in front of it.
“Good tools should help you work, not ask permission first.”
02
What this product stands for
Felty’s Movie Maker is shaped by a few simple ideas:
Keep your work local
Local-first software is built around user ownership, agency, and resilience instead of server dependence.
Make power feel usable
Capability matters, but so does clarity. The tool should feel serious without feeling bloated.
Respect the craft
The product should serve editing and storytelling, not upsells, logins, and artificial friction.
This is not about retro sentiment. It is about building software that respects time, attention, files, and independence.
03
Who it’s for
Felty’s Movie Maker is for people who still want a real desktop tool.
Editors who want a desktop workflow instead of a browser-shaped one.
Creators tired of subscriptions, account walls, and cloud-first assumptions.
People who care where their files live and how their software behaves.
Tinkerers, hobbyists, and builders who still see ownership as a feature.
If you like software that is direct, local, and actually yours, you will probably feel at home here.
04
Built close to the machine
Under the hood, Felty’s Movie Maker is built with Tauri, React, Rust, and FFmpeg. Those choices support a fast, practical desktop experience designed to feel closer to native software than to a web app wrapped in a window.
The stack is there to support the product, not to decorate it. The goal is a tool that feels dependable when you sit down to work: responsive where it should be, capable where it counts, and local in the ways that matter.
- Timeline slice, trim, cut / copy / paste
- Titles, transitions, crop & color
- GIF / meme maker from clips
- Export up to 4K · 24 / 30 / 60 / 120 fps
- Opens Movie Maker
.wlmpprojects
Tauri
React
Rust
FFmpeg
05
Why desktop. Why local. Why this approach.
Some tools are simply better when they live on the machine, stay close to the files, and do not need to negotiate with a remote service before they become useful. Local-first thinking centers software around the user’s control, access, and ownership rather than treating the device as a temporary terminal.
That matters even more for creative work. Your editor should be available when you are ready to work, and your project should not feel like it exists on borrowed terms.
No subscription.
No account wall.
No cloud dependency.
No distance between you and the timeline.
06
Questions people usually have
Does it require a subscription?
No. The point is to build a tool you can use without being trapped in a recurring permission structure.
Does it depend on the cloud?
No. The product is built around local control, which aligns with the broader local-first idea of preserving user ownership and agency.
Why build this as a solo project?
Because a focused product benefits from a clear point of view, faster iteration, and fewer diluted decisions. Independence can be a strength when it creates coherence and direct accountability.
Who is it really for?
People who want a serious desktop editor without the usual subscription pressure, account friction, and cloud-first assumptions.
07
Try the tool
Felty’s Movie Maker is my attempt to build the kind of editor I still want to use: local, capable, independent, and centered on the work. If that sounds like your kind of software, the next step is simple.
Built independently. Designed to be owned.