Anything Pinoy

Local film makers are participating in the ongoing 14th Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) in a move to make the country stand out in the Asian digital content and film market, the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) said.

According to CITEM, an attached agency of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the internationally acclaimed director Brillante Mendoza and two academic institutions joined this year’s second Philippine participation in FILMART.

“The Philippine participation augurs well for the country’s young talent in film and animation, providing them opportunities to study trends and benchmark with the best practices of other countries’ creative industries,” said Trade and Industry Secretary Jesli A. Lapus.

“Our people are our best assets. By capitalizing on our competitive advantage in the creative industry, we are also creating more economic opportunities outside manufacturing and other traditional industries,” Lapus said.

The Philippine film industry directly employs some 260,000 Filipinos and generates around P1.5 billion revenues annually.

Moreover, numerous works of a new breed of filmmakers are now sought after in prestigious film festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Vienna and Rotterdam.

The year 2009 has become a watershed year for local independent films, as various works won 29 awards in international film festivals.

Mendoza was awarded as Best Director in the 2009 Cannes Film Festivals for his critically acclaimed “Kinatay” (The Execution of P), beating the likes of Hollywood heavyweights Quentin Tarantino and Ang Lee.

The award-winning director will join the Philippine delegation to HK Filmart to represent his film outfit, Center Stage Productions, and as part of the jury in the HK International Film Festival. His recent film, “Lola”, was also awarded Best Film at the 6th Dubai International Film Festival.

In a bid to strengthen the Philippine position as a premier provider of high quality creative content and services for animation and film and to promote the Philippines as Asia’s “Creative Hub”, this year’s participation to HK Filmart will also bring to the spotlight the country’s leading film, animation companies and universities such as the Ateneo de Naga University and Cordillera School of Digital Arts, Inc. or CSDA.

“As thousands of students graduate into the labor force this year, we can make them marketable by channeling their skills and talent to industries that need creative brain power such as in film and animation,” Lapus said.

“Hollywood, Disney and Bollywood are entertainment success raking in millions of dollars in revenues and the Philippines has the talents and skills to develop the country’s entertainment industry to be a major dollar earner,” Lapus said.

CITEM leads the Philippine participation in Hong Kong Filmart, in cooperation with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI).

“We want to promote our services and projects in the world market. We have an original content project that needs some funding and we are in the right venue. We also envision to help launch our Filipino animators in the international stage through training and exposing them to global standards and best practices,” said Raul Boncan, Jr., chief executive officer of the Cordillera School of Digital Arts Inc.

Established in 2007, CSDA trains future animators by teaching breakthrough cutting-edge technology and hiring them for their studio. Currently, they are on the production stage of their pilot TV episode.

“We decided to first set up a school and train our students in animation and other related skills. After they graduated, we hire them for our studio. We have a deep talent pool in the provinces that is why we chose to set up in Baguio, Cabanatuan, San Fernando, La Union. Vigan, Laoag, Dagupan, Tarlac City, Olongapo, Solano, and Bontoc, Mt. Province,” he said.

The Ateneo de Naga University, the only academic institution in the Philippines that offer four-year animation degree- Bachelor of Science in Digital Illustration and Animation, will also join the event in Hong Kong.

Founded in 2000, it has continued its commitment to provide excellent animators proven by the awards they won in several national animation competitions such as the Animazing Shorts (2003-2008), Animahenasyon (2007-2009), and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) award for the Alternatibong Pelikula at Video (2008-2009).

“Being part of the delegation to HK Filmart 2010 will give us, as an animation training institution, an idea of what is highly marketable in animation and film market. This will help us give our students better direction in training them. We also want to help promote the Philippines, not just as a destination for original content and animation outsourcing but also as a good destination for animation training,” said Father Danilo Isidro, S.J, chairperson of the Department of Digital Arts and Computer Animation, Ateneo de Naga University.

Ateneo de Naga’s animation program was cited by both ACPI and CCP for producing a series of animated works that were at par with industry standards and with the institution’s continuous efforts of promoting and creating original Filipino content in animation.

This year, in another move to further boost the opportunities for the Philippine creative industry, the Philippines will host a tea reception party and free film screening of award winning Filipino films such as Grandpa is Dead, Manila Skies, and The Red Shoes during the said event.

Other companies and institutions joining the HK Filmart include the Ambient Media, CADWEB Business Solutions, Central Luzon School of Digital Arts, Center Stage Productions Inc., Cutting Edge Productions, Inc., Dirty Kitchen Productions, EACOMM, Empire International Merchandising Corporation, Evershine Animation Studio, Glow 3D Animation Studio, Guhit Pinoy Animation Studio, Holy Cow Animation, Inc., IAcademy, Immersive Animation, Inc., Media Farm, Inc., Optima Digital, Opticolors, Post Manila, Quantum Films (formerly MLR Films), RoadRunner Network, Inc., RSVideo and Film Productions, Seventoons Inc./APT Entertainment Inc., SQ Film Labs, Top Peg Animation and Creative Studio, Inc., Tuldok Animation Studios Inc., and Unitel Productions.

The Philippine animation industry has been handling projects for overseas animation clients. Filipino animators have been the best-kept secret of entertainment giants such as Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studies for their animated feature films such as Up, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Cars, Tom and Jerry, The Incredibles, X-Men, Transformers, Scooby-Doo, Adams Family, The Mask, Dragon Ball Z, Captain Planet, One Piece and the Jetsons.

In 2009, the Philippines’ first participation to HK Filmart marked significant inroads, positioning the Philippines as a source of creative content through the showing of internationally recognized Filipino animated films, Dayo and Urduja.

The event also generated offers of co-production from China, Singapore, and France as well as negotiations for new materials for possible television series production.

The animation Jobert and Tutubi Patrol garnered interest in Asian networks to be dubbed in their own language. There were also trade inquiries for theatrical distribution of Philippine creative content in countries such as North America, Iran, Thailand, Taiwan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. (