One of the minds behind the country’s most dynamic animation studio — one that doesn’t have a real office — goes to the UK for the International Young Creative Screen Entrepreneur Awards
Since 2004, the British Council’s Creative Economy Unit has been spearheading the International Young Creative Entrepreneur (IYCE) awards. The IYCE aims to celebrate and develop the potential of young artists in fields such as fashion, publishing, music and screen.
"The creative economy is a global phenomenon. Think about this: if you see creative talent as a natural resource, pretty evenly spread across the world, then the next J K Rowling could as readily be sitting in a café in Kolkata or a bar in Buenos Aires as the café in Edinburgh where the first Harry Potter was penned. It’s a young creative entrepreneur who will spot the big talent and bring his or her work to market, this program enhances that potential and the possibility of that work reaching the widest possible audience," the IYCE concept paper mentions.
IYCE works on the premise of nurturing the world’s brightest creative minds. Delegates are given opportunities to go on educational tours in British institutions. The winner is given a grant so he could fund a dream project.
The Philippines has been part of this exciting competition since its inception. Those who’ve represented our country in the IYCE include Adarna Publishing’s Annie Almario, Island Souvenirs’ Jay Aldegeur, and musician Louie Talan.
Creative works, whether they are films, songs, books, artworks, or clothing, have become the "greatest equalizers" in the modern world.
"It used to be that only the very elite like royalty enjoyed them. That is not the case now when everyone can have access to and can enjoy artistic creations," said David Hopkinson, acting director of the British Council Philippines, during the presentation of the Philippines’ bet to the IYCE: 27-year old Benedict Carandang of Tuldok Animation.
Carandang will be flying to the UK this October to meet with 9 other screen entrepreneurs from emerging economies such as India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Nigeria.
Tuldok Members Group Photo
God’s plan
Carandang’s fascination for animation began in 1998 when he was a visiting student in Pittsburgh. He entered the ‘’Bug’s Life Sweepstakes’’ wherein the prize was a trip to Pixar Studios, creators of the animated film A Bug’s Life. Out of so many entries, his ticket won. Ben toured the studios with his host parents and brother. "And I found myself asking, ‘Why did I win?’ Maybe God has a plan."
Around October 2005, Ben and his friends Ayen Pineda, Toffer Lui, and Ramon del Prado got together after their college graduation. From that meeting emerged the idea to work on an animated film. That got the ball rolling. They passed a proposal to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to obtain a grant. Many months passed without hearing from the NCCA. "We thought we didn’t get it until the NCCA suddenly contacted us early 2006," Ben recalls excitedly. They were given P500,000 seed money for the project, which eventually became ‘Libingan’, a 20-minute animated feature and the first film produced by Tuldok Animation.
KKB – kanya-kanyang bahay…
The people of Tuldok Animation work like this: they would meet in fastfood restaurants like Jollibee or McDonald’s. Communication would be also done via cellphone or email. In fact, files like drawings would also be sent via email. Artists would do their work at home on their own time and on their own computer. Like one of its partners revealed in their audio-visual presentation, "Dependent kami sa Gmail and Yahoo. Uso sa amin ang KKB – kanya-kanyang bahay, KKK – kanya-kanyang kuryente at KKO – kanya-kanyang oras."
This unique set-up was said to be one of the factors that impressed the British Council’s IYCE screening committee.
"It’s an outlet for artists. We cannot offer them a big monetary compensation but they are compensated in another way because they get to express themselves for a good cause. For us, it’s not sacrificing a part of our time at all. We love what we do so it’s like playing."
Aside from showcasing Filipino ingenuity in animation, Tuldok also aims to highlight Filipino culture. Libingan is filled with traits and tales that are unique to our country, like fiestas, religious processions, extended families, playing with spiders and scary stories of kapres that are told to kids. "The younger generation has somehow forgotten about the Filipino culture and we aim to bring that to the mainstream and to the rest of the world," says Benedict.
-GAY ACE DOMINGO, Contributor
You can also read the article at http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2008/10/23/YTCP20081023138717.html
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