As the Philippine representative to the British Council’s International Young Screen Entrepreneur Awards, Benedict Carandang was sent to the UK for a two-week tour of the London, Bristol, and Cardiff film and television creative industries, to meet with prominent people to forge relationships with, and understand the UK screen sector.
Along with nine other representatives from China, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Nigeria, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Thailand, Carandang represented the country in the competition as a creative entrepreneur in the field of animation.
His organization, Tuldok Animation Studios Inc., is a Web-based institution that uses an innovative approach to producing animation that is collaborative without the physical studio.
Carandang says, “Tuldok represents what we Filipinos can do when we work together — creating world-class animated content despite our limited resources. I came to the competition as the lone contestant representing animation and the non-profit sector while all of my colleagues were into film production/post-production/documentaries/festivals/film magazine, which were profit-making ventures. My friend from Indonesia won with his hybrid business model, which employs often neglected Indonesian filmmakers from outside of Jakarta to meet the demand of the burgeoning national television and film industries of his country.”
According to Carandang, he learned that the UK’s government, film organizations, and creative companies work side-by-side with each other, which can be called clusters/hubs in a dynamic economic ecosystem that thrives on innovation and collaboration. They have schools and universities that provide creative education, government/private institutions that funds, supports, and incubate creative businesses, cultural associations/guilds that train and share knowledge, theaters/venues that promote the creative output, physical and digital infrastructure that enables productivity and more importantly, a society that patronizes their arts and culture. He hopes that we can emulate this in the Philippines.
He explains, “What I find interesting in the UK is that they have a lot of organizations that are unique and innovative and that cater to their industries’ needs. They are organization-driven unlike the Philippines which more often than not is personality-driven. We need strong institutions that are run by professionals, not personalities that will come and go.”
The representatives visited organizations such as the UK Film Council, Film London, RSA Films, New Producers Alliance, Moving Picture Company, Pinewood Studios, Aardman Animations, Watershed Media Center, Pervasive Media Studio, Calon Studio, Boomerang, It’s My Shout, Dragon DI, Film Agency Wales, BFI Southbank, The Script Factory, DNA Films, Lovefilm International, Passion Pictures and www.shootingpeople.org.
“It is also interesting to note that the whole UK government is pursuing an over-all strategy of Creative Britain by supporting and mapping its creative industries to make the world recognize it as a hub of creative endeavor, innovation and excellence, and to strengthen its creative economy that will put their culture and creativity at the center of their national life. This strategy is intended to help more people discover and develop their talents and to use those talents to build a dynamic and vibrant society, providing entertainment alongside opportunity.”
The policy recommendation of this strategy are as follows: to give all children a creative education, turn talent into jobs, support research and innovation, help creative businesses grow and access finance, foster and protect intellectual property, support creative clusters and promote Britain as a creative hub.
Carandang concludes, “The UK is betting its money on its creative industry for its growth and future and so should we.”
