British Council International Young Screen Entrepreneur Awards Night
As the Philippine representative to the British Council's International Young Screen Entrepreneur Awards, I 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. Alongside with nine (9) other countries namely China, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Nigeria, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Thailand, I represented the country in the competition as a creative entrepreneur in the field of Animation. My 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. Tuldok represents of 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.
Moving Picture Company and Pinewood Studios
I have learned that the UK's Government, Film Organizations, and Creative Companies work side-by-side with each other which we can call as clusters/hubs in a dynamic economic ecosystem that thrives on innovation and collaboration. They have schools and universities that provides creative education, government/private institutions that funds, supports, and incubate creative businesses, cultural associations/guilds that trains and shares knowledge, theatres/venues that promotes the creative output, physical and digital infrastructure that enables productivity and more importantly, a society that patronizes their arts and culture. I hope we can emulate this in the Philippines.
Calon Studios and Aardman Animations Studios
What I find interesting in the UK is that they have a lot of organizations that are unique and innovative that caters to their industries needs. They are organization-driven unlike the Philippines which most often than not are personality-driven. We need strong institutitions that will outlive ourselves that are run by professional people, not personalities that will come and go and so does the organizations that has anchored itself on the personality.
Pinewood Studios and 007 Stage
In this competition, we have visited several fascinating organizations that have viable business models that we can emulate/replicate in the Philippines, they are the following: UK Film council - a government backed lead agency for film in the UK ensuring that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented at home and abroad. Its main goal is to help make the UK a global hub for film in the digital age; Film London which is the captial's film and media agency. It sustains, promote and develop London as a major international film-making and film cultural capital which includes all the screen industries based in London - film, television, video, commercials, and new interactive media; RSA films, one of the leading commercial production companies in the world; New Producers Alliance - is an international training and support provider for filmmakers, is the UK national membership organization for film producers, screenwriters and directors; Moving Picture Company - which creates high-end digital visual effects and computer animation for the feature film , advertising, music and television industries.
Calon Studios
Furthermore, we also toured Pinewood Studios - the leading service provider of film and television related services across the UK. It is home to Europe's only permanently filled studio based underwater filming stage, one of Europe's largest exterior tanks, 12 stages with interior tanks and the UK's leading commercial media dving specialist. It has 9 digital television studios, including 5 digital channel presentation studios; Aardman Animations have become synonymous with 3-D Stop-motion animation in the UK, successfully straddling advertising, music videos, TV series, Internet Animations, Academy Award winning shorts and big budget feature films such as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run; Watershed Media Centre, is UK's first dedicated Media Centre which houses three cinemas, a cafe/bar, events/conferencing spaces, and office spaces for admistrative and creative staff. It also plays host to (and helps organise and run) many film festivals; Pervasive Media Studio which brings together the IT, communication and crative industries to pioneer new forms of digital media. The studio offers research, project development space, a wide variety of workshops, seminars and public events and a creative learning programme for education and community groups;
Aardman Animations Studios
Moreover, Calon Studio is an award-winning company based in Cardiff producing animation and live-action content for the international market. Specialising in children's and family entertainment; Boomerang, a production company with in-house post and studios; It's My Shout - provides practical experiences in film, television and media for young people in Wales who would not normally be able to acess such opportunities, providing hands-on training, alongside film professionals; Dragon DI is the world's only dedicated DI facility, specializing in nothing but the delivery of a class-leading service for digital intermediate and restoration; Film Agency Wales is the sole Agency for film in Wales, with a remit to ensure that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film are effectively represented in Wales, the UK and the world.
Aardman Animations Studios
Last but not the least, I also toured BFI Southbank (formerly the National Film Theater) which screens over 1,000 films a year, from rare silent comedies to cult movies and archive television screenings. The venue hosts previews and gala screenings as well as events and on-stage interviews with film-makers, actors, producers, critics and writers. It hosted the Times BFI London Film Festival where I was an industry delegate; The Script Factory - is one of Europe's leading development organizations working to support screenwriters by finding and developing new screenwriting talent; by supporting the people who work with screenwriters; and by presenting unique and unmissable live screenwriting events with some of cinema's top creative talent; DNA Films - which was founded by two of Britain's most successful producers, Duncan Kenworthy (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill) and Andrew Macdonald (Trainspotting, The Beach). DNA Films has been in a joint venture with US film distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures to produce and distribute British films such as 28 Weeks Later, The Last King of Scotland, etc.; Lovefilm International - is Europe's leading online DVD rental subscription service offering innovative home entertainment packages that includes unlimited DVD rental each month, free postage, and no late fees in the UK; Passion Pictures - is one of Europe's leading independent production and Oscar winning companies, producing award winning films in a variety of contemporary styles including 2D drawn animation, computer animation, stop frame animation, mixed media, and live-action; www.shootingpeople.org - a networking website for filmmakers/artists/etc.
Courtesy call to Philippine Ambassador to the UK, Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu
I discovered that the UK, though small as it is compared to the US, have found its NICHE in the world's creative economy (This can be demonstrated with their Aardman Animations which produced Chicken Run and the Academy Award Winning film Wallace and Gromit using 3D Stop-Motion Animation which they thought would be overtaken by 3D Computer Animation, but it thrived and survived and competed alongside with the best animation studios in the world. You need not follow the bandwagon of doing 3D Computer Animation which most are doing. Indeed, it is finding it's own niche in Stop-Motion Animation which is the key to its success and a testament of British ingenuity).
James Bond Premiere London Film Festival - London IMAX theatre
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 centre 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, Fostering and protecting intellectual property, Support creative clusters, Promote Britain as a creative hub. The UK is betting its money on its Creative Industry for its growth and future and so should we. In my humble opinion, I hope that our policymakers from the government, our creative industries associations, the private sector, and academe can work together and collaborate to create a similar blueprint that will map out our creative industries and support our creative entrepreneurs and make the Creative Economy as cornerstone of our economic growth. I have learned so much from this competition and I believe that we can all take part in our creative industries and help expand the Philippine Creative Economy as a whole and provide more opportunities for our people and at the same time enrich our culture and alleviate poverty. If the Brits can do it, so can we because WE too are CREATIVE AND TALENTED as a nation. Let us make creativity at the heart of Philippine Culture and national identity.
-Benedict Carandang, Philippine National Winner and Philippine representative to the British Council International Young Screen Entrepreneur Awards 2008 to the UK, co-founder of Tuldok Animation Studios Inc.
http://www.creativeconomy.org.uk/YCE/FinalistProfile.asp?ID=26&FinalistID=100
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