Top industry professionals share tips with aspiring filmmakers

MANILA, Philippines – “Dare to discover your inner voices” and express whatever thoughts you have by constantly asking about things, and not “just sitting tight and keeping quiet.”

This is the challenge posed by Reality Entertainment manager and Director Erik Matti to future professional filmmakers in his opening remarks at the launch of The Reality Film Lab (TRFL).

TRFL, a non-profit filmmaking workshop, opened its doors to aspiring film practitioners for the second time around on June 14, the first time being May 4 last year.

TRFL offers training to budding filmmakers and film enthusiasts in the areas of Directing, Editing, Production Design, Scriptwriting, Digital Cinematography, and Production. The launch, titled “The Creative Process”, was held at the UP Diliman Film Institute. It is only the first day of the actual month-long workshop which will span the months of June and July – from June 14 to July

Reality Entertainment, managed by Erik Matti and Dondon Monteverde, has been producing TRFL ever since it was established last year. The film production company was responsible for several local award-winning films including On the Job, Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles and its sequel, Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles.

TRFL 1

The program involved a lineup of prominent speakers, namely TV personality and radio DJ Ramon Bautista; painter Chati Coronel; musician Armi Millare; photographer Jason Quibilan; writer and editor-in-chief Erwin Romulo; theater director Tuxqs Rutaquio; and graphic designer Carlo Vergara.

Going on their second TRFL workshop, students who were part of the first TRFL shared their experiences before the crowd of aspiring filmmakers.

Joel Feller, a student in last year’s scriptwriting class, tackled the importance of teaching in filmmaking, saying that his works are the result of 90% skills learned in TRFL and only 10% talent.

Ericson Navarro, a production designer, expressed his excitement over teaching the students of TRFL and in the process, learning from them.

Words from the wise

The speakers of the program talked about their experiences as experts on the field. They also gave pieces of advice to those who are interested in pursuing the fields they are in.

“Keep making things. In this way, you are pushing yourself into doing things you’ve never thought of doing,” Chati Coronel said. 

Tuxqs Rutaquio said something in a similar respect. He explained the importance of having continuous, free-flowing ideas.

“Always keep accepting suggestions. Always start with a yes,” he said.

Ramon Bautista went for a more comical approach in explaining the process of making a name in the industry through his discussion “Paano maging internet action star? (How can you be an internet action actor?)” 

Although his discussion mostly cracked up laughs from the audience, it taught tips on how to use social media as the platform for mass communication, which he identified as an essential factor in establishing a filmmaking career.

Bautista also mentioned the significance of knowing mass communication theories such as the agenda-setting theory, the cultivation theory, and the schema theory among many others in starting a career in the film industry.

Some speakers, on the other hand, discussed the more technical areas of their field, like Jason Quibilan who contributed photography techniques, particularly on lighting and placement of subjects.

The workshop may only be for a month, but the practical training that the brilliant minds of TRFL offer will soon be reflected in many contemporary films and potentially bring about innovations in the Philippine film industry and culture. – Rappler.com