Bright spot seen in Philippine creative industry

MANILA, May 1 (PNA) -- A bright spot is seen in the Philippine creative industry as players from the animation and film industry scored deals recently at the Hong Kong Film and Television Market Fair or Hong Kong Filmart.

In yet another move to further boost the opportunities for the Philippine creative industry, local companies Glow Animation, Seventoons, Cutting Edge Productions, Top Peg, and Evershine Animation joined said content fair generating important business inquiries for theatrical distribution of their creative content in countries such as North America, Iran, Thailand, Taiwan, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

“It is our first time to bring our resources together and participate in the HK Filmart as a country. There are so many opportunities from this experience for the Philippine creative industry,” said Erwin Escubio, director for finance and business development of Cutting Edge Productions, the outfit behind award-winning animated film “Dayo.”

“The first Philippine participation generated inquiries from companies seeking to outsource or co-produce creative content as well as buyers of content licensing for full-length animated features. Philippine animation companies were also able to form linkage with Thailand’s Software Industry Promotion Agency and Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Organization,” reported Ma. Lourdes D. Mediran, Deputy Executive Director and Officer in Charge of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM).

CITEM is an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry tasked to promote the country’s priority sectors including e-services and creative industries.

Together with the Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, CITEM led the Philippine participation. Meantime, the Export Development Council provided the funding for the participation.

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

Other animation products (Jobert and Tutubi Patrol) also garnered interest in Asian networks to be dubbed in their own language, explained Grace Dimaranan, president of the ACPI and managing director of Top Peg Animation.

Hong Kong Filmart brought in buyers from Hong Kong, Asia Pacific, Europe, China, and the Americas.

Industry reports said that growth opportunities are seen in the overall entertainment industry specifically on film, television, and digital entertainment.

To date, top five sources of content acquisition in Asia are Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand.

The Philippine participation likewise opened opportunities for Philippine made feature films such as “Dayo” and “Urduja” for participation in film festivals in Asia and Europe.

Some of the major trends seen in the Hong Kong fair, added Dimaranan, were “new platforms in presenting e-learning programs as well as interactive content partnered with latest technology trends (connected with games).”

She also said, “Digital content is also on the rise. There are new software coming out for animation production to make creative and production work faster and adapted to digital broadcasting.”

“The Philippine participation in Hong Kong is our way of harnessing the creativity and innovation of our film and animation companies to forge ahead in the global economy amid the recession,” added Mediran.

The Philippine creative industry is composed of audio-visual design, space design, industrial design, fashion design, multimedia, handicrafts, writing based industries, culinary arts and performing arts.

The Philippines launched its Creative Industry Development Strategy in 2005.

Besides value added and employment, the creative industries have a wider reaching impact across the economy and other sectors such as people’s life, community, and culture.