1st Phil Digi Awards Wraps Up at the World Trade Center

1st Phil Digi Awards Wraps Up at the World Trade Center
By: Rianne Hill Soriano

The 1st Philippine Digital Music and Short Film Festival and Awards (Phil Digi Awards) wrapped up with a two-day music and film congress and red carpet night last Mar. 11 and 12, 2009 at the World Trade Center.

This joint project by Isys Business Solution and Thumbsinteractiv, in cooperation with Blue Fish Asia, aimed to discover fresh Filipino talents in the field of music and filmmaking through online film and music competitions – bringing the independent film industry to the open and market its potentials. Receiving a whopping number of entries from students, amateurs, and professional music artists and filmmakers, it boasted of over 300 music entries and 40 short film entries from rising Filipino artists.

The two-day event was a great night for Filipino film and music performances courtesy of professionals, students, and newcomers in the industry – showcasing and celebrating both professional and amateur talents. The congress featured seminars and workshops on film, animation, music, the protection of Filipino art works, and the business opportunities in the creative industry. Key topics included: artist development and management, copyrights, publishing rights, anti-piracy, finding grants, filmmaking, music recording, animation trends, film classification, original content production, among others. There were also features on independent and commercial film directors and musicians.

The winners for this year’s festival:

Music Categories

ACCESS 2 LOVE
Best Digital Album

KAMANDAG THEME by First Circle
Best Jingle Entry

2 DAYS AGO
Promising New Artist

NJEL DE MESA
Promising Male Artist

DEBBIE NICODEMUS
Promising Female Aritst

BRENAN ESPARTINEZ
Best Male Artist

YENG CONSTANTINO
Best Female Artist

ARNE MARTELINO
Best Composer

ISA'T KALAHATING ARAW by Sensitivo
Best Indie Music

SENSITIVO
Best Independent Group

CALL TO LIFE by Salamankero
Best Music Video

FREQUENCY by Emorej
Best House/Electronica Music

ANG TANGING PATNUBAY by John Paul Dabon
Best Composition

ALAY SA IYO by Era Ann Oblefias
Best Gospel/Praise Music

SAGIP SONG by Rommel Gojo
Best Contemporary Christian Music

PARIHABA by Engelbert Paculangan
Best Short Film - Fantasy/Horror

SALINGPUSA by Antoinette Jadaone
Best Short Fillm – Comedy

NAMAMAYBAY by Erwin Escalante
Best Short Film – Documentary

BAS BAYABAS
Best Animated Short Film – Kid

KUMOT NG PANAGINIP by Jedd Chris Dimaguina
Best Animated Short Film - Fantasy/Horror

PIRATA by Al Eduardo
Best Short Film - Action/Drama

LYNMAN BACOLOR
Best Independent Solo Artist

NOSEBLEED by Jason Paul Laxamana
ETC Category Winner

BUY THE BOOK: Gabay sa Ordinaryong Taong Katulad Mo by Timmy Harn
Jack TV Category Winner

SM Holds 1st CINEXPO

SM Holds 1st CINEXPO
By: Rianne Hill Soriano

The 1st CINEXPO held last Feb. 17-18, 2009 at the SMX Convention Center brought together movie industry companies, media partners, ad agencies, film professionals, and student organizations for the first ever cinema convention in the Philippines. The event opened the door to the discussion of the latest cinema trends and issues, networking and partnerships, and exhibition of films, various media products, and services.

The CINEXPO featured the latest technological advances and the changing currents in cinema where film producers, production companies, distributors, marketing professionals, advertisers, industry partners, and media affiliates could work together for present and future deals.

There were product reel presentations of upcoming films and roadshows by both local and Hollywood film producers and distributors including: Star Cinema, Regal Films, Viva Films, GMA Films, Pioneer Films, Solar UIP, Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, and Columbia Pictures.

There were presentations, seminars, and networking events with participating companies including Optima Digital, ABS-CBN, Optical Media Board, GroupM Philippines, AXN and Animax, Philippine Marketing Association, Hills & Associates Philippines, Christie, Scenema Concept, Cutting Edge, DTS, D-Cinema, SM Cinemas, and IMAX which provided educational discussions all geared towards the movie industry market. There were exchanging views on topics including consumer behavior, branded advertising, cinema advertising, varying markets, advertising partnerships, enhancement of the theater-going experience, new ideas in making movie services more valuable and profitable, piracy, and other insights about the issues facing the industry.

Closing each of the two-day event were special screenings of the recent local films “Dayo,” the first digital animation film in the country and entry to the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), and “Jay," an award-winning and internationally-acclaimed independent film from Cinemalaya. SM also honored film producers, distributors, artists, and media partners in the 2008 SM Cinema Awards.

The Resurrection! =p

After more than 3 years of hibernation, I'm reviving this rusty blog.

As my official film blog Film Works (www.riannehillsoriano.com/blog) focuses on film reviews, my film and other production works, and other film-related information, I'm making this as a supplement to it - focusing on film festivals, call for entries, and more detailed information about Filipino and international films (mainstream and independent) and other production-related works.

Let's see if it works! =p

Hopefully, this blog will be a good, accessible site for those who are asking me help and inquiries about filmmaking, information about international films (from Hollywood, Bollywood, and other film industries around the world), film-related press releases, and a good resource blog for those looking for film festivals to submit their films - especially to the new and aspiring Filipino filmmakers of our times.