Pixar co-founder: Time to shine spotlight on Filipino animators

MANILA€“ It's about time that the work of the Philippines' best creative talents is recognized in the global stage, according to the co-founder of animation company Pixar.


Ralph Guggenheim, the producer of the “Toy Story” franchise, said there is a lot of promise in the Philippine creative services sector.


"We see the Philippines as one that is under realized so far in the world and that there is a great deal of animation work and gaming work that can be made in the Philippines that can be sent back to the world," said Guggenheim.


While most Filipinos in the industry work for hire, Eli Noyes, president of California-based animation production consultancy firm Alligator Planet LLC, feels they are now ready to adopt a different mindset and create their own intellectual property to showcase to the world.


Top entertainment industry lawyer David Kostiner said this is an exciting time for Filipinos who can take advantage of their ability to maintain some "closeness regardless of geographic location” as they seek a global audience.


"That creates an amazing market that can be accessed by an upload on YouTube or other channels that can feature Filipino or Asian content and open possibilities of a self-sustaining marketplace where there are stories for Filipinos abroad, domestically, around the region or the Asean nation," said Kostiner.


Guggenheim said his company is not in a position to invest in the Philippines, but urged the government to create a roadmap to support a creative industry that will help facilitate the development of content originating in the country.


"We believe that it's not enough simply for Filipino writers to have great stories and great ideas. It's also necessary for private sector here to be willing to invest in those stories and ideas," he said.


The Philippine economy has so much to gain from investing in the creative services sector, which generated revenue of about $142 million for animation and $7 million for game development in 2011, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry.


"Even if remittances of OFW remittances even go higher, it does not make economic sense for us as a country anymore because it doesn't add value to the economy. What Eli said about creating original content, that is something that will add value, that's something we can see and that's something we can sell outside. It's a new way of generating earnings," said Josephine Romero, special trade representative of the DTI.


Guggenheim, Noyes and Kostiner will be joined by Cartoon Network Online creator Doug Barry, entertainment production manager Audie Vergara, and entertainment executive Jon Nelson during the Film, Animation, and Gaming Congress 2012 starting Thursday at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.


"These people have expressed their very keen interest in the Philippine creative talent and the huge potentials of the Philippine film and animation industry for local and global success," said DTI Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio.


The two-day conference will gather stakeholders to discuss issues, challenges and potentials of the local creative services sector and come up with recommendations that would promote the Philippines in global film and animation production.


President Aquino earlier approved the Investment Priorities Plan 2012, which includes creative industries under preferred activities entitled to incentives such as income tax holiday, duty free importation of capital equipment and tax exemptions, among others.-Interaksyon (July 24, 2012 7:29PM)