The Film Aficionados Circle houses Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)’s pool of young talents, aspiring to one day make a name for themselves in the local and international film scene. The student-run organization is made up of young creatives passionately chasing after their dreams, and their recent activity proves to be one of their most ambitious projects yet.

While in the middle of a global pandemic and limited to the digital space alone, FILAC PUP has shown their commitment to sharpening their skills and honing their talents with a one-day workshop. This is in partnership with TBA Studios, a leading film production and film distribution company in the Philippines, that has brought beloved titles to the mass market such as I’m Drunk I Love You, Heneral Luna, GOYO: Ang Batang Heneral, and its most recent release, Dito At Doon, starring Janine Gutierrez and JC Santos, now showing on all major local streaming platforms.

Movie poster lifted from Film Aficionados Circle

The interactive workshop was held on April 24, 2021 via Zoom, gathering FILAC PUP members for the exclusive event, some media partners, and the six speakers who took the time off their busy schedules to share their filmmaking prowess with the next generation. The topics or classes specified by the organization encompassed all the major facets of filmmaking that members would be interested to learn more about, from prepping everything you need before a shoot to techniques you need to remember in post-editing, the workshop offered it all.

Each speaker-slash-mentor is an expert in their own fields, and guests were given the liberty to choose which session to attend: Film Producing with Daphne Chiu, Directing with JP Habac, Screenwriting with Crisanto Aquino, Production Management with Lexter Tarriela, Cinematography with Kara Moreno, and Visual Editing with Augie Balignasay.

Media partners were also encouraged to sign up in whichever class they favored, so we were able to sit through director and writer Crisanto Aquino’s Screenwriting session.

“Whatever it is you learn, it’s still dependent on your creativity,” Aquino stated at the start of the workshop as he encouraged the aspiring storytellers to always sharpen their creative minds.

In his class, all attendees—even media partners—were asked to participate in the whole discussion, with the filmmaker asking specific questions and then going through the entire group to get our answers. He also asked everyone to pitch their film ideas, and it was so profoundly evident in each student’s body language and speech that they were ecstatic to finally be talking about the stories they have in their heads. Aquino listened to each and every single pitch while giving specific comments to each one, and sharing general tips that apply to all in attendance. To culminate the session, he broke everyone into groups to work on specific student-created stories, and come back with a renewed pitch.

Before the session ended, Aquino opened his communication lines to all the aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers in the group, and assured them they could always go to him if they needed someone to read their future manuscripts.

If this one class was any indication of how engaging and interactive the workshop as a whole is, then it’s safe to assume that each session offered many opportunities for the students to really dissect their own ideas, in light of what the speakers were teaching. The workshop truly provided a valuable learning experience for all the film aficionados in the organization, and it allowed these aspiring filmmakers to get a glimpse of what it takes for their dreams to come into fruition.

The next generation of filmmakers undoubtedly have a lot on their plates, especially with the ever-changing trends in media consumption, distribution, and storytelling in general. However, as these young dreamers prove with the success of executing an engaging and fun one-day film workshop via Zoom, next-gen storytellers are adamant to equip themselves with as much experience and knowledge that’s necessary to fully take on filmmaking’s evolving challenges.

Make It Reel: A Script To Screen Workshop is hosted by Polytechnic University of the Philippines – College of Communications’ Film Aficionados Circle and TBA Studios, with media partneres Pelikula Mania, The POST, Viddsee, The Catalyst and The Communicator.

For more information on Film Aficionados Circle, follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/filmaficionadoscircle/