Globe Studios believes in #kwentonatin

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Independent Film Festival (GIFF) under Globe Studios is the teleco’s first venture into cinema, designed to nurture emerging talents in the local filmmaking scene and give them a platform to achieve their creative vision.

Globe Studios’ GIFF is made on online space, and it hopes to feature fresh stories by the newest storytellers, rendered in innovative ways enabled by technology.

Globe believes in #kwentonatin — real-life stories, told well, and told by the people who have stories to tell.

At the helm of Globe Studios is Quark Henares. Quark is the perfect fit for the job as he is is a film, TV show, commercial and music video director. 

“When Globe Studios launched the GIFF it got good response,” shares Quark Henares. “For the whole GIFF there have been 300 entries so far.  There are music videos, webisodes, documentaries, animation and much more.”

 “The launch of Globe Studios gave us a whole new way of bringing wonderful entertainment to our customers. With GIFF, our vision for Globe Studios is realized — to be able to advocate local talent and eventually collaborate with them for content. GIFF allows us to fuel creativity among filmmakers and we look forward to the entries and bring these amazing films closer to every Filipino,” says Dan Horan, Globe senior advisor for consumer business.

“Because of the good response and also to be able to give a chance for more people to participate — the deadline for entries has been extended until the end of December,” says Quark. “There are all sorts of entries. What is good is that there is a big plethora of videomakers, some are Youtubers, others are students furthering their craft. There is even one of the directors who is part of the Metro Manila Film Festival, who submitted an entry and has been shortlisted. Others trip lang ‘yung pang bahay.”

Quark adds that the mix of entries makes the experience more exciting. The oldest person who has entered so far is about 50 years old. There are others who are 12 or 14 years old, and many more among the millennials. 

“This is the point of GIFF to get as many people to share their own stories — no matter your age,” Quark shares. 

I ask Quark, “Do you think this is where the future of video-making is going?”

He answers, “Definitely. We have seen with House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black, and The Crown, among many others, that Youtube, it is really going there. I think that the sales of cinema movies are down, which is sad for me because I am traditionally a film-in-the-theater sort of person.”

Is this bad for cinema?

“It isn’t all bad, the good is that everyone has access to any of the equipment that is needed to do a video — cameras, smartphones. And they know they can edit the video on the phone,” he explained. “This is also a good way for more voices to be heard. It is almost to the point where true art is something that everyone can do without the need for expensive equipment.”

Go ahead, share

GIFF sees that there is really a need for more people to share their own stories — and Globe wants to encourage this — that of creating one’s own moment.

“Create your own stories, your own moment, your own features,” shares Quark. “So, the smartphone has become something na hindi siya text and calls lang.” He adds how excited they are about the entries that they’ve gotten.

 Advocating Filipino talent and championing original content, GIFF is the first-ever online film festival in the Philippines; GIFF sets the bar for film festivals by maximizing the online platform to reach a wider audience.

Veering from traditional film fests, GIFF adds a whole new dimension to digital entertainment by bringing the film entries online. This way, more people will be able to access and watch on demand, right from their own devices.

Open to all amateur filmmakers, GIFF is accepting entries for five genres: Narrative, Documentary, Animated, Experimental, Music Video, and Webisode. Film submissions will be evaluated by an esteemed panel of judges from the entertainment industry namely, acclaimed film director Antoinette Jadaone, TV personality Bianca Gonzalez, film critic Philbert Dy, and renowned TV commercial director Sid Maderazo. 

As a special showcase, GIFF has kicked off the film fest with five short films led by Filipino directors who have garnered numerous recognitions for their body of work. Available on GlobeStudios.ph and the Globe YouTube channel are the following titles: How to Find Love directed by Quark Henares; An Open Door by Paul Soriano; Trapik by Dan Villegas; Ang Painting ni Tatay by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo; and Bestfriend by Bb. Joyce Bernal.

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For information, visit www.GlobeStudios.ph.