How PH plans to make Filipino content as world-class as Korea’s
At ‘Creative Futures,’ stakeholders present framework to make PH top creative economy in Asean by 2030
The goal: Turn the Philippines into the top creative economy in Asean by the year 2030. The good news: The Philippine government has a plan to make that happen.
That’s the key takeaway from “Creative Futures,” an online conference held by the Center for International Trade Expositions (Citem) from June 28 to June 29. To position our creative industries as a high-potential export sector and establish a path toward sustainable growth, Creative Futures gathered creatives and industry experts for talks and presentations on creative governance, animation, design, esports and film.
How important is the creative industry to the economy?
In 2019, it provided 11.3 percent of total jobs and 6 percent of total exports. These jobs were decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic; estimated revenue losses for sectors, such as the performing arts, are as high as 90 percent.
In his keynote presentation, Creative Economy Council of the Philippines’ Paolo Mercado showed how a number of creative companies have slowly recovered by adapting operations, redefining their value proposition, or finding alternative customers and revenue sources.
But the overall picture remains bleak, and COVID-19 has turned the spotlight on many challenges the creative industry has perennially faced: lack of protection for intellectual property (IP), high logistics costs, low support for professional development and the institutional lack of collaboration, among others.
Ironically, staying at home increased everyone’s appetite for creative content, but a lot of what we consume isn’t our own. Korean television dramas exploded in popularity at the start of the pandemic, and this is exactly what led Congress’ Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Bloc (Accib) to ask: How can we make Filipino content as world-class and ubiquitous as Korean content?
Getting our creative act together
The South Korean government’s support for its film and television industry began in 1997 in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis. Theirs was a highly systematic, long-term strategy that did not bear fruit until a decade later. What can the Philippines—a country notoriously shortsighted in economic planning—do to emulate it?
Accib’s answer is the Creative Industries Act, its signature legislative piece providing a policy and governance framework to make the Philippine creative industry globally competitive. Its main sponsor and prime mover is Rep. Christopher “Toff” de Venecia, a former writer and a theater company owner.
While working on the legislation, Accib identified at least 25 creative industries, from animation and vloggers to food and fashion. Some industries have backing from government through agencies with existing mandates, such as the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the National Book Development Board. The rest had no support except from the private sector.
But their inescapable interconnectedness begs the question, why is there no single governing body for creative industries like that of sports or agriculture?
The Creative Industries Act answers that with a provision for a Creatives Industry Development Council. In true Big Picture fashion, the council will count representatives from all over government stakeholder agencies. It will also have private sector representatives coming from creative enterprises.
The law will not be short of people nor funding. De Venecia’s 30-strong bloc has pledged P5 billion to fund creative economic zones, shared service facilities, digitalization, scholarships, skills training, market research and development, soft loans and mobilization.
“We always say the Filipino is talented. I think it’s now time to put our money where our mouth is,” De Venecia says. “A creative future should not be left to chance. It is planned, not dreamed; it is organized, not whimsical; it’s taken seriously and not treated as an afterthought.”
‘TRESE’ phenomenon
The first panel of Creative Futures tackled the “TRESE” phenomenon. A hit Netlix series, “TRESE” was adapted from the Philippine graphic novel cocreated by Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo. What neither Netflix nor the producers were prepared for was the overwhelming response to “TRESE” and the buzz among Filipinos of all ages.
A major studio had invested real money in 100-percent Filipino creative material— this was news. And to producer Tanya Yuson, this was hope. Filipinos have a hunger for content they can connect to and that’s something other creatives can build on, she says. “Every effort really builds up an entire industry.”
International comic book artist and writer Whilce Portacio is currently working with a band of Fil-Am professional artists to champion Filipino IP. Portacio taught storytelling to young Filipinos himself when he set up a comics school in Megamall and a studio on Balete Drive in the 1990s; his proteges became professional artists, who in turn influenced the current generation of creatives. “Storytelling is in our blood,” he says assuredly.
Case studies
Two case studies in Creative Futures highlighted the role of social design in building a community’s resilience during pandemic times.
“Paalalabas,” produced by the Design Center of the Philippines, the Intramuros Administration and Adobo Magazine, is a successful campaign for COVID-19 safety measures that takes the Intramuros community’s history and identity into account, proving good design can indeed save lives.
La Union’s “The Great Northwest Travel Stop and Viewing Deck,” designed by San Juan’s artists and entrepreneurs, answered the question, “How do you run a tourist town when there are no tourists?” The community launched ethically sourced, homegrown specialty coffee and merchandise, whose design and branding are rooted in La Union culture and identity.
The conference provided a panel of industry stakeholders to make the case for government support for esports. In 2021, the global esports market was valued at just over $1.08 billion, an almost 50 percent increase from the previous year. It’s an industry where Filipino creatives are skilled and highly in demand: Many of the Philippines’ 50 million young gamers have an eye on game development as a sustainable career.
Art and sustainability
Kidlat Tahimik is a key reason Baguio is one of only two Philippine cities listed in Unesco’s Creative Cities Network (the other being Cebu). Baguio has a Creatives Council which coordinates with artists and allocates budget for various activities.
At the closing talk of Creative Futures, the National Artist advised artistic communities to partner closely with local government units and have a ready answer to the question: What is the contribution of a cultural event to the lives of the people in the city? When it is quantifiable, there will be support.
“Itong invisible contribution, by thinking about it and framing it properly magiging visible ang contribution ng culture and the arts,” he says.
Creative Futures is part of the Citem’s Create Philippines, which has supported IP-based content industries since 2017. The website create philippines. com will be a platform where various stakeholders can see what’s happening in the local creative scene, and will function as a showcase of Philippine talent to the rest of the world.
For young Filipinos, this an illuminating and inspiring of what a future in creglimpse atives can be. And if we get our creative act together, that future holds more promise than ever before.