My partner fetched me after work, had a quick breakfast at Krispy Kreme MOA, then met up with our friend who will also attend the event. Every time we attend these kind of events, we tend to feel a little bit old since most participants are college/high school students. But hey, do I really look a professional already? I still look like a student, right? Hahaha :))

We arrived at SMX, registered on the professional booth under Lomograpika and got our loot bag. It has some freebies like pen, notepad and also the events program guide and other related flyers from their sponsors/partners. I think this year was jam packed maybe because some speakers are famous and loved by youth. 

The second speaker was Marnie Manicad, Jiggy Manicad’s wife. She is a film and television director. She manages Marnie Manicad Productions International (MMPI), a production company based in the Philippines that specialize in films, television shows and documentaries that are co-produced with local and international partners. She also shared her humble beginnings and showed some of her works. She is indeed a very talented Director. Despite her busy schedule, she manages to attend her family’s needs and tries her best to be a hands on mom. Now that’s a wonder woman.

Due to their busy schedule, they opted to have a Q&A portion right after their talk. They were accompanied on stage by their two cute daughters. Mostly the questions were about time management, techniques and inspirations. Too bad, they have to leave early so I wasn’t able to take a picture with them.

After the Q&A, the third speaker immediately started. It was Bong Sare of Threelogy’s turn. Established in 2004, Threelogy is a video company composed of crazy, but otherwise very talented filmmakers headed by college buddies Jon Chug, CJ Lagman and Bong Sare. They specialize in capturing the beauty of a wedding the way it should be captured – candidly. Their work reached mainstream when they covered celebrity weddings of Oyo Boy Sotto and Kristine Kristine Hermosa, Banjo Albano and Sarah Meier, Allen Tan and Roselle Nava, and very recently Yael Yuzon and Karylle Tatlonghari. He shared his wedding videography adventures and how thankful he is to one of his inspiration and mentor, Mr. Jason Magbanua. The highlight of his talk is his advice to the participants, especially the youth to take advantage of the technology and make good use of it. To watch their creations, you may visit them at http://threelogyvideo.com/blog/

It was lunch time already. We had a quick lunch at Burger King MOA, then head back to SMX before 1PM. Before the program resume, I grabbed the opportunity to approach and ask for a picture with Mr. Patrick Filart, the husband of my favorite blogger, Ms. Patty Laurel-Filart. Mr. Filart, owner of Thirty Six-O Media, was one of the event partners. He was so accommodating and kind. I was hoping Ms. Patty was there, hahaha :))

The program proceeds and started with the fourth speaker, Arnold Arre. He is a Filipino comic book writer, artist and self-taught animator best known for his graphic novels The Mythology Class (1999) and Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat (2006). He is based in Quezon City and is married to graphic designer Cynthia Bauzon. He shared his journey on how he struggle with finding his own medium of animation. For a self-taught animator, he really did an amazing job. In July 2013, he finished his first 20-minute animated short film titled Milkyboy.The film went on to win awards at the 25th Gawad CCP Para Sa Alternatibong Pelikula in November 2013, the 7th Animahenasyon (Philippine Animation Festival) in November 2013, and the 30th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) in May 2014 where Arre was awarded the Linda Mabalot New Directors/New Visions Award, presented to a short film that demonstrates innovative and original use of cinematic language and vision. Now that’s huge.

Fifth speaker was Notion in Motion, a wedding videography team composed of brothers, Leo and RJ Nicolas, the younger siblings of wedding filmmaker, Bob Nicolas. The talent certainly runs in the blood inheriting their craft from their dad, Bert Nicolas. Notion in Motion is most popular for capturing raw emotions that builds breathtaking, heartfelt and meaningful story. Their fluid slow motions combined with their high level camera work truly puts their notion in motion. They discussed the value of respect and harmony among co-wedding suppliers. They shared a story on how it saved them during a crisis. You can sense how humble and shy the brothers were. To watch their creations, you may visit them at thenotioninmotion.com/

Sixth was Carlo Directo. He is a TV commercials director. Carlo has done hundreds of TV commercials for almost all popular products and brands in the country. To date, Carlo worked on spots for Globe, Smart, Talk & Text, Sun Cellular, KFC, Nissin, Maggi, Banco de Oro, HBO, ESPN, and SkyCable, to name a few. I was really inspired by his stories and his simplicity. His ideas are awesome, catchy and funny. His word of advice, “Don’t be arrogant & stay humble.” Then I just realized, his last name is Directo. Coincidence or Fate?

The moment that I have been waiting for, RA and Ramon’s talk. RA Rivera is a Filipino director and musician. He is known for directing music videos for famous Filipino artists like Radio Active Sago Project, Pedicab, and The Brew. Ramon Bautista is a Filipino actor, radio DJ, TV show host, commercial model, filmmaker, producer and University of the Philippines, Diliman professor. Dubbed as the “Internet superstar”. As an academician and comedian, his antics are more of a social commentary on Philippine culture and celebrity stardom than just typical gags.

RA instead of speaking alone, opted to wait for Ramon so they can talk together. While waiting for Ramon, RA showed the audience their old videos and creations.

Upon Ramon’s arrival, they started discussing their humble beginnings. They reiterated the importance of being unique and being an avant garde. They also reminded all the aspiring artists that if you can’t take negative criticisms, then you’re dead. Negative criticisms should be an inspiration and motivation to do better. Ramon also said that he admires Justin Beaber. Why? Because despite all the bashers and negative criticisms about him, he still stands head up high. (Funny because after 2 weeks or so, Ramon was engaged on a scandal at Davao for his “hipon” statement but he surpassed it and channeled Justin Bieber)

Both of them also reminded everyone to expect less because expectations always lead to disappointment. Sounds contradicting but if we come to think of it, they have a point. We just need to do our best in everything we do. Their talk is very light and full of humor, but very inspiring indeed. In case you haven’t seen their works (which I doubt), you may visit RA Rivera’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/rarivera. You may also visit Ramon Bautista’s Tales From The Friendzone’s facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RamonBautistasTFTFZ

After the last speakers, Q&A part, but here’s my favorite part. Meet and greet + photo op time with the speakers!

Since Ramon was one of the speaker, I brought my “Bakit Hindi Ka Crush ng Crush Mo?” copy. (A day before going to the event, my partner pulled a prank on me. I lent him that book ages ago but since I’m slightly forgetful, he told me he already returned the book to me. So I thought he did and I probably left it in Batangas. I was so upset but luckily, he was just making fun of me.) Honestly, I was so nervous because I really admire Ramon Bautista. Patience is not my thing, but standing and waiting in line just to meet him was all worth it. He’s really nice and was able to ask me some personal questions about me and my partner. He even wrote a dedication on my copy of his book for me and my partner.

Like Ramon, I also admire RA. He’s the genius behind almost all of Ramon’s trending YouTube videos. I am really in awe at that moment.

With the Nicolas brothers. They’re both shy, really.

With Arnold Arre. If we had ample time, I wanted to ask for a simple caricature from him.

With Carlo Directo and Arnold Arre.

With Bong Sarre.

I enjoyed this year’s event but I was expecting a lot more technical point of view from the speakers rather than hearing inspirational stories. Hearing a professional’s technical point of view is really important, especially for those non-technical people like me who doesn’t have any hands on experience.

For my next year’s wishlist speakers, hopefully they will invite Bob Nicholas, Lino Cayetano, Paul Soriano, Erik Matti and Bobot Mortiz.

Attended Fast Forward 2014? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment. See you again next year! (Hopefully)

Photo credit to my forever partner, founder and creative director of Lomograpika.