...the Filipina Marvel superhero

Here comes Wave, A Filipina superhero from Marvel

Philippine Daily Inquirer

16 March 2019

LOS ANGELES — A Filipina superhero will be gracing the pages of the Marvel Comics soon.

After the release of “Captain Marvel,” the first woman superhero to have its own major film, comic book writer and filmmaker Greg Pak on March 9 unveiled “Wave” on Twitter, designed and co-created by Filipino comic book artist Leinil Francis Yu.

Greg Pak/TWITTER

Wave has been described by Marvel as “a mysterious new Filipino heroine.” She has identifiable Filipino “morena” skin, a green and gold costume, weapons, and she will be teaming up with heroes from China named Aero and Sword Master.

Wave will debut in “War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1,” the first of four “War of the Realms” issues to be released in May. The story will be set in Asia and will center on the New Agents of Atlas led by Korean-American superhero Amadeus Cho (aka Brawn, previously the Hulk).

Joining his team (aside from Wave) are Chinese Kung-Fu master Shang-Chi, Korean-American heroine Silk and SHIELD agent Jimmy Woo.

“Thank you so much for the huge response to Wave, Marvel’s new Filipina superhero, who’ll debut in War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1! Huge thanks to [Leinil Yu], who co-created and designed her,” Pak posted on Twitter.

Marvel’s website, editor Will Moss said that “War of the Realms” will involve all the heroes from the “Avengers,” “Fantastic Four,” “Wolverine” — pretty much the whole line.

All these superheroes are out to fight Malekith, the king of the dark elves, who is conquering all realms including Midgard or Earth.

...the Pinoy talent

Pixar Co-Founder Ralph Guggenheim Lauds Filipino Talent

 

BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT EXCLUSIVE

By ANNIE S. ALEJO

July 30, 2012

 

 

 

Ralph Guggenheim notes the huge potential in the Philippine Creative Services sector (File Photo)

 
 
 MANILA, Philippines - Marking the maiden staging of the Film, Animation and Gaming Congress of the Department of Tourism on July 26 and 27 was the participation of acclaimed international film and animation professionals, among them Nickelodeon’s Eli Noyes, Cartoon Network Online creator Doug Barry and Pixar co-founder Ralph Guggenheim.
 
Guggenheim, who has served as the Vice President of Feature Animation for Pixar Studios and as lead producer for the 1997 animated hit “Toy Story,” and who has been executive producer for Electronic Arts, now runs Alligator Planet LLC. His current company is involved in projects that put him in business with various offshore production studios. While he is yet to work with a Filipino studio, he does know our rich history in the creative field.

“Philippines has a long history of animation that I know goes back at least… it’s 20 years that I’ve been involved in this sort of thing and I know that it goes further than that,” Guggenheim tells Bulletin Entertainment on the last day of the Congress. “And there’s a number of great studios that are here and a number of great young artists whose work we’ve seen over the last few days [that we’ve been in the country]. So we think there’s huge potential here.”

The Congress, with the theme “Made in the Philippines: From Storytelling to Storyselling,” coincided with the Cinemalaya Film Festival. It aimed to help filmmakers (producers/directors), original content creators, and various other people in Philippine Creative Industries to identify issues and challenges that face them, as well as the various opportunities open to them.

It had also planted the seed in the development of a globally competitive Creative Services in the country. In fact, according to a DTI press release, the Creative Services sector reported revenues in 2011 of about US$142 million for animation and US$7 million for game development. It employs almost 10,000 creative workers and support workers as well.

Of bigger and perhaps more worldwide opportunities for local artists, Guggenheim notes, “All of the studios that I know have started because a few artists came together and built something and it became larger and larger and they did better and better work as time went on. They weren’t all experts when they started but their expertise grew and their knowledge grew as they worked together. And it’s an industry where young talent is always appreciated and always desired, so there’s no question that this could happen.”

Perhaps his visit would become beneficial to both him and our local artists.  “We always do a lot of projects with overseas companies and we’re always looking for a new, young talent and companies that are capable of creating stuff and that can work together with us in ah… projects. So yeah, we are always in search for that and we think the Philippines will be a great place to work.”

Guggenheim and some fellow speakers planned to wrap up their second day of the Congress on the 27th by staying a few more hours at the CCP. “I will see my first film at Cinemalaya this afternoon. We’ve been busy with the conference,” he smiles. “We love independent films and I’ve heard Cinemalaya has great filmmakers and great films so I’m ready to relax and enjoy some films.”

As advice to young creators, Guggenheim closes the interview by offering, “I was once so young [boy] who had an interest in animation, got together with some people I knew and liked, and things grew and changed and our company became successful. But we didn’t start with anything more than a dream and an idea of what we wanted to do.”


Indeed, big dreams come true not just in the make-believe world of movies and animation but, as Guggenheim proves, also in real life.

...the Cartoon pool of talents

Filipinos can really draw,’ says cable network exec

 

By: Oliver M. Pulumbarit
Philippine Daily Inquirer

December 15, 2011

 

 

 

SILAS Hickey: “Has everyone been to art schools here?”

“There are lots of Filipino kids who are incredible at drawing,” enthused Silas Hickey, Hong Kong-based Cartoon Network Asia Pacific creative director.

Hickey visited the country in March to scout for animation industry talents, and recently returned to promote various Cartoon Network projects such as “Johnny Bravo Goes to Bollywood” and “Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens.”

He was a guest speaker at Animahenasyon 2011, the annual Filipino animation festival held in November. Hickey also shared updates on his talent search at a press conference in Quezon City.

“People here can really draw,” Hickey said. “It’s interesting. Has everyone been to art schools or is it just like anyone can draw? In terms of animation, Hanna-Barbera used to be here; they had a training program. But it’s not just those people. There are studios on the outskirts of Manila, little houses and stuff… it’s really incredible.”

Discoveries

His first visit yielded other “really exciting” discoveries. “There are some incredible established studios in the Philippines,” Hickey said. “[There are many] very skilled animators here. We are continuing negotiations with some of these larger studios, to perhaps work on some of our Cartoon Network properties. We need to tap into that. That’s what we’re trying to do since I came here in March. We’ve had some very successful meetings, met some really wonderful people in the industry. We have plans to work with these more established studios as well as individuals.”

Snaptoons

Hickey also talked about the Snaptoons (Short New Asia Pacific Cartoons) program, an ongoing regional project aimed at discovering new, original content. “How that works is there’ll be some sort of solicitation that goes out mainly to professionals,” Hickey said. “We’ll approach studios, animation professionals, directors and writers, and we’ll ask them to submit ideas. It’s not free; we pay them to do that. We’ll make those into ‘shorts.’ If it’s successfully received, we’ll consider making that into a telemovie or a series.”

“There’ll be a solicitation to sort a Philippine Snaptoons,” he added. “There’s something like that on the horizon. Actually, what we’re considering is to have a regional Snaptoons; we can also [include] Korea or Japan.”

Hickey observed that Filipinos have unique advantages. “The thing that’s always encouraging about the Philippines is we do get lots and lots of material [from Filipinos],” he said. “There really is a sort of understanding of western culture.”

Many successful original properties debuted in the shorts format, according to Hickey. “Johnny Bravo started as a short. It’s a great concept and there’s a lot less risk if you have that concept, rather than just launching a multimillion-dollar series.”

Hickey has advice on content-creation, specifically the parameters of irreverence: “It’s case by case; you can’t do certain things in India that’s totally fine in Australia. You have to be very sensitive, very careful that you don’t make any mistakes.”

He added that kids primarily want entertainment, so certain things must be avoided. “We don’t want to make content that comes off as sounding preachy. Kids don’t like it,” he said. “Contemporize it in some way. Really write a story and characters with export potential in mind!”

...the Cosplay finalists

Filipina cosplayers in STGCC finals

By MAUREEN MARIE BELMONTE

August 19, 2011

Manila Bulletin

Filipinos Stephanie Sumbe (L) and Mary Grace Roldan (R) are set to compete in Singapore cosplay contest on Aug. 21 (Photos courtesy of their Facebook Fanpages)

MANILA, Philippines – Unlikely Pinay cosplayers Mary Grace Roldan and Stephanie Sumber were two of the eight finalists in this year's Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention (STGCC) Cosplay Competition, one of the biggest cosplay events in Asia.

As reported by abs-cbnNEWS.com’s Aug. 18, report, Roldan, an accountant whose cosplay name was Kawaimace and Sumbe whose cosplay name was Nikki is a grade 2 teacher will be flying to Singapore on Friday to prepare for the competition to be held on Aug. 21 at the Suntec Convention Center, Singapore.

Asked how she got into cosplay, Roldan replied "Dati attendee lang ako sa cosplay events. Nakita ko 'yung creativity nila, skills, tapos in one event naisip ko kaya ko rin 'yun."

In a taped interview posted on Cosplay Network Philippines’ official Facebook account, Roldan shared that she discovered her knack for cosplay in 2007.

Also a photography enthusiast, Roldan shared that she owns about six costumes, including outfits of Lime from “Saber Marionette,” Witchblade from Witchblade comics and female predator from “Predator.”

 

“Yung mga costumes ko mostly pinapagawa ko, pero yung mga small details pinapagawa ko na lang,” Roldan shared.

Asked what her favorite costume are, she replied, “Favorite ko si female predator kasi gawa siya sa mga recycled materials. Mga karton, mga balikbayan box, mga  old Styrofoam na pinulot lang sa mga nagcoconstruction. Tapos paper mache lang siya na very unique.”

Sumbe, for her part, related to abs-cbnNEWS.com that she was inspired to do cosplay by Amane Misa, a fictional character in Tsugumi Ohba’s manga-turned-anime then film series, "Death Note."

"I really like Amane Misa, so I wore her clothes," she said. As to why she's into cosplay, she quipped, "I find self-fulfillment in cosplay."

The two tied in the first place under the individual category of anime channel, Hero TV’s Face Off cosplay contest last year.

The grand winner in this year's STGCC cosplay competition will take home 1,000 Singapore dollars (or about P35,260).

...the Pinoy animators

'Animating' Filipinos for a global market

By Dan V. Paurom
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Monday, May 30th, 2011

FILIPINO DIGITAL animators may soon be joining the global animation industry as they expand their work portfolios.

The country’s first full animated feature film “Urduja” is reminiscent of Disney classics with its charming hand-drawn style. Local animators have also released the first Filipino 3D film in theaters, “RPG Metanoia,” showing that Filipinos have the potential to create world-class animated feature films.

Despite the considerable gains, however, the local animation scene still has a long way to go due to a lack of skilled digital animators. This is partly because there are very few opportunities for Filipinos to gain the necessary skills.

Digimation UK, an animation school based in the United Kingdom, wants to change all that. In a press conference, it announced it would be offering 3D digital animation courses at reasonable prices at La Consolacion College Manila (LCCM).

Dilip Amdekar, chief executive officer and dean of Digimation, said this was an opportunity for Filipinos to get into the billion-dollar gaming and animation industry.

Amdekar said, with the quality and level of education they were offering, Filipinos would have access to high-paying digital animation jobs.

Suren, a teacher at Digimation UK, said simply knowing digital manipulation and computer programs such as Maya and Adobe Photoshop was not enough to succeed in the business.

Aspiring animators should have a burning passion and love for their craft. Educators should not only teach students the needed technical skills but also ignite the spark of creativity inherent in everyone.

Suren showed a video presentation made by Digimation UK students on the history of animation—from crude cave paintings to motion “scopes” of the late 19th century and today’s advanced computer programs capable of projecting entire worlds before global audiences.

An impressive segment broke down explosion scenes in Hollywood movies to show viewers how they were made and how much effort was taken to make them look as realistic as possible.

Present during the press conference was Ryan Flynn, a principal lecturer in games design at University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom. Flynn said the entertainment industry always thrived, especially during times of recession, because of the masses’ insatiable demand for entertainment.

Flynn added that anyone with skills in digital animation could work from their beds at home and, on their laptops, create games that could sell immediately. He cited Angry Birds, a simple game made by a small team of skilled individuals that became a hit worldwide with more than 200 million downloads.

But Flynn said, despite the potential of the games industry, there was a shortage of qualified digital animators. Many game developers had to settle for professionals with limited skills.

Digimation UK hoped that by offering accessible quality education, they could help individuals get respectable positions and salaries in a respectable field.

The school offers two-year courses that teach students technical skills that can also be used in many other fields related to computer programming.

Students who graduate from the two-year courses can take advance animation courses at the prestigious University of Greenwich in London.

...the cartoonist

Cartoon Network seeks Pinoy animators

BusinessWorld Online
14 March 2011

 

Not many people know that the creator of the widely popular cartoon Johnny Bravo is a Filipino-American animator named Efrem Giovanni "Van" Bravo Partible.

Mr. Partible created the character Johnny Bravo as part of his 1993 senior thesis animation project called Mess O’Blues for his Studio Arts degree at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

After Hanna-Barbera Cartoons saw Mr. Partible’s project, they asked him to do a pitch for a seven-minute cartoon based on Mess O’Blues. He then shortened his project, leading to the creation of a character named Johnny Bravo -- a muscular guy with a James Dean pompadour and a voice like Elvis Presley.

Johnny Bravo was then featured as part of a new animation showcase called World Premiere Toons produced for cable channel Cartoon Network in 1995.

The popularity of the short animated feature led Cartoon Network to commission a full series. Johnny Bravo, the animated series, debuted on Cartoon Network in 1997, and was renewed for multiple seasons until it finally ended its official run in 2004.

LOOKING FOR TALENT

Impressed with the success of Johnny Bravo, and the talent of Mr. Partible, Cartoon Network executives visited the Philippines last week to scout for Pinoy animators, writers and producers who could help develop new projects for the cable channel.

Silas Hickey, Cartoon Network’s creative director for Asia-Pacific animation development told Manila-based reporters that he is on the lookout for the "next Van."

"We at Cartoon Network have always known about the talent that Filipino animators have. But instead of just letting them animate the characters that we already have, we have to find talented animators who can come up with compelling characters that we can feature on Cartoon Network," Mr. Hickey said in an interview.

Based on the report by the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc., there are about 100 animation studios in the Philippines employing about 10,000 animators, producers, writers, and directors, among others.

The animation industry in the Philippines posted total revenues of $110 million in 2008, growing from $70 million in 2006.

Mr. Hickey said Cartoon Network has worked with various Philippine-based animation studios for a variety of projects. "But this is the first time in our company’s history that we are considering to work with Filipino animators to develop a new show that we can produce for airing not only in Cartoon Network Asia, but for our other markets as well, like Europe," he said.

He explained that Cartoon Network has already conducted a similar project with Indian animators with positive results.

"We worked with Indian writers when we spoofed the Indian legendary tale Mahabharata," he said.

Mr. Hickey said developing new characters as created by local talents is part of Cartoon Network’s strategy to remain relevant in the region. "We believe that it is important to come up with characters that our audiences can relate with," he explained.

Mr. Hickey said Cartoon Network has received a huge number of entries from the Philippines when they conducted their pioneering original content development initiative called Short New Asian Pacific Cartoons or SNAPtoons last year.

"The numerous entries from the Philippines have proven to us that there is so much talent here, that is why I went here to check [the Philippine animation industry] out myself," he said.

Mr. Hickey had meetings with various animation studios in the country during his five-day stay until last Saturday. He explained that he will meet with Cartoon Network Asia executives based in Hong Kong to discuss which Philippine-based animation studios made the first cut.

A LONG PROCESS

He explained that the process of developing a new animated series will take "at least two years" from developing the characters, to the actual production.

Once the new animated series is ready, it will debut on Cartoon Network, which is aired in over 166 countries in 26 languages across 27 separate feeds, reaching nearly 265 million homes worldwide.

"We are open to any idea. Even if you think no one would ever, ever, ever let you make your character into a new show, we would like to see it," Mr. Hickey said. "Who knows? We might have the next Johnny Bravo on our hands." - Jeffrey O. Valisno