While combing through my YouTube account I re-discovered this very early promotional sizzle for Asian Tigers, developed with Maricel Royo, Sol Galang the some of the excellent talent at Engine Room and Independent Minds Productions.

Using mostly found footage, it still plays well after all these years. Am glad again for all the generous support I received from my friends and colleagues for this development effort.

So after almost 3 years of keeping this under wraps, I feel that this is now a good time to share an effort I am very proud to have been involved in; the developmental pilot episode of ASIAN TIGERS.

Originally developed after an informal expression of interest from Kevin Dickie, SVP for Content at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, this pilot episode follows two up and coming Mixed Martial Art teams in the Philippines as they try to train and raise up champions from among the ranks of their fighters. You can check out our pilot episode here:

ASIAN TIGERS – PILOT EPISODE

In this story, there are several heroes – I’ll do my best to mention you all but if I miss anyone, please do let me know and I’ll be sure to amend the note.

First among the heroes I would like to thank are Charissa Pammit​ from Unitel Productions, Inc.​, Sol Galang​ from Independent Minds Productions​ and Javier Abola​ from Overwind Creatives. Without the backing of these three people and the resources and energy they brought with them, all of this would never have been possible.

At Unitel I would like to thank Maricel Royo​ for first seeing the initial promise in the idea and keeping it on file, Madonna Tarrayo​ for plucking it out of the file and agreeing to champion this program at the 2013 Asian Television Awards Super Pitch event, Cha for directing the development of the project at Unitel and Luis De Guzman​ for stepping in as the inexhaustible production manager for the Unitel production team that included cameraman Christian Andrew Tobias Nopia​ and sound man Hapse.

At Independent Minds I would like to thank Sol Galang for augmenting Unitel’s resources with his own substantial capability. Among his team I must thank his brother Mulawin Galang​ and cameraman Bryan Jeff Duhaylongsod Mojica​, they provided essential extra camera operators and equipment for the production that helped ensure we had exciting footage and plenty of options when we got to the editing suite.

In addition to the on-site production Sol and his team produced the title credits at the beginning of the pilot, recorded the voice over with Ebong Joson​ and mastered the sound of the final cut. Among the troops involved in these efforts I would like to thank Anna Dollero​, Mara Bernaldo​, Carl Chua​, Awin and Pj Martinez​ for their great contributions.

Like much about this pilot, the post production phase was a multi team effort. Timmy Del Rosario​ at Engine Room provided a strong rough cut that Javier at Overwind Creatives then used to shape the exceptional final cut the pilot that exists today. They had to wade through a lot of rushes and both did a superb job of finding the shots we needed and editing a sharp pilot. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work with them both.

Lastly I must thank the true Asian Tigers of this story; the MMA teams, coaches and fighters that gamely shared their lives, victories and failures with us. At Fight Corps MMA​ I would like to thank MMA star and head coach Mark Striegl​, the family behind Fight Corp, Nicho Tabora​, the twins Miguel Tabora​ and Inigo Tabora​ and their fighter Ric Myler Guillermo Empil​ for all their assistance and access in Baguio and Manila. Back over in Manila I must thank gym owner of Ultimate Fitness Metrowalk​ and team captain for Submission Sport Philippines​ Erwin Tagle​, his coaches Froilan Sarenas​ and Jason Townsend and their fighter Reign Sotto​ for giving us the access we needed to create an amazing pilot episode.

While sadly, despite our best efforts we were not able to pick up a commission for this program, I am still thankful for the interest and support we received from our colleagues Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, including Senior Vice President for Content Kevin DIckie, President of Production and Development Vikram Channa​ and DNAP executive producer Emile Guertin​.

It is my sincere hope that all of us can look back on and be proud of the incredible amount of work that went into the ASIAN TIGERS pilot. I feel extremely privileged to have had the chance to work with this small army of collaborators and it is my sincere hope that one day soon I will be able to properly thank everyone involved for their faith in me.

Keep burning bright, all you brave Asian Tigers. <3

Dear Colleagues,

If you are an Afghan filmmaker based in Afghanistan, please read on.

I am currently providing unofficial assistance to one of the programmers for the Locarno Film Festival (LFF) in Switzerland. The Locarno Film Festival is well known worldwide as a festival of discovery. Throughout its history the festival has discovered new trends and launched the careers of numerous directors and actors. You can learn more about the festival here:

http://www.pardolive.ch/pardo

The LFF has just launched a new section titled: Open Doors Hub, this section will run from 2016 to 2018 and aims to discover filmmakers from Southeast Asia – including Afghanistan. You can learn more about the Open Doors Hub here:

http://www.pardolive.ch/satellites/open-doors/about.html

I know how difficult it can be to produce and submit a feature film to an international film festival and would like to provide my experience as a filmmaker to those thinking of applying to this section.

While I cannot offer any help with financing, I can provide peer review services of your work and help put you in-touch with the Open Doors section programmers to begin talking about entering your film for this section of the LFF.

You can get in-touch with me via my website message system, you will need to enter your name, E-Mail address and your message. Browse through my website and you should find it.

Please let me know if you’re interested in getting in-touch, I would be happy to help!

Yrs,
– Waise Azimi

So proud of my time working with Wajiha, Ahmad, Zubair, Rafi, Javed and Khadijah jan on Baghch-e-Simsim/Sesame Street – Season 4.

My sweetest memories of my time at Tolo TV are with this amazing team. It was truly a special thing, having the chance to bring learning and laughter into the homes of families across Afghanistan.

Sharing their new official Facebook page, they are all jans forever. <3

I am very thankful to finally be able to share my work for WeDpro Inc.​ I directed this documentary short for their NGO sometime after super storm Haiyan slammed into the Philippines killing thousands. You can check out the documentary here:

Hope After Haiyan (Padayon sa Pag-laum

In this story, there are several heroes – I’ll do my best to mention you all but if I miss anyone, please do let me know and I’ll be sure to amend the note.

First among the heroes I would like to thank is my good friend Diego S. Maranan​. Without his initial recommendation I would never have had the opportunity to work with WeDpro. I also need to thank the WeDpro leadership I worked with, among them Tita Aida F. Santos​ for her patience and support and Tito Rolando F. Santos​ for his guidance and notes.

Turning towards the production, I want to thank my heroic camera operator Marlot Xyrell Chocs Caduyac​. The shoot saw us travel to some of the most remote parts of the Philippines, it was no easy traveling and we put in 9 – 12 hour work days for almost a week. It was exhausting work and almost all our coverage fell upon his shoulders. Not once did he complain that he was hungry, not once did he tell me he was too tired. Instead, he kept at it and produced some truly beautiful shots for the documentary. I hope to work with him again. <3

For the post production of the documentary short I must thank the heroes at Independent Minds Productions​. Among them Sol Galang​, Mulawin Galang​, Pj Martinez​ and Anna Dollero​. Without their support as a team this documentary would never have seen the light of day. I must thank them for their patience with me and for putting great effort into completing the documentary on behalf of WeDpro.

Lastly and most importantly, I would like to thank the heroes of Palo, Leyte, and Culasi, Antique. The men, women and children that survived the horrors of the storm. I have seen destruction before, in the ruins of Kabul back in 2003 but I had never witnessed something as fresh as the ruins of Leyte. Months after the storm had passed, they were still digging bodies out of the marshes as I went out about my work for WeDpro.

It is my sincere hope this documentary helps them in some small way. Thank you one and all for the privilege of directing this documentary. <3

No matter what, eventually all our work arrived at Jawed’s NLE and he had the considerable (and unenviable) task of single-handedly putting together 40 or 50+ hours of TV per production season. That’s why he was placed at the very center of the office, so that all our producers could quickly come to him with questions, suggestions and edit notes. Jawed was the sun around which our office revolved and he did his job masterfully.

Through the work day, there were times when I and the rest of my staff could sometimes slink away and steal an hour or two elsewhere, if need be – not Jawed. He was the glue that held everything together and he understood the importance of his responsibility. Jawad would come in before 8 AM, work till 12 PM, take a one hour break, come back to work at 1 PM and steadily piece together episodes of Baghch-e-Simsim until the close of the business day at 5 PM.

I respected how hard Jawed would work for the program and tried to avoid as much as possible asking him to do over time on top of the relentless work pace he had set for himself. There were a few times when I did need him to work after 5 PM and despite not being over the moon about it he always put in the extra time to get our job done.

It became something of an inside joke within the office, me or Wajiha asking Jawad to stay overtime. 5 PM would roll around and Jawad would start getting ready to leave and to his amusement she and I’d always plead for him to stay awhile extra in the office. Thank God he forgave my terrible sense of humor.

I honestly don’t know how we would have managed without him, he brought a great deal of experience and knowledge about what was required to get the program on-air and a great attention to detail. Towards the end of the season, when we had gotten through the bulk of the heavy lifting at the NLE, he asked for a short vacation and I gladly approved it. Jawad had gone months without a break and he more than deserved it.

He was the show’s unsung star and was one of the handful of employees at the office that earned top marks and comments on the peer review documents I had to prepare and send to HR. As a person, Jawed was a man of few words but he wasn’t unfriendly. He had a great understated sense of humor and – more so than anyone else in the office, including myself, commanded respect not through his own personal power but simply through the character of his person.

We all may have had our differing opinions but on Jawed we were united; myself, my staff and the dubbing team loved him.

Despite the rush and exhaustion of work and the language barrier between us, over the course of my many months working with Jawed I got a chance to get to know him better. We spent many days seated side by side reviewing episodes for delivery to Sesame Workshop or for on-air broadcast at Tolo.

He was an athlete and whenever he had time to spare he’d make his way to the kickboxing gym to keep in shape, to keep himself lean he also kept a bottle of apple cider vinegar on his desk; he was an artist too and eventually shared with me an animated short he’d produced and directed decrying extremism in Afghan society – and most sadly of all, Jawad had very big dreams.

High up among his bucket list of goals was to deepen his understanding of filmmaking and explore a little more of the world by attending a prestigious film academy. He applied for the 2015 Asian Film Academy in Busan. Korea and I tried my best to assist him with his application.

In the end, he was not admitted but I encouraged him to keep trying and he, himself was unphased. What would have devastated me was only a temporary setback for him, he knew if he simply kept trying – it would one day happen for him.

The last time I heard Jawed’s voice was almost a month back. From here in Manila I got on a Skype call with Wajiha while she was at the office. It was the end of the work day and Jawed was getting ready to leave. I couldn’t pass up another great chance to badger him again, both Wajiha and I began singing our old song, pleading him to stay just a few extra minutes. I could almost picture his trademark crooked smile at my antics.

Since the attacks I have not been able to get on a Skype call with my former team yet but a few days ago I was messaging with Wajiha over Facebook. She had returned back to the office and that day it was empty save for her and Khadija. She wrote that for some reason she still had this strange, sad hope that it all would have turned out to be a lie and eventually Jawad would open the door to the office and stride on in as he always used to, ready for another day’s work…

… I wish I had been there in the office that day to order him to stay overtime, I wish he had been accepted into the Asian Film Academy. I wish I didn’t have to read about his death in article by Mujib Mashal in the New York Times. I wish would have another chance to take him out for lunch around town. Above all, I wish he still was with his family.

Jawed jan was a great man, loved by many, loved by his family and had he lived I am certain he would have gone on to do great things. I will miss him and do my best to remember him in my life.

“… the people who NEVER stop trying to make their films, no matter how hard it is for them to pursue it – those are the people who succeed…”

Dear Colleagues.

Though I have been away from Afghanistan for months now, the memory of my time working with you all remains bright in my mind and heart. Like all of you, I was devastated last week to hear of the attack on our comrades as they came home from work.

I worked closely with Jawed, Hussein and Mehri jan during my time at Tolo and cannot believe that they are no longer with us. And while relieved, I am still saddened to think that good friends like Abouzar jan will bear wounds from the attack for the rest of his life.

Terror has finally visited the one company that has worked hardest to return light back to Afghanistan. We all knew this day could someday come for us but it is now that Afghanistan needs you and Tolo the most.

Jawed, Hussein, Mehri and all the rest of our friends killed and injured in last week’s attack dedicated themselves to bringing joy, laughter and happiness into the homes of Afghans throughout the country – irrespective of their ethnicity or religious affiliation. The best way to pay tribute to their lives is for you to continue their work, to keep going. Always forwards, never backwards – no matter what.

The Taliban, ISIS and Al-Qaeda wish to terrorize us. Strike fear and anguish into your hearts with this attack. You must reject this. Change your Facebook profiles from those black squares of despair and blood – I urge you to deny the Taliban the sick satisfaction of your grief.

Instead proudly display the faces of your beloved friends or Tolo’s logo – unbent, unbowed and unbroken on your social media profiles. And put up the pictures of our martyrs up on the walls of our TV station, so that no one will ever forget the names of our friends or their sacrifice.

You are stronger than the Taliban may have the time, they may have their bombs and guns – but you have the hopes and dreams of the entire nation behind you. They may wound you again and again but in the end they can only win if you give up. Never give up.

Keep going my dear friends, working with you all at Tolo TV was and forever will be a privilege and an honor. I wish I was there to share your grief, celebrate the lives of our comrades and take care of our wounded. But I am not far, I will always stand with you – and you can contact me whenever you wish.

God bless you all, God bless Tolo TV and God Bless Afghanistan. <3

– Waise

In the names of our fallen friends and colleagues – and the name of every Afghan man, woman and child taken by this horrible conflict, Tolo must continue.