I have devoted almost two years of work developing ASIAN TIGERS, a docu-reality TV series about the life and work of the brightest, most passionate Mixed Martial Arts coaches here in Asia today. And I recently received great news about it.

It was submitted by my colleague Charissa Pammit to the ASIAN TELEVISION AWARDS SUPERPITCH and we were fortunate enough to be selected. You can check out the event here:

http://ata.onscreenasia.com/superpitch/about.asp

Together with my friend and colleagues from Unitel, I am flying out to Singapore this Wednesday to present our work to industry luminaries like Chris
Humphrey, the Director of Production forA+E Networks Asia and Kevin Dickie the Senior Vice President of the Content Group for Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

I have arrived at this moment with the help of many friends and colleagues. But I can draw a straight line from my friendship with Kiri Dalena , she led me to befriend Sheron Dayoc @ Kontra Agos and some years later he was kind enough to give me a strong recommendation to his good friend Maricel Royo and captain Vincent Nebrida at Unitel. They put TIGERS into motion @ UE and I will always be grateful for that.

At some point soon, I am planning on writing a proper thank you note to everyone that helped out with Tigers but for now I simply must give a special shout out to my friend Sol Galang @ Independent Minds Productions. He has been with me every step of journey right and I wouldn’t have been able to get to this moment without his unflagging support.

It has been a real honor having the chance to work with Unitel. We are still far away from that magical green light and Madonna Tarrayo, Guia, Cha and I have no idea what’s going to happen in Singapore but they certainly will hear us ROAR. 

Here’s to all the dreamers, the upstart tigers among my friends and colleagues. 

Katy Perry – Roar (Official)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CevxZvSJLk8

  

“… Fear cuts deeper than swords…”
Syrio Forel, The Game of Thrones

Due to an extremely disappointing work experience earlier this year, I am no longer accepting work as a director with the Manila office of Ogilvy & Mather’s.

I took a small job directing coverage for the Cebu Chamber of Commerce in March and subsequently went unpaid for 6 months. It was a nightmare.

I shall publish a full account of my recent work experience with O&M and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce over social and traditional media channels and my website @ www.waiseazimi.com

I believe it would be helpful my peers working in both production and advertising to understand what I went through so that they can avoid a similar situation in their own work lives.

I am beyond disappointed at how the Manila office for O&M handles payment issues for production suppliers, especially when a client starts to default on their agreed terms of payment.

I will not leave myself open to a terrible situation like this a second time.

===

UPDATE: I posted a similar notice some weeks ago, that prompted the GAM I worked with to call me the next day and pay me out of pocket. The GAM did request that I take down the original post and out of common courtesy, I complied.

However, when I sought an explanation as to the reasons for the horrendous delay in payment, I was recently told that no explanation would be forthcoming.

The original post generated an enormous amount of responses and I received several private messages from colleagues of mine working in production that have been put in similar situations. The common thread among them all was that they agreed with me but were afraid of speaking out publicly in fear of reprisals from agencies.

I have no such fears. I am happy to work extremely hard on behalf of clients and advertising agencies that adhere to industry standards regarding timely payment and I am very happy to publicly discuss clients and agencies that choose to 1) delay pay for several months or 2) choose to simply not pay at all.

PS: The production company I worked with remains unpaid as of this post and the owner remains some hundreds of thousands of pesos in debt from our work together this March.

The legendary Joel Lamangan with moi. ^_^

The legendary Joel Lamangan with moi. ^_^

Without a doubt in my mind, Maricel Ticar is the very best executive producer I have ever had the privilege of working with as a director.

Simply put, I will never forget our work together on the Dove Men+Care Valentine’s campaign last year. Her great intelligence and boundless energy made me look like a great director.

It was great hang out with M last week on the set of MADAME CHAIRMEN starring the multi-awarded singer and actress and Sharon Cuneta.

Maricel very graciously introduced me to all her work colleagues, from the gaffers on up to the director, the legendary Joel Lamangan.

She knows the name of the entire crew, treats everyone with respect and brightens up a set with her good humor. She’s a treasure.

Thanks again M. <3

Late yesterday evening I concluded my first day of taping with Fight Corps MMA for the pilot episode of the TV series I am developing with Unitel Entertainment.

I could not have accomplished this without help from Tonio Ramirez, he went through a long sleepless day on my behalf. I am very grateful for Tonio’s help. I must also mention our bright and hyper assistant Hice Hilario.

I am looking forward to meeting up with Sol Galang and the rest of my team along with with the good people from Unitel Entertainment this Friday to complete the Baguio stretch of our production. Am very happy we are now underway, this has been a long time coming. ^_^

Malik VO: I have a dream. It is very dark and I am at the bottom of a well. High above me, I can glimpse the sun and sky – but it is very far away and the well is very deep. I hear a voice.

Voice: Malik-jan. You’re going to disappear my son, you have to climb up.

DIRECTIONS: Malik looks up at the source of the voice

Malik: What happened? Where am I?

Voice: You fell son, you must try and climb out.

Malik VO: I try to find purchase on the stones

DIRECTIONS: Malik feels along the wall and tries to start climbing out. He slips and slides back down into the water.

Malik: I’m sorry, I can’t. The walls are too steep. I’ll slip and fall. Can you help?

DIRECTIONS: Malik looks up at the source of the voice

Voice: Son… You’re going to disappear, you have to climb.

Malik VO: And then, the sun and sky starts to disappear.

DIRECTIONS: You see the light on Malik’s face begin to diminish as the well cover slides across it.

Malik: Please, for the love of God help me. Please, don’t leave.

DIRECTIONS: You are plunged into total darkness with Malik.

Malik VO: And I wake up. The dream is over.

Hi2u world! ^_^

Remember this video circa Valentines last year?

Real Men Surprise Their Dates

Returning to the wild world of Ad Land, that little video I directed last year for Unilever Philippines via the good people at Ogilvy & Mather continues to surprise and rack up awards here in the Philippines.

Under the project title: Real Men are Made of Tough + Love’ my friends from Ogilvy last week walked away from the prestigious UA&P Tambuli Awards with a Gold Metal for CREATIVE EFFECTIVENESS, a Silver Metal for INTEGRATED BRAND CONTENT AND ENTERTAINMENT and yet another Silver Metal in the SMALL BUDGET BRAND awards categories.

Not a bad night for our small, surprising stunt video. Much <3 to Eric Yeo, Gerry Cacanindin, Ping Ronquillo and all the other great creatives at Ogilvy that dreamed up the concept, sold it to the client and helped bring it to life with myself, Wish Saliente Torres and Maricel Ticar. I am grateful I had a chance to contribute to this project as a director. Huzzah to the romantics & dreamers in us all. ^_^

Music videos are the bomb! Each time I get to step out and direct an MV, it’s a chance to create visually engaging work. I was given another opportunity to play in MTV-land with Vincent Bueno, a talented new artist here in the Philippines.

You can check out my Director’s Cut for his music video here: Vincent Bueno ft. Q-York: Explode – Director’s Cut

First and foremost, I would like to thank the brothers: Sol Galang and Mulawin Galang. This music video would not have been possible without their friendship and great spirits.

Sol is the maestro behind the wonderful cinematography and lighting you see in the MV, making everything more beautiful. Awin is the culprit behind the fast paced, playful master edit of the MV.

As an honorary part of Team Galang I would like to also thank Carl Chua for his work color grading and applying minor (but important!) VFX enhancements he added to the MV.

All the backdrops in the MV were generously provided by the good folks at Lighthouse Marina Resort. Over there I would like to thank Zed for handing to us the resources of the resort to us and for assisting us throughout the day and night. I must also thank Christoffer Dumlao for his help as a second unit cinematographer.

Here in Manila I must thank Jerome B Smooth for his invaluable help producing the music video and for recommending me to Vincent and his management. It was also great having another opportunity to be on set with Q-York, the hip hop artists he represents. I also enjoyed meeting Andrew Birol, who provided some impromptu choreography assistance to Vincent and myself.

And with the unofficial release of this MV, I would like to wish all my friends here in the Philippines & elsewhere a great summer. ^_^

♥

Thanks to the good people over at Fisher Klingenstein Films my feature length documentary Standing Up: Taking Over The War is now available on Amazon & Hulu.

HULU STREAMING:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/460948
AMAZON STREAMING:
http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Up-Taking-Over-The/dp/B006JIU9US

You can learn more about the documentary here:

http://www.facebook.com/StandingUpTheMovie?fref=ts

And here:

www.standingupthemovie.com

I remain very grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this documentary and for the help of the many people that made this film possible.

That lengthy list includes the Public Affairs Office of Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan and the officers and soldiers of Camp Alamo, including Arnold Strong, John Parsons, Lawrence Hatfield, people I am honored to consider my friends to this day.

I would also like to thank the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the Afghan officers of the Kabul Military Training Center. They gave me a surprising amount of freedom that was invaluable when it came to making this documentary possible. I would like to especially thank Sgt. Shireen from the KMTC Public Affairs Office. He made sure I was able to film whatever I needed, with little hassle.

This documentary is dedicated to the recruits of Battalion 55 of the Afghan National Army and to a better future for the Afghan people. It was on honor bearing witness to their lives and dreams.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their boundless support and belief in me. I could never have covered the distance I have without their love and support. Thanks Team Azimi. ♥

Over the past decade I have been deeply impressed to see games change from mere entertainment to one of the most involving art forms humanity has ever seen. The trailers meant to advertise these games have followed suit – and some of them are unbelievably beautiful and well executed.

Take Polish game developer CD Projekt; they have just released a trailer to advertise their new game: Cyberpunk 2077. Whether you are a fan of computer games or not, I think anyone can appreciate the gorgeous visuals and the creatively imagined world and characters featured in the game trailer:

Cyberpunk 2077 Trailer – CD Projekt

As a filmmaker, I continue to draw inspiration from the cinematic art that is being produced by todays computer game industry. ^_^

“To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower”

– William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
I recently chanced across some amazing microscopic photography and found the visuals so captivating that I just had to share it. The infinitesimal, writ large. ^_^

http://www.livescience.com/24194-nikon-small-world-winning-photos.html