A Tale of Productions Through the Eyes of Nico Antonio

by Mathew Chan

If you have been in your country’s television industry for years like Nico Antonio, getting the chance to work on a show somewhere else can be a breath of fresh air as well as a learning experience. Antonio, a veteran in the film and television industry in the Philippines has been a working actor for almost 20 years. He’s played an array of characters and you’d think he would be slowing down but his career is in full swing with back to back to back projects in both TV and film.

Given his deep ties to the industry and being a veteran, you’d think he would just be constantly offered roles, but he still auditions for roles, “I still do auditions when it is necessary to see if the role really fits me.” And this shows the importance of the audition process. A bad audition can cost you the role, and a good one can change the trajectory of your career and that’s exactly what Antonio experienced. After a tip from his mom regarding the audition, Antonio took the chance. He did two pieces for his audition on Disney+’s Big Bet “I really wanted the role but at the same time, I know that it does always not go your way all the time. But with prayers and some luck, I eventually landed the role and the rest is history,” as Antonio put it, and history indeed as he landed the role and spent about 3 months shooting in Olongapo City in the Philippines, as well as flying to South Korea to shoot interior scenes at a soundstage.

Big Bet tells the story of a legendary kingpin in the casino world in the Philippines but due to unfortunate events, has to make big bets to correct the trajectory of his life. Though the majority of filming took place in the Philippines, how they filmed the series was very different compared to how local series in the country films. Antonio noted how fast and efficient production was “In terms of working with the Korean production, they were very strict with time. They provided a certain amount of time for a scene and they had to finish around the given time. Afterwards, they moved on to the next scene. They worked very fast but at the same time, they were efficient.“

While for all intents purposes, Big Bet is a Korean Drama, despite it having a predominately Korean production team, there wasn’t any language barrier to slow or hinder things. According to Antonio, there were several Koreans who could speak English and Tagalog as well as Bisaya and Chayacano (languages in the Philippines).

Being on Disney+ the show has a significant budget, bigger than a typical series in the Philippines. But that could change with the upcoming Voltes V: Legacy series, soon to air on GMA 7 which Antonio is also a part of. And according to him, the scope and scale are almost at par with Big Bet. “You could really feel that GMA Network meticulously prepared for the project. They spent so much from the costumes to the production set. And the actors were really into their roles.”

Having been part of Big Bet, a series produced by another country with different ways of doing things Nico Antonio learned a lot and took away a few things for future projects, “To be always early,” he said. And if there’s something Philippine productions can adapt from Korean productions he mentions “Aside from bigger budget, I think Philippine production should be given more time to execute their work so that, they can do more shots or camera angles, thus, creating more perspective to either a scene or a character.”

Time will only tell if The Philippines can adopt that style of production but a bigger budget can truly benefit any production, and if Voltes V: Legacy proves to be a success, it gives more incentive for Philippine productions to scale up their budget. As for what’s next for Nico Antonio? He was just in the movie Here Comes The Groom which was part 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival Summer edition, as well as the series Teen Clash on iWant. You’ll see him next as General Ozlack on the forthcoming Voltes V: Legacy on GMA 7.

RisingStories 2023 ‘More Than Just Stories’ assembles media professionals from the UK, South Korea, Taiwan & Singapore to discuss the state of global content creation

by Mathew Chan

On 25th March 2023 at IMDA Pixel, Singapore, the panel sessions “More Than Just Stories” assembled top professionals from the global film and television industry in a timely, energetic and pointed discussion on the state of the global content creation and production industry today.

“More Than Just Stories” was part of a series of industry outreach sessions held in Taiwan and Singapore, in conjunction with the 2023 RisingStories International Scriptwriting Competition (“RisingStories 2023”). Organized by Studio 76 — with Blintn, GroupM, Mission Entertainment, Rising Films, Southern Flame, Taiwan Dream Institute, and Weiyu Films as partners.

Some of the panelists in “More Than Just Stories” — Lester Hsi, Hong Hui-fang, Tan Kheng Hua and Samm Haillay — are also members of the jury in the competition.

Chris Tan, Director, Media Industry Development, Singapore Film Commission, Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) , also graced the event, lending his support to the vision of building a content ecosystem not only between Taiwan and Singapore, but with the rest of the world.

“We have seen successful partnerships with production companies in Singapore. We value the journey of working with storytellers and producers and post-production companies outside of Taiwan and it will be an ongoing process. We won’t stop. I hope Studio76 can bring more Asian stories from Taiwan to work together with everyone in the region,” said Dennis Yang of Studio76. The panel discussions were conducted in both Chinese and English.

The first Chinese session was anchored by Lester Hsi, a director from Taiwan best known for “The Cursed Bridge” movie franchise and a jury member on the Chinese panel for 2023 RisingStories. The second sharing session was led by Singaporean director Ong Kuo-Sin and actress Hong Hui-Fang. They believe that whatever the content, the story needs to be logical and a journey that hopefully comes full circle for the main character.

The first English session was “The Business of Writing ‘’ with Dennis Yang, CEO & Founder of Studio76.co ; and Peter Choe, Founder & CEO, Blintn , who dialed in from South Korea just for this panel discussion. “I think it made for a great learning experience to have perspectives from our industry peers in Taiwan and South Korea. That regional outlook from both Peter and Dennis was, I hope, very useful to the audience,” said TJ.

Considering how filmmaking is a commercial enterprise, the panel discussed if there is a brighter future for writers who focus on popular genres. Dennis urged the writers to ask themselves instead, “Why do you want to tell the story? Why is it so important? Could this story be told by someone else or are you the best person to tell the story? I want to know the relationship between the story and the creator. It is best that it has a personal connection”.

Dennis added that “Not many writers are multi-skilled enough to take on different genres.” He advised writers to stick to a genre that they are good at and spend several years polishing their skills in storytelling. “Does genre define the story or does the story define the genre? A lot of writers like to start with the genre. I would say the story is the food itself, and genre the spices that bring out the core message, and that’s my personal opinion.”

One overarching theme that seemed to emerge from the panel discussions was that, no matter where the content originates or which market it is intended for, writers should strive for a personal engagement with the stories they seek to tell, and while they should “write local,” they should also “think global.”