MANILA, Philippines?The work of Filipino-American animator Arvin Louis Bautista is featured in David Lee Miller?s ?My Suicide,? an entry to the Generation 14 Plus section of this year?s Berlin International Film Festival.

Fresh out of the University of Southern California film school, Bautista ?took a huge chance? and applied for the job of lead animator for Miller, who was putting together a live action film with animated sequences.

That ?long, grueling, rewarding? journey began in 2006, the LA-based artist recalled in an e-mail sent to Inquirer Entertainment minutes before flying to Berlin. Yesterday, ?My Suicide? premiered at the top-ranked festival.

A filmmaker by training but an illustrator by avocation, Bautista counts among his idols Pinoy artists Larry Alcala, Nonoy Marcelo and Pol Medina Jr.

He said he gets to read the latest editions of Medina?s ?Pugad Baboy? comic book, courtesy of dad Levi who visits the Philippines every so often and buys the stuff for him.

?I consider (Medina) as the most important Filipino influence on my career,? he noted.

What did your work as lead animator entail, considering that ?My Suicide? is a live action film?
The film is told from the perspective of Archie, a high-school student obsessed with filmmaking and media in general. He represents the new generation of teens bombarded with multimedia since childhood. A self-taught illustrator, he conveys his views to the world with animation and visual effects in an innovative, if haphazard way.

What was it like working with the director?
Working with David and actor/co-writer/editor Gabriel Sunday, who plays Archie, was the ultimate in collaboration. They would come up with ideas for animated sequences based on techniques I was unfamiliar with. But they would entrust me with the task. As such, my skills were multiplied on the job. They claim that they were drawn to the roughness and spontaneity of my drawings, having never studied animation other than in my spare time.

What was the challenge of making this film?
The tricky part was making the animation look good and ?film-worthy,? while retaining its spontaneity and youthfulness. After all, the animation was supposedly created by a 17-year-old in his bedroom at four in the morning. Moreover, Archie constantly switched genres?from cartoons to anime to 3D to rotoscoping (traced live action). I had to juggle various elements all at once.

What?s the most enjoyable part?
Trying new things and being a strong creative voice in the film. I didn?t spend years working on just one or two shots or designing just one prop or character, which is what many young animators end up doing. I got to see entire sequences from beginning to end. This is a job that comes along once in a blue moon.

What?s it like to have a film competing in Berlin?
We?re all nervous letting our baby out into the world, but as a celebrity once said (which is also a line from the movie): ?Films are never finished, they?re abandoned.? I?m glad to abandon such a wonderful baby. I?ve seen the movie dozens of times; I?m looking forward to experiencing it with a large, brand-new crowd.

How Filipino are you?
We moved to the US in 1993, when I was 9. I?ve spent almost 2/3 of my life here. Pero marunong akong mag-Tagalog (but I know how to speak Tagalog) because of ?Pugad Baboy.?

Lots of Filipinos are excelling in the animation industry in the US.
It doesn?t surprise me, but I also feel heartened that they?re carving their own niche in the Philippines. I urge Filipino animators to create their own unique style and not just stick to the skills they learned while working on Disney features or animated TV shows. The world wants to see Filipino cartoons, not American cartoons with Filipino stories.

What are your hobbies away from the movies?
I will always be an illustrator. You?ll often find me doodling. I?d make a living of it, too, but I feel I should?ve taken more art classes.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com