MANILA, Philippines?As we continue to embrace a world that?s becoming crazier every nanosecond, educating the youth (and the young at heart) is becoming more significant?and way cooler than before.
Recently, I found two initiatives that are quietly creating major waves in the areas of leadership and filmmaking. They started out small, with meager resources and funding, but they?ve leaped over the fences of pessimism and distraction and are now out to play the big game?that of changing the world.
In a country where it?s a general rule that you have to know someone to be successful, it?s comforting to know that there are still people who believe that some things are best acquired through hardwork and discipline.
Born to be mild
Your best contribution is yourself, says a growing group called Universitas. Composed of the country?s top young guns?scholars, leaders, and volunteers?they?re proving that yes, this generation still cares.
Their ideas are enduring and startlingly simple. For them, a typical young person doesn?t really have anything tangible to offer his country yet; what he has is a big future ahead of him, something he can use to pull his planet out of the mess it has gotten itself into.
So if they want to make a difference someday, it?s pretty logical that young people make a move to be good, responsible citizens.
This, of course, sounds like an enormous, almost impossible task. But for this group, it?s something achievable.
The magic is here?
In a planet where Disney?s tween stars have gone bad in real life, it?s hard to create a mere shortlist of decent role models for today?s generation.
Kids look up to unworthy pop/rock stars and athletes. It?s uncool but true?the modern idols? decent or unpleasant words, thoughts, and actions largely influence the way the movers of this generation live their lives.
Developments in communication and technology have advanced the ways we humans receive and transmit ideas. Unfortunately, most of the time it?s about the misuse of these tools?avenues and gizmos that make our lives messier, noisier, more complex?an irony that has plagued us since the days of papyrus.
Like the main image of the rad television series ?Chuck,? kids today receive thousands of images that affect the choices that they make everyday. But let?s get real here?you give unwary, inexperienced young people dirty glitter and empty bang and you produce a band of dim-witted children. Not something to laugh about, right?
Captain Planet
Five years ago, Universitas?Latin for ?universality??started as a small group in the country?s premier uni. Proving that a good cause is naturally contagious, Universitas? captains have reached thousands of young people all over the country via their activities that range from talks and publications to social outreach programs, personal mentoring, and out-of-town trips.
Now, I know what you?re thinking?this is the stuff geeks and bored brainiacs do. But this perception is exactly what Universitas is trying to change?and they?ve been doing it pretty well.
With their quiet, highly effective?and not to mention enjoyable?pursuits, they?re promoting and defending the beauty and relevance of doing good within an environment that?s screaming for the youth to do otherwise.
Universitas? Charter, upheld by every member and affiliate, ends with a statement full of conviction that it almost sounds like a battle cry, put in the context of today?s wounded culture: ?We stake our Youth?energy, enthusiasm, and commitment?in carrying out this mission. We invite all young people who share the same convictions to join us in this cause.?
It?s nice to know that these troopers feel like they?re just getting started. With a bolstered resolve to effect real change in our planet, they?re set more than ever to chase after their valiant goals.
Get a feel of what these guys do: the Universitas Student and Youth Conferences, entitled Transcend: The Science and Art of Success, will be held on all the Saturdays of February. Everyone is invited. For more information, visit www.vniversitas.net.
In the name of Dov
Last weekend, I attended Dov Simens? famed 2-Day Film School to see what the buzz and fuss was all about.
Voted as America?s No. 1 Film Instructor, Simens has been traveling around the world for the past years to show both amateur and pro children of the craft what a beefy film education is all about.
Organized by Sidetrek Productions and thinkCreative, a production company founded by media practitioner Amor Olaguer, for Manila?s film crowd, the Hollywood Film Institute?s 2-Day Film School has launched thousands of successful careers, including those of today?s new generation of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, Guy Ritchie, Robert Rodriguez, Baz Luhrman, and Christopher Nolan.
Listen to this: the school?s graduates have produced 9 Oscars, 22 Emmys, 87 Cannes, Sundance, Raindance, and Toronto medals, 232 feature films, 345 sold screenplays, and a whopping six billion dollars in box office sales. Not bad at all.
Just Dov it
I felt quite uneasy with attending the school?the pressure to make it big after the weekend camp was great. My classmates?that sounded funny?included actors Richard Gutierrez and Vivian Velez, GMA Network?s VP for Programming Jose Mari Abacan, Globe?s AVP Pierre Cruz, ABS-CBN?s directors Peewee Gonzales and Don Cuaresma, producer Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, Supreme filmmaker/friend Pepe Diokno, and other big television and film producers, directors, writers, professors, photographers, and fresh grads. I think I can speak for all of them when I say that the weekend school was worth it.
Simens? 2-Day Film School was a big, big learning experience. I?m not exaggerating when I say that the guy?s amazing?he knows what he?s talking about. He packed all the essential bits related to producing, directing, shooting, financing, profiting, marketing, and distributing one?s film in two days.
As a teacher, he often pushed us to break free from the notions that we had about moviemaking. He?s rough, strict, and emotionally practical?but that?s exactly what made his classes damn good.
Simens says
YOU CAN?T TEACH TALENT. At the very start of the first session, Simens insisted that he?s not gonna teach us about the art of filmmaking, because he thinks that that cannot be done.
?You either have it or you don?t. This is a business. It?s show-business. Not show-art. I have been doing this for such a long time, and I have to tell you that I do not know of anyone who can teach talent. You either have it or you don?t.?
SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, AND LISTEN. THEN WORK. For Simens, there?s absolutely nothing wrong with listening to people who have the experience in the world of film, and then using these lessons in actual filmmaking.
But the most important thing, he says, is that you get up from your couch and start shooting. The best ideas are worth nothing if they?re not caught on tape.
On the second day of the school, he taught screenwriting in a remarkable 30 minutes, and I?d have to admit that it was much better than any lecture or workshop that I?ve attended in college.
He insists that it?s not about learning structure and form, it?s about one?s discipline, focus, and drive to get his masterpiece out there.
SIMPLICITY, SIMPLICITY, SIMPLICITY. It?s about working with what you have, he says. You don?t need a lot of cash to make something great.
He repeated to us a million times to throw all our big film ideas and instead focus on ?a 90-page script in one location. No CGI, no special effects, no action scenes. Just a 90-page script in one location. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. But do not settle for good. Produce something great.?
CREATE BUZZ. With the kind of media system and education that we have in the Philippines, it was eye opening to hear about the festival circuit, attracting distributors, maximizing revenues, and play-or-pay deals.
The bottom line, Simens says, is that every film guy out there should know how to sell his work.
FINISH THE JOB. To prove his point, Simens pointed at the power outlet on the wall at the farthest end of the room. It?s curved, he says, it?s not mounted right. A ruler could have done it, but the one who did it chose to be lazy.
Simens told the whole class that he observed that we Filipinos execute the job ?til it?s 95 percent done, and then we slack off. The quality of the project is jeopardized. It hurts, but he?s right.
Be the ones who?ll finish the remaining 5 percent, he tells us. Always end with a bang.
