Photo from Berlin last February, with my producer Bianca Balbuena, and Arte France’s Michel Reilhac and Annamaria Lodato. Our film got a grant from Arte. Itching to shoot now. Can’t wait to start this year.
This week, we learned from CNN that the median age of Filipinos is 22.9 years old. 22.9. We’ve just passed puberty.
Now, a median number is a midpoint — meaning, half of our population is older than 22.9, and the other half is younger. This is a really surprising statistic. It means that most Filipinos today were born after the EDSA Revolution. This fact signals a sea change in our country — one that will affect us for centuries to come.
See, a 22.9-year-old Filipino part of a generation unlike anything this country has seen before — an age group that has never been at war, has never been colonized, and has never lived under a dictatorship — a “clean slate” generation, bred and brought up in self-rule.
But “clean slate” kids have also always lived in a Philippines that is poor. They’ve been in debt from the time they were born, and have grown up with an image ingrained in their heads, of the Philippines as the “sick man of Asia”.
That there, though, is a cocktail for greatness.
We’ve always been hobbled by the past. Last Sunday, the New York Times published an op-ed by Gina Apostol, entitled, “In the Philippines, Haunted by History.” Apostol wrote about how we’ve never been able to shake off the colonial mentality the Americans left behind, or the oligarchy we inherited from Spain.
But imagine a population without those emotional scars? That’s what we have now. It’s why we blame ourselves for our problems — as in, “Pinoy kasi” and “Only in the Philippines”, and why we look to ourselves for the solutions — as in, “Ako ang simula,” and “Ako mismo.”
Now, in three elections, the “clean slate” generation will be eligible to run for President. They will make up a majority of the voting population and will have complete say over the direction of this country.
We aren’t too sure how this is going to pan out. The educational system isn’t producing the sharpest students, and we aren’t doing enough to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among young people.
But we know this: What we were shouldn’t dictate what we can be, and kids today possess an unprecedented opportunity to tread the Philippines a new path.
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Wrote this for Supreme, in The Philippine STAR’s April 21 issue.
Bon Iver - “Towers”
I listened to this song over and over and over again while writing my next film.
It was the whole “Bon Iver” album, plus “Re: Stacks”, some Badly Drawn Boy, Jønsi, Beirut, Fernando Milagros, Mumford and Sons, Radical Face, Cloud Control.
I get a lot of my inspiration from music. I listen to music while I write, and I depend on music to get me in the mood to write.
Reminds me of this quote I read, from cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”, “Tree of Life”, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”):
“The language of film is further and further away from the language of theater, and is closer to music. It’s abstract but still narrative. Everything feels less rehearsed. It’s more experimental than classical.”
Totally agree.
This came out in The Philippine STAR’s Supreme on April 21. Everyone, check out Supreme every Saturday!
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People picture creativity as this eureka moment — a millisecond of magic that strikes at random, like love at first sight, or a sudden rush of blood to the head.
But the truth is, creativity is a series of moments. It involves thousands of tiny insights, picked up over years of experience. “Eureka!” comes when these things meld together. When the interactions you have with people, and the observations you have about the world, and the crazy images you have in your brain, collide with one other and mate.
The process can take years. The trick is to keep yourself in a creative space — which, these days, is difficult to do. We live in a world where it’s easier to conform than challenge norms and where “pwede na” is standard practice. So, to set myself free, I turn to these eight rules:
1. Control quality
“Good and fast won’t be cheap. Good and cheap won’t be fast. Cheap and fast won’t be good.” — The Project Triangle
Nothing will ever be good and fast and cheap. You have to put in countless of hours of work to make anything great. Ask Mark Zuckerberg, who built Facebook out of his dorm room, or the great Thomas Edison, who once said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
But creatives always come across clients that want good and fast and cheap. When you’re starting out, you may need to grin and bear it. But later, when you’re able to, Apple founder Steve Jobs has this advice: “It’s only by saying ‘no’ that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.”
2. Take risks
“Often, you’re the only one who believes in what you’re doing. Don’t give up if you meet some resistance. Once you’re successful, people listen to you more.” — Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom
Creative leaders are never easily discouraged, because they know they’re just ahead of the curb. Venture capitalist Fred Wilson shares, “Ideas that most people derided as ridiculous have produced the best outcomes.”
So, go ahead and plunge head-first into your big, bright idea. Here’s another lesson from Steve Jobs: “A lot of times,” he says, “people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
3. Fail a little — or a lot
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” — Polaroid founder Edwin Land
Failure doesn’t discourage creative leaders, either. Edison once said it took him 10,000 attempts to build the lightbulb. “I have not failed,” he said. “I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
So, don’t punish failure. Celebrate it. Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” But perhaps Oprah Winfrey puts it best: “Failure,” she remarked, “is another steppingstone to greatness.”
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At the PhilStar office. We see the printing press from our window. So cool!
