A candid follow-up interview
We never expected this to happen. But, truly, they won!
Barely over a month ago, Technews was one of the few, lucky media organizations to conduct an interview with Janice Yu and Noel Osting, two of our best bets in the First Time Mobile Filmmakers Awards.
When they got back from Singapore, they brought home not just one, but two awards. Janice Yu won the Grand Prize trophy and ,000 for her underwater movie; while Noel Osting won Best Editing for his movie about a person's purpose in life.
Manila Bulletin – Technews and other media organizations were invited to again interview the two Filipino winners of the First Time Mobile Filmmakers Awards that was organized by Discovery Networks Asia and Nokia.
With their success in this prestigious contest, these two Filipino pioneers have opened a brand new genre in making films called mobile filmmaking. This takes filmmaking to a whole new level (called "mobifilms" in movie-speak) and it shows the awesome and powerful features of the Nokia N90 mobile phone.
Last December 28, this writer was able to again meet Janice (a graduate of HRM in UST, who works in her family's hardware business, and is in her early 30s) and Noel (a Dagupan City based graphics designer/artist and also in his mid-30s).
There were six finalists that battled in the contest; they included Bob Calabritto of Indonesia, Ngoi Soon Ling of Singapore, Ndol Lerkwsirisuk of Thailand (who won Best Visualization), Oman Dhas of Singapore, and our very own Janice Yu and Noel Osting.
This writer had a candid chat with the two winners and these are their thoughts about winning the First Time Mobile Filmmakers Awards.
"As I'm talking to you right now, I'm very surprised that we won this contest," Janice said. "I had a difficult time realizing that I won the grand prize award and the ,000 cash prize. From the moment that I entered the finals, I was beginning to realize that I had an idea that was unique and extraordinary. I wrote down some of the possible icons I could use for my shoot and it was a mind-boggling process. And when I decided to have my 60-second movie shot entirely underwater, I got help from a renowned underwater diver and photographer and we retrofitted the Nokia N90 mobile phone using an underwater camera casing. I knew then that it was a long shot because anything can go wrong during the shoot. But thank God, all of our hard work has finally paid off. But frankly, I didn't expect that I will win because the other competitors were more experienced in filmmaking than me and Noel," Janice added.
"I had a strong feeling that Janice will win the grand prize because her work was very unique, and that even Mauro Montanaro (vice president for Nokia Multimedia Asia Pacific) was very impressed with Janice's entry. We are still having mixed emotions about our accomplishments. As for me, I still can't believe I won Best Editing but deep inside, I'm very happy. We are both proud that we made a mark in the international scene and this only proves that Filipinos can excel at anything, especially in filmmaking," Noel said.
This writer asked Janice and Noel the biggest question: so what's next?
"Well, I think I'm going to pursue filmmaking. I consider this a sign that there is an untapped genre, which is mobile filmmaking. Come to think of it, this will not only be a hobby, but something of a career on my part," answered Janice.
"I guess I consider this a calling, but I'm still having mixed thoughts about it. If there will be an international contest similar to the First Time Mobile Filmmakers Awards, me and Janice will have no second thoughts about joining it," answered Noel.
Indeed, Janice and Noel showed to the world that the Philippines is truly world-class.
Manila Bulletin Technews congratulates Janice Yu and Noel Osting for winning in the First Time Mobile Filmmakers Awards. We wish you both more success in your endeavors.
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