DTI Powers Up Digital Animation and Game Development Talent with LikhaSanay

Embarking on a quest to unlock the potential of Filipino digital animators and game developers, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has opened applications for the LikhaSanay: Masterclass Program for the Philippine Creative Industries, an innovative program aiming to elevate the country’s digital animation and game development industries. For 2023, focus is given to the implementation of the Digital Animation and Game Development Masterclasses.

Director Lilian G. Salonga of the DTI-Bureau of Industry Planning and Innovation (BIPI) urges artists, animators, game developers, and freelancers to send their applications on or before 19 April 2024.

“LikhaSanay was derived from the fusion of two profound Filipino words, 'Likha' (Create) and 'Sanay’ (Skill-building towards Mastery). As an initiative under the DTI Malikhaing Pinoy Program, the LikhaSanay Program gives the masterclass participants the opportunity to enhance their skills in creative design and storytelling as well as heighten their competencies in using digital tools and techniques.,” Director Salonga explained.

“The first set of Masterclasses is dedicated for Digital Animation and Game Development sectors and designed to ensure that creatives gain deeper insights on digital animation and game development through the lens of top global players experts and help them be at par with international standards,” the head of DTI-BIPI added.

Featuring six meticulously curated sessions led by industry luminaries, Masterclasses for Digital Animation and Game Development are set to equip 20 chosen scholars per masterclass with latest tools and techniques. In collaboration with Thames International, Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), and the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), this masterclass focuses on refining core competencies in key areas such as storyboarding, 3D character rigging, and high-level organic 3D modeling for digital animation; and game engineering and game design for game development. Emerging leaders in both fields will also learn essential management skills and business acumen from the Masterclass.

Through the LikhaSanay Program, DTI-BIPI seeks to buff the nation’s competencies of diverse creative sectors, addressing skills gaps and strengthening the global competitiveness of Filipino talents. This initiative supports DTI’s role as the chair of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council, under Republic Act No. 11904, steering the nation toward its ambitious goal of becoming Asia's premier creative hub by 2030.

For more information and to submit your application for LikhaSanay, please visit: https://bit.ly/LikhaSanayApp2

PH Game Development Companies Participate in Nordic Game 2023 in Sweden, Generate US$ 1.67 Million in Initial Sales

A delegation of five (5) Philippine game development companies generated an initial US$ 1.67 million in export sales (actual and potential) and 71 more trade leads following the conduct of 26 B2B meetings during the country’s participation in the Nordic Game 2023 on 23-26 May 2023 held in Malmö, Sweden.

The Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), in collaboration with the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP), organized the first Philippine participation in Nordic Game. The game development companies include: GameOps, Inc., Neun Farben Corporation, Mata Technologies, Inc., Seaversity Inc., and Taktyl Studios.

Seaversity Inc., a company from Cebu, was also given the opportunity to speak on the specialized market of serious gaming or the simulation world to game developers. The Delegation also had the opportunity to visit the following studios: Game Habitat (a community-focused non-profit game development organization in southern Sweden), Massive Entertainment (a Ubisoft Studio), Tarsier Studios, Avalanche Studios Group, and The Game Assembly (a higher vocational education for game development).

"This initiative is part of the country’s efforts to build linkages with possible European clients and diversify export markets for Philippine game development companies. Thru the support of the ARISE Plus Philippines Project funded by the European Union, Philippine companies were able to showcase their capabilities in Europe’s major game development conference and establish business connections with prospective clients." DTI Trade Promotions Group (TPG) Assistant Secretary and Officer-in-Charge Glenn G. Peñaranda said.

“We are confident that with sustained initiatives to develop and promote Philippine capabilities in game development, the Philippines can position itself as major player in the game development sector globally.” Assistant Secretary Peñaranda added. Preparations are now ongoing for the next mission to Gamescom 2023 in August which will be held in Cologne, Germany.

Ms. Sylvie Cochin, Arise+ Project Manager at the International Trade Centre expressed, "Participating in Nordic Game 2023 under Arise+ with our partners at DTI and the Philippine game industry allowed us to generate export sales and establish valuable trade leads, opening doors to new European clients. This initiative has the potential to truly diversify export markets for the gaming industry of the Philippines."

Nordic Game is Europe's leading game developer conference. It gathers regional and international industry professionals and executives in the game development community. The event features various activities, including speaking engagements from leading industry figures in the region and renowned global experts, business matching meetings, and trade fairs.

The ARISE Plus Philippines project aims to improve the Philippines’ trade performance, competitiveness, and economic integration. ITC provides full support to Philippine companies through training and coaching on export marketing, and on building market linkages with the European and other markets.

“The government is set to launch the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) 2023–2028 on June 15. Through the PEDP, we aim to assist more exporters and aspiring exporters in building and strengthening their linkages in international markets, and in capacitating them to meet the demands of their customers by implementing initiatives that are attuned and responsive to the needs of Philippine businesses. We aim to make them competitive global players.” DTI Secretary Fred Pascual stated.

Animation, Virtual Production can be the Future in Content Production

Creative industry leaders suggested the use of technology in animation and virtual production as a means of shooting movies and producing content in the new normal. Virtual production is the technology used in Hollywood movies like The Lion King, Avatar, and the Marvel movies, as well as in local production via green screens.

Creative industry experts gathered last 8 July 2020 in a webinar on “Technology and Content Production Under the New Normal” co-organized by the DTI Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

“Solid government support is clearly defined in the 10-point agenda of the administration and all the complementing bills that are underway to assuage the current needs of the industry,” said DTI Undersecretary for Trade Promotions Abdulgani M. Macatoman.

The creative services and intellectual property assets are priority segments of the creative industry that are being promoted globally by the Export Marketing Bureau in cooperation with the intellectual Property Office (IPOPHIL). Those are sectors of the Philippine economy where the Philippines has a competitive and comparative advantage.

Creative services that involve original content such as animation, software development, and game development are also included in the Board of Investments’ Investment Priorities Plan, which entitles investors to incentives if they locate in the Philippines.

DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Rafaelita M. Aldaba said that demand for creative content increased because of Covid-19 and the resulting quarantines. In the Philippines, Google searches for movies, Netflix, anime, and KDrama spiked in March, 2020.

Moreover, FDCP Chair Liza Diño-Seguerra sees the increasing demand as both a challenge and an opportunity: “Despite the increase in demand, the audiovisual industry is facing two direct side effects: on the one hand, a shutdown in production all over the world, our country included, in terms of limitations and restrictions. And on the other, the temporary closure of cinemas, the usual window for new releases and our local films as well."

“With Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, Apple, Disney, and multiple other streaming services, there is an opportunity for the country to start creating content for these platforms. While we are continuing to connect with big streamers to pitch audiovisual content that we already have, we must also find ways to still produce during the Covid-19 pandemic that we are living in," she continued.

Animation Council of the Philippines President Miguel del Rosario said that the animation industry has experienced a similar boom: “animations have become one of the hottest trends in content marketing…because of this, the animation industry has relatively few layoffs and surging demand for new content,"

Del Rosario is also the CEO of Toon City, a local animation company that has done work for Rick and Mortyand Big Hero 6, among others.

Meanwhile, Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) President Alvin Juban shared that they are launching a Computer Graphics Arts Industry Certification Program in cooperation with the CG Arts Society of Japan this year. In a sample video, he demonstrated how green screens and CG Art can be used in shooting movies or TV series.

Marla Rausch, CEO of Animation Vertigo said that Filipinos are already capable of animation and virtual production since local companies offer these services to foreign clients. For this to translate to local content, she emphasized that animators should be compensated properly for their work.

“What I’ve learned in the entertainment industry in the Philippines is we’re so stuck in the fact that we have a budget and budget for VFX, animation, is smaller than I’ve ever heard of. And the quality that comes out reflects that. So, it doesn’t portray that Filipinos are good at these types of technologies, which we really are,” said Rausch.

“We have to invest in technology. We need to have a strong infrastructure to run our videos without buffer. To have access to hardware and software. These things are what we need to become a part of what is already blossoming in the world," she continued.

Good Design Award Philippines Highlights Malasakit as a Defining Character of Philippine Design Excellence

The Design Center of the Philippines is set to recognize outstanding objects-, places-, images- made and systems executed in the Philippines that address social problems to enrich the quality of human life in the inaugural run of the Good Design Award Philippines. 

Good Design Award Philippines is a national design excellence recognition system that aims to promote design as a key tool in developing and providing solutions to social challenges as well as strengthen the country’s global competitiveness and increase its innovative quotient. 

"Design is an innovation enabler. At a time when we face tumultuous changes on every front—from technology to economics, the environment, and our institutions—the role of design becomes increasingly critical. Thus, our efforts will not just support our design industry; it will also push design skills to develop design-driven organizations and innovative industries. It will even help us transform the public sector," said Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez.

"The most meaningful designs, creative works, and innovations are those that solve social problems, not just design for design’s sake. We want to promote a culture of design and innovation that can serve as higher-value services that our country can be known for,” Sec. Lopez added.

The design excellence recognition system is in support of AmBisyon Natin 2040 through the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, specifically its development strategies on ‘Promoting Philippine Cultures and Values,’ ‘Vigorously Advancing Science, Technology, and Innovation,’ and ‘Expanding Economic Opportunities in Industry and Services through Trabaho and Negosyo.’   

For Design Center executive director Maria Rita O. Matute, the Good Design Award Philippines adds more value to design as a driver of economic growth and innovation. It pushes for a design excellence that is impact-driven, providing design solutions that address human needs and societal challenges to protect future generations and secure a more livable society for them. 

"We envision Good Design Award Philippines to be one of the platforms through which Design Center nurtures the Philippines’ culture of design excellence,” Matute explains. “Aside from innovation and economic growth, we want to elevate design as a powerful tool that creates positive societal change, making the world a better place for all and future generations. This too then echoes a strong challenge to designers to act as catalysts and powerful agents of change—to improve the quality of human lives through objects, places, images and systems; through sustainable and inclusive businesses, and through responsible governance.” 

Malasakit as a PH brand of design excellence 

With the creative industries, particularly the design sector, steadily emerging as a driver of national competitiveness, the Philippines’ neighboring countries in the Southeast Asian region likewise invest in their respective design industries, encouraging a prolific design culture by recognizing good design across sectors. 

Good Design Award Philippines shares in the same objective as it aims to build a strong community of global Philippine designers from across industries and disciplines, and to promote the significance of design in uplifting lives, while pushing for a nation brand of design excellence that is particular to the Philippines. 

“What the Good Design Award Philippines brings to the fore of the global design industry is the Philippines’ unique approach to design excellence,” Matute remarks. “The Philippines is a nation with innate creativity; we are malikhain by nature. But what really sets Philippine design apart is the malasakit that is embodied in our design solutions, whether it be a product, place, image or system.” 

Malasakit, or closely translated in English as compassion, is the sympathetic consciousness of other’s distress and acting to alleviate it. Matute points out that the Good Design Award Philippines boldly puts this specific Philippine value as an additional pillar to the traditional parameters of good design—innovation, form, and function.  

“It is the impact of these design solutions to a social concern or basic human need that distinguishes Philippine design from the rest. While we recognize the significance of functionality, form, and innovation in good design, ours is not solely defined by these principles. Philippine good design is an equal part equation of the principles of good design and malasakit,” Matute discusses, emphasizing that malasakit is the Philippines’ contribution to the global design discourse.  

Matute cites as example the four homegrown products and service that were recognized in Japan’s Good Design Award-ASEAN Design Selection in 2018.  

SALt Lamp is an emergency lamp specially designed to give lighting support to marginalized island communities without the burden of complex tool mechanism, in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 on access to affordable and clean energy. With its human centered design, SALt lamp received the highest response in the visitor and consumer survey among the 22 designs in the ASEAN Design Selection special exhibition in Tokyo, Japan.  

Make a Difference (MAD) Travel offers social tourism tour packages that afford Aeta communities in San Felipe, Zambales sustainable living while tackling SDGs 1, 2, and 3 on No

Poverty, Zero Hunger and Good Health and Well-being. Moreover, MAD Travel encourages tourists and guests to aid in their goal of planting a 3,000 hectare forest, which is in line with SDGs 13 and 15 on Climate Action and Life on Land. 

Red Palm Ventures’ banana stalk wallpapers is geared towards the empowerment of women in a community in San Pablo, Laguna through livelihood, and addresses Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 on Responsible Production and Consumption through the optimal use of banana stalks.  

Likewise, Bambike’s Bambino balance bike reinforces SDG 12 as well through the use of the highly abundant bamboos in their production, and SDG 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth by providing livelihood to the Bambuilders (bamboo builders) of a Gawad Kalinga Community in Victoria, Tarlac.  

 

Malasakit as a mark of good design 

The Good Design Award Philippines has its criteria the principles of good design--innovativeness, form, and functionality—plus malasakit, which will be evaluated based on design solution’s impact on the 17 SDGs listed by the United Nations. 

The inclusion of malasakit in the criteria carry the Philippine value beyond simply a quality of Philippine good design; it shows how local innovations can also impact on global challenges. From a community level of compassion, Philippine design sees itself committed as well to developing solutions on a much larger perspective. 

Matute expounds that perceiving Philippine design in a wider picture adds to the commitment of nurturing a culture of design excellence in the country. “By understanding that design impacts a bigger cause than one’s self or one’s community, you would naturally want to come up with the best ideas and solutions because you become responsible to a larger matter,” she adds.  

Good Design Award Philippines 

The Good Design Award accepts entries from Philippine-registered enterprises, designers, and creatives from both private and public sectors with fully realized and/or executed products or systems in the design disciplines of object making (furniture, furnishing, décor; fashion accessories; mobility; and material innovation); image making (packaging, and communication); place making (architecture, and interior architecture); and service/system design. 

Winners will be evaluated in a two-step screening process by a jury composed of thirteen multidiscipline and industry-respected individuals, including the private sector representatives of the Design Advisory Council (DAC). 

Winning entries can be awarded the Good Design Philippines Red and Gold Awards based on the judging criteria, while the Good Design Philippines Green Award will recognize the entry with the most impact on SDGs related to environment and sustainability. The Gran Prix for Good Design Award Philippines is the Orange Award, and it will be awarded to the design that makes the greatest impact and contribution to the attainment of the United Nations SDGs. 

Entries can be submitted until 15 August 2019. For more information on Good Design Award Philippines, please visit https://designcenter.ph/good-design-award-ph.