The Creative Content Creators Association of the Philippines or SIKAP brings back AYO 2023, its flagship event showcasing the original work of the country’s animators, game developers, storytellers, character illustrators, musicians and more. Taking place at the Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, Cebu on May 12-14, the AYO conference features an exciting lineup of key speakers from all over the globe.
These speakers are Marcin Sobczak, the founder and owner of This Way Publicity and a member of the European Film Academy; Singapore’s international award-winning film and TV producer Gin Kai who is the founder of Silver Media Group and most recently, Stardust Digital; and Eric Calderon, VP of Creative Development for Falcon’s Beyond based in the US Calderon was also a writer, showrunner, and producer and has worked on globally renowned award-winning shows in the US, Canada, South East Asia and Japan.
As advocates and supporters of the talent and promise of the Filipino creators, Marcin, Gin Kai and Eric are also part of SIKAP’s Board of Advisors.
“As a Filipino, I feel it’s part of my responsibility to try and lift up the voices from my original home,” says Calderon. “There’s so much raw talent. There’s so much passion. If Filipinos living in the Philippines just had more industry intuition, connections and capital, I know we could create incredible works.”
The market size for original content development in the US alone is USD$3.3 trillion. And the demand is growing for unique stories from all cultures in the world. While the Philippines remains high in the creative services market, the country is still trying to find its big success story when it comes to Philippine original content.
Trese, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s comic book series which debuted as an animated show by the streaming giant Netflix in 2021, was one of the first major international adaptations for a local creator. With SIKAP’s various programs and its flagship event, this non-profit organization of original content creators is banking on developing and pushing more original Filipino content into the global
“SIKAP believes in the competitive talent of Filipino creators, and we know they have a place in international markets. This is why we launched AYO – to give them the spotlight, meet with fellow creators, and gain more insight about the business of creation,” said Marla Rausch, President of SIKAP.
