Filipino Film and Animation Director's Aim to Give Life to Local Superheroes
Everyone loves a good movie. The emotions, the thrill, and the captivation are what any filmmaker seeks, whether for pure entertainment or further societal purposes. Rianne Hill Soriano directs and produces independent films through which she translates her experiences, emotions, and reflections on life. She is also the President of the non-profit Tuldok Animation Studios, whose mission is to promote Filipino heritage and culture, giving life to native superheroes, mythical characters, and the everyday Filipino.
Filmmaking, Rianne said, "provides an avenue to validate our humanity." "When you watch a film, you start getting a relationship with the screen and accept that what is on the screen is real. It is not real, but at the end of the film, it provides you with a kind of emotional truth."
As a child and a teenager, Rianne had versatile interests, from becoming a pilot to an architect, a diplomat, and a chemical engineer. However, reflecting on what would really make her happy, she realized how much she loved telling stories and had enjoyed writing scripts for school plays. She chose a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Audio-visual Communication. "My film journey started there, and I never had any regrets."
Filipino Films Inspired by Life Events
A keen observer, Rianne gets inspired by life events. She drew her inspiration for her prescient 2008 short film Technophilia from crossing paths with a group of young adults in a subway in Korea. "They looked so creepy," she said. "I felt they looked like robots glued to their gadgets." She explained that the film served as a statement as to how technology tends to control humans instead of the other way around and can alter human relationships and interactions.
Another film was inspired by the country's scarcity of Filipino commercial animated films. Deterred by the poor performance of Filipino animations in film festivals, producers consider animation movies very risky and expensive. She is also currently developing a film inspired by the fact that in the Philippines, although the film industry is still male-dominated, most producers have been women since the 1930s.
She likes to use magic realism, expressionism, and meta-narratives, infuse feminist insights into her creations, and try experimental approaches.
Passion at the Core of Tuldok Animation Studios
Founded by four college friends in 2005, Tuldok Animation Studios' mission is to promote Filipino heritage using animation in the spirit of "Bayanihan," a term symbolizing collaboration and mutual aid. Rianne joined in 2006. Since its inception, Tuldok never strayed from its core mission, she said.
According to Rianne, Tuldok has always operated virtually without a physical studio, streamlining costs. It owes its sustainability to its members' passion for making projects. Tuldok is financed by grants, and some government agencies commission work, training, and film festivals. "We don't have to compromise with commercial requirements."
"These passion projects nourish the soul but not necessarily nourish the pocket." All members have their own day jobs and work on Tuldok projects in the evening. Rianne does commercial work and production. She also directs TV commercials and is a part-time educator on filmmaking in one of the Philippines film schools.
"We have creative control over what we do, but the production process is slower," Rianne said, adding that the pandemic was the most prolific time for Tuldok with the production of four animated films.
Filipino Folktale Heroes Coming to Life
Since Tuldok started, some 60 creators in their 20s, 30s, and 40s have participated in the organization on and off. Currently, 20 to 30 active members are working on two films in production and two projects in the conceptualization phase. Members are animators, filmmakers, graphic and multimedia artists, sound engineers, musical scorers, voice actors, content developers, and educators.
Tuldok’s prime target audience is the Filipino youth. The sizeable Western influence sometimes overshadows their own culture. "In our own little way, we want the Filipino youth to know more about their heritage, their roots, and their own stories, including the rich treasure trove of Philippine folktales that reflect the Filipino sensibilities." Tuldok has already produced four folktale-related animations.
One project in the making is the story of Bernardo Carpio and the origin of earthquakes in the country’s Southern Tagalog region. The tale says that Spaniards, then colonizers, magically locked up Bernardo Carpio under the two clashing mountains of Montalban, the site where the Wawa Dam was eventually built, because he led the revolution. If Bernardo Carpio finally gets released, the Philippines will be truly free. "We jumpstarted the project during the pandemic, as we felt like Bernardo, locked up in our homes," she said.
Film Copyright Registration
According to Rianne, the usual consensus is that the film director and the producer share film copyright. Still, in reality, what generally happens in the industry is that the film's copyright goes to the producer who mainly funded the production, and they usually retain the rights in perpetuity. It is a rampant issue, she said.
In Tuldok, "We follow what we believe is right; the director/producer retains the rights while the other creators have non-exclusive rights."
The most important is to register the early final draft of scripts and screenplays, particularly if the author wants to enter film writing competitions, to deter piracy. "We no longer register films because there is enough proof of their creation through publications, features in news articles, magazines, and newspapers."
Copyright protection is complex, as Rianne found out when she had to fight twice for the copyright of her films. Last year, after updating her director reel, YouTube advised her that she was infringing copyright. Someone was claiming Technophilia was copyrighted under their name. It turned out that she had given non-exclusive rights to another short film platform which claimed the copyright. After disputing it, YouTube lifted the copyright strike.
She also had to remove a short film that had been on YouTube for 10 years because someone claimed copyright on some portion of the film soundtrack (bird chirping sound). Rianne had purchased a CD in a bookstore in the 2000s and could not prove her purchase years later.
Film Funding and Distribution, Prime Challenges
As an independent filmmaker and as a collaborative studio, funding remains the main issue. Making a film involves a large number of people and requires a budget. "It is a collaborative medium, and you have to find ways to give everyone at least a decent compensation."
Film distribution is another challenge. Independent films have limited accessibility, which sometimes leads to piracy, which hurts filmmakers economically when they are already contending with the lack of funding and distribution opportunities.
Most of Rianne's films are exhibited in competitions and film festivals. After this, Rianne posts her films on online platforms for all to see despite fears of piracy. "As a storyteller, I would like my stories to be seen by more people from one generation to the next."
Movie Merchandize and Derivative Work for Filipino Folktales
Tuldok is now exploring the possibility of creating merchandise items and toys using characters from their animated films and further funding for adapting well-known Filipino folktales to raise "a collective conscience of Filipino superheroes and mythical creatures" and to continue creating one folktale at a time and map out all the folktales in the country. However, Rianne admits it is an ambitious dream.
The studios also want to venture into new endeavors, such as a recently published comic, materials that use augmented reality and virtual reality, mobile apps, and games.
Rianne advocated for willpower from governments to help out the creative industry, much like what happened in Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. "When we get that help, we thrive!"
Rianne participated in the first episode of WIPO’s Live Chats copyright training with local artists. The 24 February episode in Manila was based on the WIPO publication “Drawing on Creativity: Copyright for the Animation Industry.”
