Conceptualized by a young director and filmmaker, Angelo Fernando, and I, “Dream House” is a story that kept me moving in this field. It made me realize the power and sincerity a story holds if it is written from personal experience. A found story developed to fit a narrative that connects with people who might be or have been in a similar situation.
“Dream House” is my one-step-away-from-achieving-my-dream-memory and it only pushed me to keep going.
Storytime!
It was April 2020 when we found out that Sine Kabataan calls for story concepts for the short film competition. It is directly partnered with Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP), a week-long celebration of Philippine cinema featuring only Filipino movies nationwide, and is managed by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). They were only looking for a concept back then, with an initial script if possible, and all shortlisted entries will have the chance to attend Film Labs and achieve a grant of 100,000 pesos for production. It is terrifying and nerve-wracking because we went under a series of revisions before finally hitting the send button. (It is normal in this field but for a first-timer me then, it was all new.)
Word-per-word, we evaluated if it is relevant, needed, and meaningful to be included in a 5-minute short film. I seek advice from my friends and past coach on better line delivery and title. We submitted three entries, two of which I had written, and I’m thinking of posting the other one soon too! (Maybe under Katha Series.) Yet, however anxious inducing it is, we can only wait for the results.
Over 200 submissions from young filmmakers, “Dream House” made it to the top 20 shortlisted projects!
UNEXPECTED. I do trust the story, we worked hard for it, but it still surprised me that we made it to the cut. This is an achievement!
(To explain further, in PPP, each full-length film has a partnered short film that will be played in the cinemas. However, since the pandemic happened, FDCP transitioned to virtual cinema by establishing their online platform.)
After the announcement, each director and another person from their team is invited to participate in Film Labs. In these Story Development workshops, filmmakers are taught by professionals in the industry to improve the initial script we submitted. It is followed by a one-on-one session with the assigned mentor. I’ve learned a lot in the process of making and selling stories. I took notes! Sadly, we cannot fully experience attending these labs and meeting our fellow aspirants face-to-face but I remain grateful for the experience.
It’s only during the pitching event that we get to hear the stories of others. Aside from their concept, it was interesting to know their motivations behind it. If there’s one comment from the panel that I will never forget, it is how they are looking forward to seeing this concept on the screen:
“Itong istorya na ito, ito ang hinahanap namin para sa SineKab.”
We may not make it as a finalist of the 4th Sine Kabataan Short Film Competition, thinking that the major factor is the nature of our script not feasible yet in a pandemic setting, we strive to continue in becoming better creative storytellers. Plus, “Dream House” will not end as a document file forever! We may still produce it anytime soon.
I did not include the synopsis of this concept for the reason that we might produce it anytime soon. Since it’s been years since the last we created the script, there might be more revisions to do. I’ll update y’all if it is pushed through to screen!
Do you enjoy reading the behind-the-scenes of my filmmaking journey? Should I continue making blogs about it? Let me know!
Thank you for taking the time. Slay, beautiful being! Flourish!
we thought we cannot 