Sometimes, life changing opportunities find you when you aren’t even looking –
In the summer of 2007, I boarded a plane headed through Hong Kong to Cebu, Philippines … the final destination … the production grounds for FTV Asia (Fashion Television), Bigfoot Entertainment, and the International Academy of Film & Television (IAFT). The following is a candid account of my first adventure in Asia … work, play, and cultural contrast.
CASTING CONTRAST
I will never forget the first morning that I woke up on the campus of Fashion Television Asia (FTV), Bigfoot Entertainment, and the International Academy of Film & Television (IAFT).
At 5 o’clock in the morning I restlessly ventured out of my new apartment (home for the next 2 months) and strolled along the sidewalk that led up to the FTV Cafe’. Along the pathway I passed by two huge sound stages that Bigfoot Entertainment used for film production and set design, a 20 foot dive training and underwater filming tank, an outdoor tiki bar, a huge building containing the classrooms for IAFT and the corporate offices of Bigfoot Entertainment / FTV … the South China Sea AND 10 sleeping and caged ostriches. (Bigfoot Grounds, photo above)
I finally arrived at two huge glass doors with the FTV logo embossed proudly in frosted glass … Just beyond was a world containing fingerprint scanners, vanilla lattes, leather coaches, fashion/film concepts, huge plasma tv’s, film editing suites, workout/acting studios, a grand piano, state of the art conference rooms, etc etc etc. Just before entering, I turned to look across the street directly outside the gates of my new ‘Hollywood’ home — standing there was a modest wooden hut and a man staring at me curiously as he washed himself from of a bucket in his front yard. I had somehow been ‘cast’ into a bizarre world of constant contrast, 12 time zones away from home. Later I would learn from my new eclectic and extremely talented group of international friends — that living and working at Bigfoot was fondly referred to as … life in the bubble.
photo by KT Moon
WORKING IN THE PHILIPPINES
I was hired into a 2 month work contract for Bigfoot Entertainment with a rather broad job description. In the mornings, I would serve as talent/model for FTV. With this, I would be trained in the art of underwater modeling and would also be asked to concept a shoot that would air on Fashion Television in Asia …. and in the afternoons, I would either work on production for one of the Bigfoot Entertainment projects or would assist in the marketing department for :: Bigfoot Entertainment, the International Academy of Film & Television, and the Bigfoot Asia Pacific Foundation (nonprofit community outreach). With so many diverse projects being housed under one parent company — I can definitely say that each day brought something new and exciting to learn/experience.
Bigfoot Asia Pacific Foundation Website (one of my marketing projects) – http://bigfootfoundation.org
As much as I adored this new world of film production, marketing concepts, underwater diving, and fashion photography — I have to say that it was the people that truly blew me away. Everyone that I met seemed to have an absolutely amazing background and impressive resume to back it up. From my immediate supervisors :: Michael Gleissner / owner FTV Asia, Bigfoot Entertainment, International Academy of Film & Television – Carrie McCray / Director of Marketing & Public log/wp-content/plugins/nextgen-gallery/tinymce3/langs/en.js?ver=311″ type=”text/javascript”>Relations, Bigfoot Entertainment (formerly Director of Home Entertainment and Television at Deluxe Media Management, Hollywood CA) – Regan Wynne / Producer, Bigfoot Entertainment (formerly of Toyota, Nintendo, Pepsi, Airbus, and Hasbro) — and Rick Robinson / Director of Photography, Bigfoot Entertainment (Emmy Award winning and veteran Motion Picture and Television professional with over 20 years experience) — TO my roommate (most recently serving as a model on Project Runway, 2009) — TO every single other person that I met, whether student or employee — everyone had a fascinating background, talent that they brought to the table, and story to share. Above all else, I loved living and working with people from literally all over the world!
TIME TO WORK & TIME TO PLAY
In addition to amazing work experiences, there are so many stories to tell from the time that we spent traveling in our off/weekend time. Almost every evening we would hop on a jeepney and head to dinner at one of the local cultural restaurants — on the weekends we would either plan a local trip to visit Magellan’s Cross, Tops Lookout point and Art Garden, Alegra custom guitar factory, Cebu Dancing Prisoners, Shangi-La, the Taoist Temple, tour a local market, etc — or a group would head to one of the local adjacent islands or venture off to climb waterfalls. Cebu was where I absolutely feel in love with quasi-third-world-culture. (photos from the Philippines :: http://fidamo.com/photolog/?cat=3)
All in all, I feel absolutely blessed to have had this international corporate work experience. As I head to Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns — March 2009), Morocco, Africa (photography expedition with National Geographic, Oct 2009) — and pursue a Masters in Cultural Art History — I will always remember my time in Cebu/Mactan as an experience that absolutely changed my life and set me on the path to cultural pursuits.
Cebu City
