The Philippine Online Chronicles

We've mentioned Project 20:10 before, but so intrigued were we by the concept that we tracked down Ria Lu of Komikasi Entrprise (creator of Talecraft) to find out more about the ambitious, year-long project (set to launch with a workshop January 30, 2010, at the Ateneo High School Fair) which is a campaign "to get people to support more local content, as well as create more local content." Here's part 1 of our interview.

So… the first thing I see on your site is a picture (several pictures) of a hand with an eye embedded in its palm. Why did you choose this particular symbol?

Those are the two parts involved: The eye for reading or watching; The hand for writing or creating. And since we wanted to show both of them at the same time (that's what the project's all about, after all: addressing both creators and supporters at the same time), it would be a hand with an eye, or an eye with a hand. We opted for the first one. It's also a show of hand(s). It's like saying "Me! Me! I support the project!"

How did this project come about? Who else is involved in this?

We have to admit, many Filipinos have this prejudice against locally made work. I love to read. I would pick up any foreign fantasy book, even if I didn't know the writer, and just try it out. But for the longest time, I wouldn't do that with a local book. And let's face it. I'm not the only one like that. Most of the time, the only reason you'd pick up a book by a local author is if it's a book required by school, or it's a short story anthology you want to be published in. A few years back, though, I picked up a copy of the Digest of Philippine Genre Stories. A friend of mine was published in it. And, to be polite, I read it. To my surprise, the stories there were good! After that, I got myself other issues of PGS. I started trying other publications and other authors, and now, I even have favorite local comic book authors.

There are great local stories out there. But by default, we just shut them out. Project 20:10 was made to counter that default.

Currently, it's just Talecraft involved with the project. But several creators and groups already expressed interest in being part of the project. We don't want this to remain just a Talecraft project. It would be great if more people, more organizations are involved in this project. Our creative industries could use all the help it can get.

The site mentions a "paradox", that "the main problem for our lack of good local content creators is a lack of support. And the main reason why there is no support is the lack of good content creators." How did you arrive at this conclusion?

When I said lack, I meant "not enough," not "there isn't any." There are jewels in the Filipiniana section. Sorry, I shall construct my sentences less ambiguously next time. :) But try this. Go to a book store. What is the ratio of local books to foreign books?

I rest my case. In Japan, the ratio of Japanese books to foreign books is six floors to one section. It's pretty much like that in many parts of Asia and Europe.

Try this one, too: How many local authors don't have day jobs?

When you ask readers why they don't read a lot of local books, they'll tell you there's not a lot of good (local) stories to read anyway, Or, there's not enough variety. Or, they're not well-researched. Actually, there are a lot of good books out there, but people just normally jump to the conclusion that there aren't. And this discourages a lot of local writers: Why continue writing, when nobody's going to read anyway? Why continue making comics if you're constantly rejected anyway? If a creator could just give a bigger portion of his time to write, do research, and experiment on his style and stories, a mediocre writer can be a good writer, and a very good writer can be a great one. But they can't. They have to work because the books they've written so far can't pay for them. Why? Because very few people are reading them! And why won't they read? Go back to the beginning of this paragraph.

Let's break down the paradox statement a bit. You mention a "lack of good local content creators" and I'm sure there are those who would object to that (Komiks fans especially). What did you mean by that?

Like I said, when I said lack, I meant "not enough," not "there isn't any." There are great local stories out there. I'm a fan of several local comic books. But there isn't enough [content] to properly sustain the industries. For books and comic books, most content creators have to have other jobs, or do outsource work, because they cannot survive on their books alone. For animation, studios survive on grants and outsource work. For games, companies survive on outsource. While outsourcing is not really bad, the ideal is for content creators to be able to opt to do it or not. The market must be strong enough to allow content creators that option. But since creating local content for locals is not our bread and butter, we focus on what brings us money. It's not a bad thing. We all need to survive. But creating local content for locals takes a back seat. We produce less of it. Or we produce it with lower quality to be able to squeeze it into our busy schedules. And some even abandon it altogether.

Now as far as support goes, where do you see the lack: actual sales, popular awareness, store distribution, fan boy/girl-ing?

I don't think store distribution is a big problem. All our major bookstores carry and support local creations.

Our biggest problem is just very few read local, watch local and play local. Sales? Not that high for a lot of creators, but I wouldn't say that's the main problem. Some independent comic artists sell their comics really cheap. Some even give them for free! But those stories are not given a chance. Popular awareness? They're there. We see them around. We just shut them out.

Let me give you an example: Dayo. I don't think they did too bad when the movie came out a few years back. But many of my own friends haven't seen the movie. When I ask them why, they tell me it just didn't enter their minds to go see it. Some reject it as not being a good work anyway. And yet they don't even know the story. And these friends are into animation.

These things: actual sales, popular awareness, store distribution, and fan boy/girl-ing, are lacking, but the main lack is interest in local work.

I can imagine that if a consumer finds a Filipino work that they like, they will continue to support the creator. What would you suggest they do, however, if they don't like what they read/watch/play?

Move on to the next. Ask for recommendations. There's bound to be something there to your liking. If there isn't, and you didn't like any of the works you've read/watched/played, at least you'll know what's wrong. The other half of the project calls for you to make something. So make a piece that you'd like.

Do you see this as a sort of "if you build it, they will come" step?

Yes, I'm hoping it would be like that. It's a mindset, really. And many people don't consciously reject local works. It just doesn't enter their minds to pick one up. All we need is that little conscious effort.

Tomorrow we'll have part 2 of our interview with Ria Lu, where we ask her what participants can do with their creations, as well as which Philippine works she'd recommend.