Anggun Named Global Judge for Picture This Festival for the Planet

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPTN), in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, today announced that internationally renowned musical artist Anggun has been named global judge for the Picture This Festival for the Planet (www.sonypicturethis.com), a short-film competition for emerging filmmakers, everyday storytellers and changemakers worldwide to showcase the positive future they see for our planet. Also joining an esteemed list of judges announced in the past several weeks are YouTube vloggers Damon and Jo, who will serve as the first and only digital-native judges for the festival.

Anggun, a World Music Award winning artist whose single What We Remember is currently on the Billboard Dance Charts in the US, is a judge on the hit-rated series, “Asia’s Got Talent,” and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador (2009-2017).

Anggun said: “I am very proud to be a global judge for the Picture This Festival. As an environmentally-conscious individual and artist, I believe delivering optimistic messages is the best path to creating public awareness. This festival emphasizes that creativity, imagination and visual talent can make an impact on how we can create a better and more sustainable future.”

Damon and Jo, otherwise known as Damon Dominique and Jo Franco, are digital content creators, entrepreneurs, travel experts and authors who have over 1 million followers across YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. The duo are currently in production on their Facebook Watch series Damn Millennials and recently released their first e-book Woke all while running their YouTube channel and travel site, Shut Up and Go.

Damon and Jo said: “In any given month, we may find ourselves in several different continents. Our passion for traveling, learning languages, documenting, and encouraging others to do the same is because we feel that the Earth's story can be told through every day perspectives. And more importantly, if people see the conditions of what's out there, and experience it either through our lens or that of their own eye, they'll be more empowered to take action and help what's important to them.”

Photo Caption: L-R: Anggun; Damon Dominique & Joanna Franco

Entries opened in January, with people from over 70 countries submitting videos between one and eight minutes in length inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global goals agreed upon by all 193 member states of the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet and promote prosperity for all.

Partners in this year's festival are: the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, WeTransfer, Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Alpha Universe, the Environmental Media Association, Connect4Climate and leaders and environmental visionaries from around the globe. SPTN launched a similar contest in 2016 across its channel portfolio worldwide, including its flagship brands AXN, Sony Channel, Crackle and Animax and those same flagship channels will participate in this year’s festival.

In addition to Anggun, Damon and Jo, the list of celebrity advocates and industry leaders who will judge film submissions includes: Megan Boone, environmental advocate and actress from the hit TV series “The Blacklist”; Elizabeth Cousens, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, United Nations Foundation; Mr. N.P. Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India; Marie Jacobson, EVP Programming & Production, Sony Pictures Television Networks; Tom Bernard & Michael Barker, Co-Presidents, Sony Pictures Classics; Glenn Gainor, President of Physical Production, Screen Gems; Debbie Levin, President & CEO, Environmental Media Association; and Damian Bradfield, President and Chief Marketing Officer, WeTransfer.

This summer, eight (8) regional winners will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the Picture This Festival for the Planet for a day of networking and training alongside industry leaders and social impact partners at the Sony Pictures Studio lot, followed by a screening of the regional winners’ films. Regional winners will receive airfare and accommodations for two nights in Los Angeles, along with a Sony RX0 Camera and a one year WeTransfer Plus account, with the grand prize winner honored with a Sony A6500 camera and a SEL1670 lens.

The Picture This Festival for the Planet is Sony Pictures Entertainment’s latest project to bring awareness to the SDGs. In 2016, the United Nations and SPE launched Angry Birds for a Happy Planet, a global youth outreach campaign that leveraged online and social media platforms to encourage action to protect the planet and fight climate change. Centered on the Sustainable Development Goal #13 – to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, the campaign featured Red and other characters of The Angry Birds Movie. In 2017, supported by the cast of the Smurfs: The Lost Village, audiences were encouraged to join “Team Smurfs” for the “Small Smurfs Big Goals” campaign that inspired everyone to learn about and support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Submissions for the Picture This Festival for the Planet opened January 30 and will close April 30. The contest will be open to entrants from select countries worldwide. Please visit sonypicturethis.com for more information and to enter for free. You can follow the Picture This Festival on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Cre8 Salon Forges Strong Alliance with L'Oreal and Orly

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Cre8 Salon has just recently marked another historic milestone for itself as the company partners with two of the country's premiere brands with products widely used in the salon business, L'Oreal and Orly.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing ceremony was held on April 3, 2018 at Mesa Filipino Moderne restaurant located in Timog Avenue, Quezon City.

Cre8 Salon, which currently has 21 company-owned branches, plans to expand to 100 more branches within 5 years. From the Question and Answer portion with the members of the media, they said that they may also open the business for franchising opportunities soon.

Basically the partnership involves provision of training to all employees of Cre8 Salon which will be conducted by trainors coming from the camps of both L'Oreal and Orly. This also includes international beauty experts that will be visiting Manila.  The two companies will be providing training to both current and future Cre8 Salon staff to improve their skills, and eventually their services as well.

Cre8 Salon will now carry L'Oreal and Orly brands exclusively. The two brands have consistently provided products that have exceeded their client's expectations and thus helped them solidify their brand presence.

The MOA signing was led by James Paul Santiago, CEO of Cre8 Salon, who also gave the opening remarks, together with his sister, Ma. Angela Santiago, Founder and Finance Director of Cre8 Salon.

The other signatories, which includes the people from Orly and L'Oreal, were Roshell Zamora, Sales Manager; Persie Torregoza, General Manager for Sprint Asia Beauty; Mark Jason Dee, Marketing Director; and Luis Antonio Yanga, General Manager for Professional Products.

We've learned that Cre8 Salon is literally a family business since all 7 siblings are practically involved in the regular operations with specific roles and designations within the company. Angela said in an interview with Wazzup Pilipinas that she visits Cre8 salon branches everyday, so with the current number of 21 branches, we mentioned that their division of visits would most probably be 3 branches per sibling since there's 7 of them. 

But what would happen when they have an additional 100 within the next 5 years? Could they still handle it? That would probably mean hiring even their cousins and other relatives if they want to maintain the management of their business within their ... clan (since they've already grown too big to handle by just 7 people. 

But of course, we'll find a solution to that challenge when we get there. We want Cre8 Salon to grow bigger to provide more employment opportunities. They did say they employ around 10 people per branch so an additional 100 branches would mean 1000 happily employed and skillful staff thanks to their newly forged alliance with L'Oreal and Orly.

What strikes us most everytime we see a Cre8 Salon branch is the stunningly attractive and huge logo cum signage that fronts their salon branches. You'll definitely take a second look, try to read what it says, and admire the artistry that went to the design of the logo. It is apparent that there's a scissor image within the logo and how they capitalize on the lucky number 8 as a prominent part of their business name.

Congratulations to the Cre8 Salon family for this new coalition. We're planning to visit their branch nearest to us soon to probably do a special vlog of their services. That would surely be great to witness how they'll be able to transform us into a new look - a before and after make-over vlog which is just perfect timing since our hair terribly needs a haircut right now, and a possible change of hairstyle that's appropriate for our age.

This means you have to watch out for another special feature about Cre8 Salon soon. So until next time, this has been your Pambansang Blogger signing off for now, and see you again soon on our next blog adventure.

Early Visita Iglesia with Zooper Cruise of Zoomanity Foundation

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Visita Iglesia is an annual tradition my wife and I do but this time (with apologies to her) I get to experience it alone  with other people (twice) and break the tradition since I got an invite to do an early Visita Iglesia with Zooper Cruise (part of the Zoomanity Group but advertised as under Zoomanity Foundation) of the Yupangco Group of Companies, a few days before the actual day, and another invite with another group who are members of the Miata Club of the Philippines. We did the early Visita Iglesia on a Holy Tuesday (March 27), and the other on a Maundy Thursday (March 29) but it got extended until Good Friday (March 30) when we visited another member's luxurious condominium unit at Tagaytay Highlands. To tell the long story short, my wife and I had to cancel our own Visita Iglesia for this year.

This blog, as the title implies, is all about the early Visita Iglesia with the Zooper Cruise (Though I am a bit confused why they used "zoo" in the name but probably just to indicate that it is operated under the Zoomanity group.

As they advertised, you can get to try a Visita Iglesia like no other for only P1,399 per person. But since I am among the media, the tour was offered to us for free so we could help promote it to our readers, or viewers since I also captured the activity on video of which I will alternate showing on our official Facebook page and official YouTube channel.

The Lenten Week activity (normally done on a Maundy Thursday or like us who do it every Good Friday to avoid the same crowd practicing the activity) is just an example of how we could appreciate a tour via the ferry boat that cruises via the Pasig river. There are actually several options to take advantage of how traffic-free the Pasig river cruise is. Minus the seasonal smell of the Pasig river, the ferry cruise could be a great option to travel and tour aroun the Metro especially if the LGUs of each city would participate in rehabilitating not only the Pasig river but also the sights or locations that we passed by.

 

This is not my first time doing a Pasig river cruise as I have been with the Pasig River Rehabilitation Council twice already, and I could say that there has been a lot of improvement already. This means they are actually doing a great job.

Visionary businessman and agriculture & animal theme-park owner Robert Yupangco sees the potential of the Pasig river cruise so he invested on it. We need more people like him who would take the risk just to prove that there is a visible tourism potential. Some people may call him crazy, but we should rather call him a hero for such an act. We need to emulate his practice because in the long run we will all benefit from the same vision. We need not look far for a solution to the traffic because it is right under our noses. Not to make fun of the pun, but making the Pasig river less smelly is a nationwide task. Each of us should cooperate. From the big businesses to the informal settlers along the rivers, a lot of great possibilities can happen if we all take part in the noble goal.

We are tourists in our own country" says Robert Yupangco, the main man behind the Yupangco Group of Companies which includes the Zoomanity theme-parks.

The Zooper Cruise took us to 7 churches around Makati and Manila. Meeting place was at UnliCity (located at the 3rd floor of Century City Mall) which is also part of the Yupangco Group of Companies.  The tour is actually a combination of a by road and river travel (transport by shuttle and cruise) so it involved going to the different ferry ports in Makati and Manila and some travelling by road to a few of the churches.

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church

Nuestra Senora de Gracia Church

Nuestra Senora de Gracia Church

Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish Church

Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish Church

Sta. Cruz Paris Church

Sta. Cruz Paris Church

Binondo Church

Binondo Church

Manila Cathedral

Manila Cathedral

San Agustin Church

San Agustin Church

The churches we visited were St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Church located in Bel-Air Village in Makati, Nuestra Senora de Gracia Church (also known as Guadalupe Church) located in Guadalupe, Makati, Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish Church in Sta. Ana, Manila, Sta. Cruz Paris Church in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Binondo Church (also known as the Minor Basilica of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish) in Binondo, Manila, San Agustin Church (also known as the Immaculate Conception Parish) in Intramuros, Manila, and the Manila Cathedral (also known as the Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception) which is also in Intramuros, Manila.

Below are some of the sights you'll see along the Pasig river:

It took almost the entire day for the Visita Iglesia since we got back to our origin at around 4pm already. Registration for the tour started at 8am and we got down from UnliCity at around 8:30am, and to a shuttle sometime after a few minutes.

They let us stay at a church for around 20 minutes which includes time for prayer and photo ops. For a media like me who takes both photos and videos, it was enough. But I was also documenting the attendees so I am rarely in the official photos and videos. However, I never forget to do my own selfies (posted on our social media pages) though you will notice I am a bit haggard due to that tedious task. I guess I need to find a way to always bring at least one team member with me for travel-related events like these so we could divide or alternate the tasks.

The rewarding part is seeing how the attendees appreciate the tour. I could see that they are somewhat tired and exhausted sometime in between and especially at the latter part, but I could also see that it seems worth the effort for these people. After all, we should be doing a form of sacrifice (all those bits of walking and boat transfers) including fasting (the merienda of macaroni salad was not enough to satisfy) but I heard during one of the interviews that it was intentionally meant that way for this particular tour since it was Visita Iglesia.

Thank you Zooper Cruise for another unique and memorable experience.