Polish Your Masterpiece Now as 66th Palanca Awards Issues Last Call for Entries

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Aspiring Palanca awardees only have until the end of the month to polish their masterpieces as its organizer and sponsor, the Carlos Palanca Foundation, Inc., has announced its last call for entries. Contenders are urged to submit before the deadline at midnight of April 30, 2016.

This year’s Palanca Awards is accepting entries for the following categories: Short Story, Short Story for Children, Essay, Poetry, Poetry Written for Children, One-act Play, and Full-length Play (English Division); Maikling Kuwento, Maikling Kuwentong Pambata, Sanaysay, Tula, Tulang Para sa mga Bata, Dulang May Isang Yugto, Dulang Ganap ang Haba, and Dulang Pampelikula (Filipino Division); Short Story-Cebuano, Short Story-Hiligaynon, and Short Story-Ilokano (Regional Languages Division).

For this year’s Kabataan Division exclusive to young writers under the age of 18, the theme is “How do social media affect the formation of self-identity in the youth?” (Kabataan Essay) and “Paano makaaapekto ang ‘social media’ sa paghubog ng sariling pagkakakilanlan sa mga kabataan?” (Kabataan Sanaysay).

The Novel and Nobela categories are not open this year. Contestants may submit only one entry per category.

Entries may be submitted at any of the Palanca Foundation offices at Unit 603, 6th Floor Park Trade Centre Bldg., 1716 Investment Drive, Madrigal Business Park, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City or at Unit 3G, OPL Bldg., 100 C. Palanca St., Legaspi Village, Makati City, or through the CPMA website at www.palancaawards.com.ph.

The announcement of winners will be on September 1, 2016.

For more information, contact cpawards@palancaawards.com.ph or call (632) 511-0003 or +639253887103. Look for Leslie Layoso.

Mastering The Voice

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The great Abraham Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”

Every skill, easy or difficult, can be mastered through TRAINING. Whether you’re an athlete, a performer, painter, movie director… the skills you need to learn in order to be great in your respective field must be learned, rehearsed and applied with discipline and consistency. And voice acting is no different.

Voice artists are the anonymous people whose voice you hear in radio and TV commercials, dubbed films and telenovela, audiobooks, video games, radio drama, corporate videos, e-learning materials, and even in the train stations reminding you to take care of your belongings. Many people have a misconception that anyone who has a “good voice” can become voice artists… but it’s like saying, “you have nice, long legs, you should join Miss Universe!”

Even I had to train and practice in order to develop the many voices I have done for voiceovers, dubbing, commercials, radio drama and many more. I started as a self-taught voice artist, then eventually trained through books, videos, and mentors from the local and international voice acting scene. When I began working as a Voice Director, that’s when I realized that even those who have been in the industry for some time could use some formal training to learn the principles and the vocal mechanism behind voice acting.

That was the main reason I started my company, Creativoices Productions, in 2005. I didn’t build Creativoices just to become another audio production house. I built it in order to establish the very first voice acting school in the country, the Philippine Center for Voice Acting. Since then, I was on a mission to promote voice acting as an art and to professionalize the voice acting industry by honing aspiring voice artists with the knowledge and tools they need to ACT with the their voice. Creativoices became the venue to help our graduates to get their foot in the door of the voice acting world. I am proud to say that 10 years and 36 batches later, our school has produced more than 1,000 graduates, and many of them have built a successful career as voice artists, hosts, broadcasters, and even public speakers.

Alexx Agcaoili

 So what happens in our voice acting class?

Voiceworx – our basic voice acting and dubbing workshop – is taught by the best voice directors and voiceover artists in the country – Danny Mandia, Alexx Agcaoili and Neil Tolentino, who are veteran voice artists and dubbing directors in ABS CBN and Hero TV; Brian Ligsay, one of the most sought-after voice artists, events host and voiceover (TRIVIA: he’s the voice behind the safety reminders of LRT Line 2); and me, the VoiceMaster of the Philippines. You can read all about my voice acting credentials at www.voicemaster.me.

With the instructors’ credentials and experience, you already have an idea that you will be learning a lot from the workshop. Our classes are intensive and highly participatory. Students are exposed to real-life radio broadcasting, dubbing and recording sessions.

Another thing worth mentioning is that in Voiceworx, we teach students how to ACT with their voice, and not just alter it. Sure, imitating voices is a nice talent to have, if all you want to do is impress (or annoy) friends and family at a dinner party. But when it comes to being a voice artist, it’s not all about how many characters you can imitate, but how many you can CREATE.

Danny Mandia

DJ Big Brian

Majestic Prince dubbing with Voiceworx students in ABS CBN

Papa Neil Tolentino

The VoiceMaster teaching in Voiceworx

Voiceworx Students Dubbing 1911 Movie in ABS CBN

Voiceworx Students Dubbing in ABS CBN

Voiceworx runs for 8 Saturdays, with 4 batches of workshops happening every year. You may visit www.voiceworxshop.com to find out the schedules and details on how to register.

Voiceworx Graduation

I have a vision, and that is to make the Philippines the center of voiceover excellence in Asia. I believe that Filipinos have voice acting prowess that can be competitive in the international market, as we have already proven with clients such as Sega, Itruemart and TAG 91.1 in Dubai. Through Voiceworx, I am confident that this vision has already become a reality.

Contributed by Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales

NBA Opens Manila Office To Expand Efforts in the Philippines

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that the league has opened an office in Manila, Philippines, as part of its commitment to grow basketball and the NBA’s business initiatives in the country.

NBA Philippines Managing Director Carlo Singson will lead a dedicated local staff to assist NBA headquarters in continuing the growth of all of the NBA’s business lines in the country, including television, digital, merchandising, events and grassroots programs, and social responsibility. Singson’s nearly two-decade career with the league has included stints in the league’s headquarters in New York City and in the Hong Kong regional office.

“The NBA has experienced tremendous growth in the Philippines over the past decade, and we’ve helped more boys and girls play and enjoy the game,” said Singson. “By establishing an office in market with dedicated staff on the ground, we will be better positioned to work with our valued partners to deliver the best NBA experiences to some of the world’s most passionate basketball fans.”

“Opening an office in the Philippines is the next step in our efforts to grow basketball and the NBA’s popularity throughout Asia,” said NBA Asia Managing Director Scott Levy. “The fandom that exists in the Philippines presents an ideal opportunity to grow the game that we hope to replicate throughout the region.”