Benilde Dance Major Wins in Malaysia

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Olivia Bugayong, a third year dance student from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, recently won the bronze medal in the senior category of the second Malaysian International Ballet Grand Prix.

The competition, which ran from November 26 to 30, was divided into three stages — preliminary, eliminations and final. Participants were judged based on both classical repertoire (80%) and contemporary pieces (20%).

After the total score was accumulated, Bugayong was among the ten finalists who got into the final round of her category. She eventually became the first Filipino who made it to the top three of the said competition.

The DLS-CSB scholar is grateful to dance faculty Nina Anonas, her coach for ballet who joined her in Malaysia; dance chair Christine Crame, her mentor for contemporary; and associate dean Dr. Sunita Mukhi for her support to the Benilde’s Arts and Culture Cluster.





The MIBGP organizers, witnessing the growth of ballet and the performing arts scene, worked with the HELP College of Art and Technology to launch the competition in 2016.

The event aims to provide opportunities for all dance enthusiasts globally, boost the status of dancing, build integrity and friendship among dance enthusiasts, and share the knowledge of ballet.

Bugayong started her classical ballet training when she was just three years old at the Vella C. Damian School of Ballet, Inc. where she learned the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet Syllabus under the tutelage of Damian herself.

The dance major previously won the gold medal at the 2016 Hong Kong Challenge Cup Dance Competition. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts named her one of its Ani ng Dangal awardees the following year for her achievement.

She performed the role of Black Swan in Crame’s contemporary choreography of Swan Lake with the Saint Benilde Romançon Dance Company and also played the part of Ina in Brillante Mendoza‘s Ang Pagtatapos which aired on TV5 last April 22.

Tilda Appleseed Animation Wins Asian Television Award for Best Preschool Program

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Hamburg-based WunderWerk GmbH along with Manila’s ASI Studios Inc. & Singapore’s August Media Holdings have announced that their animated pre-school production Tilda Appleseed has won the Asian Television Awards 2017 in the BEST PRE-SCHOOL SHOW category. Speaking about the win, Gisela Schaefer, Managing Director at WunderWerk said, “We are delighted to have received the award. This recognizes the true beauty of the characters and the simple but key values that this show will deliver to it pre-school audiences.”

For her part, Jackeline Chua, Managing Partner at ASI Studios Inc. said, “The show presented for the studio, a particularly unique challenge in its art style. Once again our team demonstrated its versatility by not only taking on that challenge but also creating award winning works.”

The recently completed Tilda Appleseed is based on Andreas Schmachtl’s book series of the same name. The series follows the adventures of a spirited mouse with a big heart and an even bigger imagination – Tilda. The series is filled with many wonderful characters who model friendship in marvelous ways. This show about friendship and problem solving is designed for pre-schoolers and features an art style that completely resembles water colored books. The first season of the show was delivered in 2017 and a second season of 52 episodes is currently in the works.





WunderWerk had developed the book series into a TV series under license from German broadcaster, MDR/SWR for KiKA and is also the lead producer of the series. The series is animated at ASI Studios and co-produced by Synergy88 and August Media Holdings.

For August Media Holdings, this is the 6th nomination in the last 3 years, 4 of which have been for shows produced in partnership with ASI Studios Inc. Founder of August Media Holdings (who is also a partner at ASI Studios), Jyotirmoy Saha said, “It’s wonderful to hit a home run year after year. I am proud of my teams at ASI and August Media and the association between the two companies.”

Tilda Appleseed is currently on air on MDR/SWR in Germany, Good TV in Taiwan and is available on the recently launched Over-the-top platform Tapow™ media streaming and download service. The show is soon to air on multiple other networks in various parts of the world starting the early half of 2018.

City of Dreams Manila Grants a Father's Wish in a Touching Video

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Following a touching father-daughter short video titled “Perfect Moments Made Real” that went viral in October with almost seven million views in Facebook, the luxury integrated resort City of Dreams Manila released another video granting the wish of a father to bond with his family this holiday season, captioned “This was our response to a father who had a simple dream for his family”.

The story of Don Pilapil, an app-based driver and bottling company agent and father of four, was discovered through his comment on City of Dreams’ first viral short video. He expressed a wish to have the time to bring his children to DreamPlay and have the same memorable experiences that his passengers seemed to enjoy when he would drive them to and from the resort. Because Don held two jobs, he got anxious about losing touch with his growing kids because of the little time he spent with them.

City of Dreams Manila’s team reached out to Don to give him the opportunity to enjoy a unique experience and quality time with his family, which included lunch in an elaborate set-up at the Grand Ballroom, play hours at DreamPlay and a staycation at Nobu Hotel Manila.

“Don’s moving story was something we wanted to share with our audience on Facebook because it resonates with a lot of Filipinos striving for a brighter future for their families. In this season of giving, we take pleasure in making a father’s dream come true to have memorable moments with his family,” stated City of Dreams Manila Property President Geoff Andres.



Barely a week since its posting on November 30, Don’s story on City of Dreams Manila’s official Facebook page has reached over 1.4 million views, garnered more than 40,500 likes and reactions, over 7,600 shares and more than 1,600 comments. Don’s heart-tugging words certainly merit a thumbs-up: “I’ve learned that being a good parent isn’t measured by how much you’ve given. It is felt by caring, by spending time with them. So before they totally leave my side, if there’s something they could bring as they grow, I hope they remember that I have been a good father.”

City of Dreams Manila’s viral video ends with the caption “Make more perfect moments together”, which inspires its viewers to give the gift of time and love for their family this holiday season.

To view the video, click on the following link: https://www.facebook.com/cityofdreamsmanila/videos/740108586180253/.