MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Thriving in the advertising industry and making it to the ten-year milestone is no small feat, but that’s exactly what EOPLUS is celebrating after a decade’s worth of overcoming challenges, creating successful projects, and building a team that has been the heart of the company since day one.
EOPLUS is a post-production company that specializes in design, computer-generated images, 3D and 2D animation, compositing, and motion graphics. From having to work its way up to being a full post-production house to powering through a pandemic that impacted so many in the industry, the hurdles and changes the team has faced along the way make this milestone all the more impressive.
In an exclusive interview with adobo Magazine, EOPLUS President and CEO Edrie Ocampo and COO Leoby Marquez reveal how the company got where it is today, what they look forward to achieving in the next decade, and why, through it all, the well-being of the team always comes first.
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Edrie Ocampo, President and Chief Executive Officer of EOPLUS
The road to today’s EOPLUS
Edrie and Leoby go way back. Before the two started out in the industry, they were classmates in high school. They eventually went on to study advertising at UST. They even worked together at one point in the same post-production house a few years after graduation.
“I started the industry because of Edrie,” Leoby recalled.“He invited me to visit the post house[he was working at the time] at doon ako naging interested and eventually became a colorist. My first employment was because of him.”
After their stint in the same post-production house, Edrie went on to do freelance visual effects as Edrie Ocampo VFX while Leoby worked as a colorist in different countries in the region such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. When Leoby came back to the Philippines in 2011, Edrie was already thinking about turning his freelancing business into a company.
“I decided na kailangan ko ng partner na makakasama sa pagdevelop ng[company,]” he said.“Doon nga pumasok si Leoby.”
Leoby Marquez, Chief Operating Officer of EOPLUS
A year after they first talked about the idea, it was time to start the company. Back then, it was purely a visual effects house.
“Kasi back then, di pa namin kaya[to become a full post-production house.] Ang laki ng investment; bukod sa gamit at software, nagdagdag din kami ng tao,” Edrie explained.“So, 2016 lang kami naging post house. That’s when our partners Bien Felix, a multi-awarded TV commercial editor, and international producer Chris Esguerra came in[and invested in us]. Chris is the main reason why we have worked with International directors and advertising agencies such as BBH Singapore.”
Now standing at the ten-year mark, the growth of EOPLUS in the past decade has been remarkable. From a visual effects company starting out in a one-room office in the now-demolished The Collective, EOPLUS now operates out of a full post-production facility in CBD Makati with a bigger team, bigger goals, and bigger projects, but with the same core values that guided its journey: Evaluate Opportunities. Entertain Obstacles. Encourage Ownership. Exceed Ourselves.
L-R: Chris Esguera, Leoby Marquez, Edrie Ocampo, and Bien Felix
Carving out a place in the industry
The company is currently one of the younger established post-production houses in the industry. Despite that, there isn’t a lack of huge projects with equally huge names in its impressive reel. In the past decade, the team has partnered with some of the industry’s best directors and production houses for ads for big brands: Nestle, Globe, McDonald’s, Jollibee, URC, Monde, P&G, Unilever, Unilab, Chowking, Cebu Pacific, and the Department of Tourism (DOT).
One of its many projects from this year that made a mark is the post-production work done for a Smart and Apple Music spot featuring Ben&Ben, which now has over 7 million views on YouTube.
Ben&Ben
EOPLUS was also the post-production team behind one of Milo’s most recent campaigns featuring Filipino Gold Medal Olympian Hidilyn Diaz and her journey to becoming the weightlifting champion she is today.
Hidilyn Diaz
These are just a couple of the many huge projects that EOPLUS was able to work its magic on. While building a client base and creating good working relationships with directors and production houses is a challenge, Edrie attributes the success to the directors that put their faith in them.
“Before pa kami nagsetup ng company, nagkaroon lang talaga ako ng good working relationship with some of the directors na hanggang ngayon nakakatrabaho ko pa rin,” Edrie shared.“Yung mga directors na tumulong sa career ko, sila yung mga unang nagtiwala sa akin kahit wala akong post house.”
Edrie and Leoby acknowledged it was the quality of work and reliability of their team — which includes Sales and Marketing Head Naomi Prochina, Senior Post Producer Lucille Perez, Post Production Supervisor Melvin Dantes, and Senior VFX Artist Julius Irvin Ramirez — that allow EOPLUS to maintain these working relationships and make the best out of these collaborations.
“Proud kami na ang nakakatrabaho namin are top directors and top production houses,” Edrie said.
Leoby added,“And we want to credit our artists, our marketing team, for that.[We want to] give credit sa buong team. It’s not just me, Edrie, and the other partners. Of course, we worked hard for this, pero kung hindi din dahil sa team, it would have been a different story for us.”
EOPLUS old office
EOPLUS team in their new office
Surviving and thriving amid the pandemic
Like the rest of the creative industry, EOPLUS found themselves dealing with the question of how to continue operations when the pandemic hit.
When the lockdown started in March 2020, EOPLUS was in a middle of a good year. After a couple of months of total lockdown, every artist who wanted to continue working from home was allowed to do so; those who wanted to work in the office and have their own space under a one-artist-per-room protocol for safety did as well.
The two founding partners emphasized that, throughout the pandemic, their priority was taking care of the team. The artists who worked on site were given everything they needed — from full meals every day to accomodations — to be safe in the office and cut costs on commuting. The next year, which became a difficult one financially for the industry because of the many sporadic short-term lockdowns, EOPLUS made sure that the employees came first.
“There was a time Edrie and I listed cost-cutting measures for the office. I’m proud to say that the last on our list was the employees. Walang nabawasan ng suweldo,” Leoby said.“It’s a cliche, but for our team, we’re really a family.”
What’s next for EOPLUS?
EOPLUS isn’t stopping at the ten-year mark. As we near the end of 2022, Edrie and Leoby already have their eyes on the future. The world of visual effects is expanding, and they plan to keep up with the many post-production feats they’ve been witnessing all over the world. Leoby pointed out how exciting it is that there are all these new platforms — from current social media leaders to the Metaverse — that are becoming the digital era’s main advertising destinations.
“Dahil sa iba’t ibang platforms na ito, iba’t iba rin yung deliverables ng post-production right now. We need to be on top of it,” Leoby said.“Moving forward, we need to be more educated and versed sa mga darating na mga platforms, apps, and other technologies.“
As for the next steps for the company, Edrie and Leoby acknowledged something they wanted to change soon: the fact that EOPLUS has never submitted its work to advertising award shows.
“Ang thinking namin[back then was]: Maliit lang naman tayo. Maliit pa tayo,’” Edrie explained.
Now, with more confidence and, more importantly, the desire to recognize the creative efforts that their team has done, Edrie and Leoby are already planning to start submitting EOPLUS’ work to award-giving bodies.
“We think we have the body of work na to present,” Leoby said.“Maybe[we’ve had it] for a few years na, pero because of the pandemic, medyo nadelay iyon. In 2023, we’ll focus on that.”
The founding partners also talked about the things they wanted to invest in so that they can grow EOPLUS — a new office, new equipment, new software. But they both agreed on their priority, which is to invest in their people and give them everything they need to keep learning.
“Sabi nga namin sa kanila, ‘Kung may makita kayong tutorial or software, sabihin niyo lang sa amin. Purchase natin.’ We want them to be aggressive in learning new things kasi yun lang naman yung way para hindi tayo maging stagnant,” said Edrie.
“Right now, we’re in the process of hiring artists para ma-beef up yung team for 2023. We[also] want to strengthen our team[by getting] younger artists who have different perspectives, different approaches, different drives, and different creative ideas,” Leoby said.“Mga bata ngayon sobrang galing, so we want to have that new blood in us.”
“We feel na we are settled in the industry in a way,” Leoby added.“Medyo kilala na kahit papaano sa industry yung post house. At dahil ito sa contribution ng lahat ng tao namin.”
L-R: Lyeka Lopez, Post Producer; Naomi Prochina, Sales and Marketing Head; Lucille Perez, Senior Post Producer
L-R: Juan Paolo Maiquez, Senior 3D Artist; Alvin Patrick Beltran, Senior Online Artist; Melvin Dantes, Post Production Supervisor; Julius Irvin Ramirez, Senior 3D Artist and Compositor; Mark Dindo Beltran, 2D Artist and Compositor; and Neil Aldrine Sayno, Senior Online Artist
Theo Lachica, Senior Technical Administrator; and Francis Paul Sawal, IT Technician
The importance that EOPLUS puts on its team is not lost on anyone. From the history of the company to the sketching of its future plans, it’s always the significance of its people that finds its way to centerstage. Add that dedication to the team to the company’s ability to forge meaningful relationships in the industry, and it’s no surprise that EOPLUS has made it this far.
With its excellent team (which Edrie and Leoby emphasized includes everyone from the artists to the accounts team to the utility staff), fresh ambitions, and the desire to keep delivering exemplary work, EOPLUS ends its anniversary year with the excitement to create new relationships and to further its services. With everything the company has shown so far, there’s no doubt that it is ready for the new challenges ahead.
