From upstarts to trendsetters, welovepost has carved a comfortable position for itself on the local post-production scene. Founders Pedring Lopez and Cody Miller, along with operations director David Hukom, met with adobo in the nerve center of their company – a fully stocked (and toy and pop culture memorabilia-laden) bar – to find out what makes them tick.
“Those were scary times,” says co-founder and marketing director Cody Miller. “That was right when the market crashed, and everyone, including our friends and family were saying it was a bad idea – time to shell up and save. But I think this industry thrives when there’s trouble, so, for me, it was the best time to set up.”
“And that was a time when a lot of the other houses were decreasing their size or merging,” says co-founder and managing director Lopez, referring to the economic slump that relegated the dollar to peso exchange to the abysmal upper fifties.
While other startups were either hedging their bets or simply erring on the side of caution, the welovepost boys threw everything they had into their venture, investing heavily on personnel and equipment to establish their status as a house to be taken seriously.
“We didn’t have big funding, but we had to go all in!” laughs Lopez. “In post, there’s no mid-range. It’s either you’re really small, and cater only to small projects, or you’re really big and can cater to everyone in the region.”
Setting up shop on the 6th floor of a nondescript Makati high rise, the pair went for broke in their desire to open a shop that could distinguish itself locally and, in the same measure, compete globally. Raising additional eyebrows in the industry was welovepost’s decision to hire outside talent to augment their staff.
“We really wanted to go regional, which is why we also hired expats, which a lot of the companies (here) don’t do. They told us we were stupid to do it, but now we have three (expats),” shares Lopez. “Having a mix of cultures in one house is good because you can draw from different creative backgrounds”
“Having an international team and the equipment to back them up also helps us market ourselves around the region,” adds Hukom.
Of course, all of this investment in talent and high-tech toys would be for naught if it went to the wrong areas, a fact reflected by welovepost’s relatively low (compared to other local houses’) headcount.
Up to date, equipped and efficient, welovepost’s foundation of keeping regional standards in mind has definitely paid off; it wasn’t long before a reputation based on expertise and quick turnarounds was established, resulting in a steady stream of local and international projects.
“How we read it is,” says Hukom, “this is the direction the local industry is headed. More and more clients will be realizing that bringing their projects here is like working in the States. Even from a communication standpoint, there’s no language barrier.”
It wasn’t always this way, says Lopez: “15, 20 years ago, Manila was where Thailand is now in terms of post. We (the Philippines) were the first to have Smoke, we were the first to have Flame*. But it just died down. Then Thailand started buying equipment, and we were so ‘clan-ish’, focusing our attention on local work that we got left behind.”
The “clan-ish” mentality isn’t exclusive to picking and choosing of projects, though; Despite many in the industry decrying welovepost’s decision to include foreign talent on their roster, Miller explains that this was a choice that also had a basis in practicality.
Miller expands on the sentiment: “Basically, a lot of people who do work in the region, they’re used to these kinds of artists, this kind of expertise. When you go to (post prod houses in) Thailand or whatnot, it’s like a melting pot of different people and different artists. Since a lot of projects go out from the Philippines to these other countries, we want to be able to give the same kind of quality (here). And to be honest, for a lot of the stuff we have – the Smoke and Flame – there’s a lack of training for a lot of the local guys, so the foreign guys are gonna help strengthen our guys – it’s like hitting two birds with one stone.”
Another area welovepost made waves in was its early adoption of social media to promote the company and their projects, which Lopez says is remarkable for the fact that, “If you look around, we’re the only house that really uses social media, posting and posting on Facebook. Maybe because we’re young, but it really helped us market ourselves, and it’s helped us get clients from abroad who have only heard of us from going online.”
Heading into its fifth year, welovepost’s reputation as an industry trendsetter is well-cemented, and expansion is in the works. The company already made industry headlines earlier this year when it entered into a co-branding agreement with Holy Cow Animation, Inc, adding to an already-extensive list of available services. In addition, bolstered by a steady stream of client demand, welovepost recently acquired the floor above their current facility, and is in the process of constructing new office space, a lounge area and editing suites. The centerpiece of the renovation will be a cinema-style screening room where clients can view their projects being worked on in real time.
“When we started, all the pieces kind of fell together,” says, Miller, justifiably proud of the evolution of the company. “The same thing happened when we brought in Dave. We were all in line and, I wouldn’t say that’s rare, but it’s a good feeling that we all want to go in the same direction.”
So what’s the secret to surviving in the cutthroat world of post production?
The answer is as instantaneous as it is unanimous: “Beer!”
* Smoke and Flame are industry-standard editing and visual effects systems, respectively
