MANILA – For their eighth anniversary, Abracadabra Film and Video Production is celebrating in more ways than one, beginning with a party on July 25.
“‘We create as we speak’ is the mantra of Abracadabra. We are in pursuit of creating magic. The number eight is a magical number. It manifests wealth, abundance and prosperity. At the same time, it reminds that we will reap what we sow. So in our eighth year, it is a fitting cause to embellish these attributes. We are celebrating it in a big way and in more ways than one. The celebration party at our studio last Friday is the signal. It’s our way of thanking our industry partners and friends for the eight years of trust and confidence in what we can provide and deliver. It is also our expression of our vision of making the suceeding years much better,” said managing partner Ross Misa.
With the theme ‘Tonight We Are Young’, the party lasted til the wee hours of the morning, with plenty of food, free-flowing beer, and popcorn, which, as one guest put it, “tasted like childhood.”
Misa explained that the theme expresses how Abracadabra continues to feel about themselves: “It is a state of mind that connotes freedom and celebration of life. To be forever young is magic. It is the key to further succeed in our business because the industry is and will always be. And it is the popular line of a rock and roll song.”
Since it was established in 2007, Abracadabra has gathered a powerhouse cast of directors, helping it to gain the trust of significant clients. Abracadabra’s directors are Trevor Hone, Jessel Monteverde, Mike Talampas, Nick Santiago, Paul Soriano, Torts Villacorta, and Yeyey Yatco.
Asked what the industry can expect for the next eight years, Misa said the production company will be delivering “more, bigger and better magic.”
“Significant enhancements are currently in the works in ensuring that our vision and missions will materialize in terms of our operations, our ways of delivering customer satisfaction through our outputs, products and services, and our openness to embrace the future dynamics and innovations of our industry,” Misa said.
As part of its efforts to improve, the company has recently subscribed to a mechanical support called the Steadicam to meet the needs of film and video industry. “This technology aims to liberate the camera from its traditional constraints,” he said.
Earlier this month, Philippine camera operators, directors, and producers attended the Steadicam Bronze Workshop held at Abracadabra, in partnership with Big Brother Manila and Tiffen Steadicam. “Our aim is to make our cameras move in a continuous motion, alleviating the need for tripods, cranes and dollies. Thus addressing issues like time and money, efficiency and effectivity,” Misa said.
“This era of digital or online media has made it more challenging for the production houses,” Misa said, adding that his and managing partner Mari Buencamino’s experience helped greatly in launching Abracadabra, as well as remaining successful in the digital age.
“We started in TVC production in the early 70’s and 80’s consecutively and became well versed with production. Thanks to the great pool of clients and production resources that came our way, they became very important to our launching Abracadabra. From then on, Abra, as we are fondly called, have always pursued venturing beyond mainstream and the traditional. We continue to equip ourselves with effective set of tools to take on the requirements of digital media. From pre-production to post production, we can deliver more than what are required of the tasks given us; story-telling treatments at very competitive cost and challenging timelines. It is important for us that we deliver full-service packages to walk the talk of what we stand for ‘we create as we speak’.”
