Young Pinoy filmmaker steps from one breakthrough film to another

Sean Lim, an apprentice in the filming of the Bigfoot Entertainment thriller Irreversi, has moved on to direct the indie Sci-Fi Action Drama, Xenoa. In its unique approach to the treatment and cutting-edge special effects, Xenoa is set to be the first of its kind in the Philippines.

The film stars long-time actress Isabel Granada and TV host-actor Paolo Ballesteros, and veteran model Rafael Nanquil. Now on post-production, Xenoa will hit local digital cinemas soon-and possibly make the rounds in the international film festival circuit.

Sean had the experience of a lifetime when, in March of 2006, Bigfoot Entertainment and its learning institution for aspiring filmmakers, the International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT), announced a unique offering-an apprenticeship in the production of an international feature film.

After trying his luck, Sean was to find out a month after that he had been chosen by Bigfoot and IAFT to fly to Hong Kong to apprentice in the filming of Irreversi, which stars Mei Melançon of X-Men 3: The Last Stand and Kenny Doughty of My First Wedding. Irreversi is a breakthrough in its dual-language aspect, shot in both English and Mandarin with two sets of cast and crew, to best serve the big Chinese-speaking market. It was in several days in April and May of 2006-on the Irreversi set-that Sean immersed in a rigorous hands-on training in producing and directing, from pre- to post-production, to establishing the continuity of shots and shooting at the right angles to aid post-production and special effects.

Under the guidance of experienced multi-national filmmakers, among those that Sean trained with were executive producer Kacy Andrews, director Michael Gleissner, and director of Photography and camera operator Jack Messitt. The experience turned out to be insightful to Sean: "I picked up a lot-handling production, saving time, dealing with difficulties, and most importantly, how to execute my duties as director and producer."

Fresh from the experience and back in Manila, Sean set to work on Xenoa. He states, "The Xenoa crew tells me that our indie production doesn't seem like one, since the standards I've been applying are what I learned from the international crew. The apprenticeship boosted my confidence in producing my own movie, and production on Xenoa has been hassle-free because of the techniques I learned from the Bigfoot-IAFT hands-on workshop in Hong Kong."

For more information on Irreversi and other Bigfoot Entertainment projects, please visit www.bigfootentertain ment.com. For information about the International Academy of Film and Television, please visit www.filmschool.ph. To know more about Xenoa, please visit www.xenoamovie.com.