DREAMING BIG

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIGHTY PERALTA JR.

Undersecretary Mary Liza Diño had just finished watching “Business Proposal,” and she couldn’t help but gush over the treatment of the hit South Korean romantic comedy television series.

“It’s so cute, isn’t it? And it can be such a Filipino story since it’s about a rich boss and his employee. It’s so typical,” says Diño, referring to the love story about an employee who goes on a blind date in place of her friend, but finds out that her date is the CEO of the company she works at.

“But the treatment, it’s so engaging, it’s so new. They made use of things we see in social media apps where different backgrounds appear, right? To show that they’re really current,” she continues. “They’re really responding to their audience and use elements that serve the audience. I hope we could do the same; we can be that innovative and creative.”

Asked about her favorite K-Drama, Diño is quick to answer “Start-Up,” the first Korean series she has seen. Being the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP) Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), she can relate to the characters struggling to build their start-up company and coming together to
achieve their dreams.

“Of course, as a CEO, their situation resonated. Oh my God, so it’s like that! You should have 51 percent ownership if you’re CEO, even if the finances didn’t come from you, things like that. I learned a lot, since they really dig deep into the world they create for the characters,” Diño remarks, lauding the characters’ vivid portrayal of conflicts felt by startup workers—from pitching ideas, finding investors, and building connections through networking events.

“The devil is in the details. And if we disabuse ourselves of the mentality that mediocre work will do, and post-production will just make up for it, we could do so many things,” she says.

There is no doubt that the Hallyu or the “Korean Wave” created a phenomenal growth of Korean culture, encompassing music, games, cuisine, and their cinema. It is this explosive success of the South Korean brand in the global market that she dreams of for the Philippines, as she continues to lead the country’s film agency for another three years with her reappointment.

While Diño is cognizant of the decades of consistency and intentional effort it took South Korea to get to where they are now—including the collaboration of their government and private sector in pushing for the global potential of their entertainment and media industry as a catalyst for building their country’s influence
worldwide—she sees so much potential in Philippine cinema, particularly in the diversity of content and the wellspring of untapped narratives, genres and executions through regional cinema, animation, and .......