The advent of digital equipment has democratized film and music production, allowing people with a limited budget to realize their creative vision. This has led to the growth of independent cinema and independent record labels in the past years.
However, unbeknownst to many, the actual shoot and recording take up a small portion of a creative project. The bulk of the process comes afterward, with editing, mixing, post-processing, and mastering taking up to several months depending on the scope of material. This also entails the use of high-quality equipment to dial in the exact end product – equipment that can be prohibitively expensive for most individuals.
Director, producer, actor, and councilor Hero Bautista is keenly aware of this fact, having worked in the film and entertainment industry for decades. Hero, along with his siblings, put up Heaven’s Best Entertainment in 2005 to address this pain point. Aside from producing their own films, the company offers a slew of services for producers and directors, from audio mixing to color grading, film editing, music recording, and equipment rental.
“We wanted to offer end-to-end services to our clients who want the full package. We cater to small-scale, independent outfits, we also work with large networks and mainstream film companies,” he shared.
In the beginning, the company offered only equipment rentals. “During that time, we only offered equipment and production, no post-production. We started offering post-production services in 2019. My siblings and I were discussing the costs of having to outsource our own post-production after doing shoots for our films. We decided to put up a post-production facility that we can use for our films and at the same time offer our services to our friends in the industry,” he said.
Today, the post-production arm of Heaven’s Best Entertainment now has a new home in Scout Castor.
“We moved here in November 2020. It is a much bigger area and it allows us to make a better facility to provide to the needs of our clients.”
The new home features several dedicated rooms for different needs. On the ground floor, there is a full studio for recording and mixing songs and albums. On the second floor, there are editing and color grading rooms for directors, and a mini-theatre to watch the final product.
Down the road, Hero plans to include computer-generated imagery (CGI) as part of their services. “We plan to install a few units, probably 5, 10. And then a central database for all the projects,” he shared. With more films taking advantage of CGI to create stunning visuals and the rising power of computer hardware, creating digital effects is now easier than it was decades ago.
But for Hero, more than the skill of a digital artist and the advancement of technology, time is the greatest roadblock in creating well-executed digital effects. “While technology might not be as good back then compared to today, it is time constraints that lead to lackluster CGI. If it is being rushed, people will notice it. You’re always running against the clock and chasing after deadlines,” he shared.
To address this, Hero advised budding directors to work with the digital artist during the actual shoot. He explained that this would allow the digital artist to get proper references for lighting and more importantly, get to understand the vision of the director.
The pandemic might have brought large-scale movie production to a halt due to increased production costs. However, Hero believes that there is still a market for their services. “We focused on catering to small groups such as independent filmmakers.
They could rent our equipment and avail of our post-production services at a lower price. We worked in the industry for years. We know how difficult it is to produce a film, especially now with the restrictions. Because of that, we want to help by offering tailor-made packages that would fit their needs,” he shared.