Setting a new milestone, the Bachelor of Arts in Communication program of Holy Angel University proves its academic excellence with its back-to-back victory in the 11th Philippine Student Quill Awards held at the Manila Hotel last August 27.
The magazine show “On the Spot,” produced by the Juniors of Batch 2024-2025, clinched an Excellence Award under the Audio/Visual Category of the Communication Skills Division; while Seniors of the same academic year, represented by Emmanuel Manalastae, received an Award of Merit in the Special and Experiential Events Category for “Cuisinema: Short Film Festival”, an output for the Copywriting and Advertising Production course under the watch of their adviser Ryan Roberto.
Created and fully produced by BA 301 as a final requirement for their Radio and Television Production course, the magazine show production was a training ground to experience the full-pledged process of television production as guided by their adviser Doods L. Maglaqui.
On the Spot’s driving force was its core team made up of Lana Erin Ramos as its Executive Producer, Stella Mae Wyco as Director, Yuan Simbulan as Head Writer, Cedrick Camiling, Renzy Atibagos, Justine Rovic Fong, and Carl Deang who worked on the Creative and Technical aspect of the whole production, and the show’s faces: Ghiewel Gomez, Gabriel Mariano, Myxzien Santos, and Juliana Yabut.
But essential to the production of the magazine show as a whole are the different segment teams that were composed of the remaining students of the class. These teams were headed by three segment producers, Gaia Gwyneth Samson, Christiana Meg Ramos, and Sophia Dimabuyu who were in charge of creating individual segments that represented the On the Spot theme of “What’s Hype In The City.”
Each segment featured a unique trending experience that was all the rave for the Gen Zs—the show’s target audience.
For the show’s first segment “Brewed with Love,” led by segment producer Gaia Gwyneth Samson, featured the emerging cafés in the Philippines that have unique concepts and aesthetics most of which are themed after other countries, mixing travelling with coffee.
“At the same time, we want to highlight how cafes can also become spaces for love, connection, and shared experiences,” Samson added as they featured a couple that hold memories in a certain café.
Samson being a first-time producer with this project learned the power of collaboration and creativity when it comes to production.
“I also learned the importance of planning but also leaving space for spontaneous moments, sabi ko nga, need lagi ng adaptability because sometimes the best shots or stories happen unexpectedly,” the segment producer explained.
For Samson, the production of her segment overall was built upon a strong foundation of their team working harmoniously with one another; treating it as a whole experience and not just work.
“As a producer, fulfillment came from knowing that the project wasn’t just about our requirement, but about creating something that reflects our teamwork and creativity,” Samson said.
The second segment titled “Rampa sa UKay” focused on a fashion phenomena involving thrifting. This segment was produced by Christiana Meg Ramos.
It showcased the creativity of Filipino Gen Z when it comes to fashion. Highlighting how ukay-ukay makes fashion and self-expression more affordable and sustainable. As quoted by the segment’s host Naya, “Good fashion doesn’t have to be expensive, nasa tamang styling lang ‘yan, and of course, good taste.”
Ramos admitted that producing this segment wasn’t an easy journey, facing several major setbacks while doing so.
Several challenges cited were sudden changes that needed them to have participants, time constraints, and other logistical and financial issues that happened during the production. Amid all of that Producer Ramos had to take on double rolls to push for the completion of this segment.
“No matter how much you plan, problems will always come unexpectedly, and we have to think quickly and adapt to it,” Ramos emphasized, highlighting the need for flexibility, resourcefulness, and patience in the process of production.
Eventually the production was able to pick up pace once they reshooted, Ramos citing that it was fulfilling to see everyone’s teamwork come together after the challenges they faced during the previous shoot.
As for the third and last segment, spots wherein people can take a break from the stress that they face in their daily lives are featured. This was the segment produced by Sophia Dimabuyu titled “Chillax to the Max!”
“I see it as a great avenue to show Gen Zs that when things are too much, especially in this time and age when we’re too caught up with life, there are ways to step away from our worries even for a while and recharge,” Dimabuyu reinstated as the goal of their segment.
In this segment, they featured rage rooms and trampoline parks as means to de-stress.
An anecdote shared by the segment producer was when she informed her team that most of them wouldn’t be able to enter the trampoline park, due to lack of funds, but once they interviewed the owner, they let the whole team in. This added into the whole experience of the team, past the shooting of their segment.
“After the shoot, we all ended up playing around like kids again, even talking about the outdoor games we used to play growing up,” Dimabuyu narrated.
She then realized that this was the exact purpose of their segment—taking a pause from all the worries.This personified the experience for the team, further immersing them in the importance of shows like these.
For Dimabuyu, her biggest learning during this is the importance of properly coordinating externally and internally is a key to ensuring a smooth-sailing production. Saying that she learned that being respectful and organized helped them.
“I learned the importance of leaving a good impression so that when you or the team work with them again in the future, they’ll remember the experience in a positive way,” she said.
“The whole process also reminded me that production is not solely about the technical or the creative side, it’s also about the relationships,” the segment producer added, emphasizing the need for rapport-building when it comes to the people working within production.
Given the learnings and experiences that these students faced while producing, for them it is only imperative that the pay-off of the award holds sheer importance for their journey as future media practitioners.
“It reminded us that our voices and our ideas have a place out there, and that’s something really empowering,” Dimabuyu said.
This sentiment was echoed by Samson noting how despite how scarce their resources were, while producing this, they still were able to produce something that connected to other people.
“On the Spot” reflects the winning attitude of each member of the production team behind this award-winning student magazine show.
