Contrary to the title of my blog, the world is actually really small. Especially the development world 🙂
At the end of U Happy’s kite-flying outreach, I got to talking to my partner, Aya Dupaya, about my blog. Turns out she’s part of a social enterprise!
The social enterprise is called SneakPick Indie Films and Stage Plays Philippines, and they want to bring culture and the arts to every single Filipino. By their description, they’re a “socially-responsive marketing company” who seek to give “the under-privileged equal access to experience quality Filipino independent films and stage plays.”
Needless to say, I’m all for this. We make films and we stage plays so that they can be seen and shared, so that we can talk about them and maybe learn something, and so that maybe things can change. I made a thesis film two years ago exactly for these reasons, because I believed that if media can make negative stereotypes, then they sure as hell can make positive stereotypes too.
That’s exactly SneakPick’s point: culture can expand a person’s world view. And when it does, it’s with the hope that you act accordingly. Not to mention, these films and these plays have the potential to spark creativity and a collective sense of pride 🙂
SneakPick did their research too. In an entry on their blog entitled “Startling Statistics,” they pose these questions:
Based on recent literature, there are 45,000 public schools in the Philippines with about 20M students each year. To what extent have we taught our students the importance of culture and arts?
Our functional literacy rate is 58M out of 67M Filipinos. They are expected to read, write and do basic math. How well are we doing in terms of teaching critical thinking, self-sufficiency and creativity? How are we reaching out to the 9M remainder of that ratio?
If you wanna learn more about them, I encourage y’all to go to the launch of their banner program, Bayanihan para sa Kalinangan:
It would be great if you could send an RSVP by April 6th to the SneakPick Secretariat at 0915-3518179.
Bayanihan para sa Kalinangan aims to give under-privileged Filipinos free access to independent local films and plays.
They’re looking for advocates and creative affiliates to make it happen. Anyone’s welcome to collaborate as long as you have HAV: Historical content, Artistic inclination, and Values-based content.
Maybe you’d like to be a partner 🙂 Specifically, they’re on the lookout for:
- Multi-national companies and private corporations – looking for CSR initiatives
- Private schools and Civic organizations – for you guys, this can be a curriculum supplement
- Indie film and Stage Play production houses – self-explanatory, I think 🙂
If you’re interested, email them at sneakpick.phils@gmail.com. There’s more information here too.
And, if you’re not any of the above but you’d still like to help out, they’re looking for volunteers, donors, brand collaborators, and show sponsors as well! Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to watch out for volunteer opportunities. This is a brand new venture and all of us can help 🙂
Personally, I’m bringing out that old thesis film from the recesses of my files. Let’s hope they like it!