In partnership with the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, Inc., hosted the Future Filmmakers Forum, a platform designed to bring students closer to professionals shaping the country’s film industry.
Among the featured speakers was Digo Ricio, production designer of Manila’s Finest and the Hollywood series Almost Paradise. Through conversations on production design, students gained a closer look at how creative decisions help build the worlds audiences eventually see on screen.
For Ricio, production design goes beyond making a film visually appealing. It involves translating a story into spaces, objects, colors, and details that support the narrative. Every visual element becomes part of the storytelling process, requiring designers to understand the characters, setting, and world they are helping create.
His presence also offered students an anecdotal glimpse into the collaborative nature of filmmaking. Behind every finished frame is a network of creative professionals working together, from directors and cinematographers to production designers and other members of the film crew.
“For any designer, I think what's very important is that you know yourself. I think you cannot really employ your aesthetics unless you actually know that yourself. There's a very thin line between being an artist and being a designer, and I always think that design is about being able to make things work, potentially with being able to identify what problem you're solving.” Ricio shares.
The forum highlighted how design functions not merely as decoration, but as an essential storytelling tool. By opening conversations between students and working professionals, iACADEMY continues to connect classroom learning with actual creative practice, giving aspiring filmmakers a clearer view of the craft, collaboration, and creative thinking behind cinema.
