Biographies
SALLY JO BELLOSILLO
Producer and Director
Sally Jo Bellosillo is the first Filipino filmmaker to gather the major
players of the EDSA revolution such as Imelda Marcos, Fidel V. Ramos,
Corazon C. Aquino and Senator Gringo Honasan twenty years after the event.
Her film, Laban: The Meaning of the EDSA People Power Revolution, is a
documentary that not only revisits the aftermath of the non-violent protest
that ended the twenty year regime of President Marcos but contains exclusive
historical and personal accounts of the revolution. Ms. Bellosillo graduated
with honors from the University of the Philippines and has just completed
her MA in Trans Atlantic Studies at the University of Birmingham in England,
where she was the only Filipino International Scholarship recipient of
the year 2004. She has co-written two comedy short films entitled No Day
But Today (UK) and Fortune Cookie Smiles (Manila) with Director Marnie
Pulumbarit of London Goldsmith College. She has also been published by
Major Filipino and International magazines such as ME by Mega Publications
and Health Today by Multimedia Asia
FLORENCE CRUZ ERICSSON
Producer
Florence Cruz Eriksson is a San Francisco based independent producer.
She has collaborated on projects in the Philippines, India, throughout
North America and Europe. She has had the privilege of working in a variety
of genres, which include radio, animation, independent films, television,
infomercials and currently mobile media content. Being a daughter of an
EDSA revolution veteran, Florence is especially proud to have the opportunity
to work on Laban.
Greg Ansin
Executive Producer
Greg Ansin is a Boston-based independent filmmaker and the founder of MonkeyRay Productions. He is the Executive Producer and Editor of the Film Laban: The Meaning of the EDSA Revolution. His work on Laban has made him appreciate the power that people have when they are willing to "put their lives on the line for what they believe is right." MonkyeRay’s first film "Growing Old" was just released by Journeyman Pictures of the United Kingdom.
MICHAEL BURNS
Director
Michael
Burns is an American independent filmmaker whose work in the US and
the UK focuses on political issues and international crises in contemporary
society. He has produced and directed Third
Party, Preventive
Warriors, and Majority
Rules. He hopes Laban will add to the dialogue inside and beyond the
Philippines about how sustainable reforms can be made to the democratic
system in order to enable governments to live up to their lofty promises
to embody both the will of the people as well as the ideals of the republic.
He's found the story of EDSA and its aftermath to be an incredibly important
part of this crucial task.
MICHAEL NEEL
Director of Photography & Editor
Michael Neel has broad work experience in various film genres including
documentary, horror, comedy and animation. He is involved in many facets
of film production, primarily in camerawork, editing, directing, producing,
writing, and sound, and has had his work broadcast on the U.S. networks
PBS, NBC, and F/X. He was Director of Photography for the film “Preventive
Warriors,” a film on U.S. foreign policy. For “Growing Old,”
a film about aging well, he was Director, Co-Producer, and Co-Editor.
Recently, he completed editing Veil of Blood, an independent, black comedic
horror film that is currently seeking distribution. He enjoyed working
as a Co-Director of Photography and Co-Editor on Laban, and has developed
a deep understanding of the history and struggles of the Filipino people.
ETHAN OYER
Director of Photography & Editor
Ethan Oyer is a California native living in Boston since 2000. He was
he Director of Photography for “Growing Old” and Co-DP and
Co-Editor for “LABAN”. He currently applies his creative talents
to cinematography, editing, and writing, and is a lover of all arts. After
traveling to the Philippines for the filming of “LABAN” and
subsequently editing the documentary, he has developed a tremendous respect
for the Filipino people. He believes they have a fierce passion for life
and a dedication to their fellow man. He hopes this film will inspire
others as it did him.
MK BELLOSILLO
Associate Producer
Mary Kathryn Bellosillo is a key member of the production team for the
documentary Laban: The Meaning of the Edsa Revolution. An expert in developing
and cultivating sources of information, she was able to trace and obtain
interviews with underground members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement
(RAM) Senator Gringo Honasan, General Vic Batac and Colonel Red Kapunan.
She obtained valuable archive material form various government agencies
such as the Department of National Defense and the Office of the President
Radio Television Malacañang. As a writer she has written numerous
Corporate AVP scripts for clients such as Kraft, Bayer, Selecta RFM and
San Miguel Corporation for Pixel Eyes Multimedia. As an assistant researcher
to former Asian Wall Street Journal Editor Coylee Gamboa, she has researched
and analyzed data regarding the Philippine Hotel Industry in the 1980’s.
She was the Globe Telecom account executive for Harrison Communication
Philippines and is currently account executive for Eye Contact Studios.
LISSA ROMERO
Research Consultant and Co-Writer
Lissa Romero’s career in the arts began in the West End/Broadway
hit musical Miss Saigon (Germany/UK) where she was ensemble member and
first understudy Gigi, a supporting lead role. After a ten-year international
career in musical theater playing lead and understudy roles in musicals
such as RENT, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and HONK! she
received her degree in Sociology at the Philippines’ top university
Ateneo de Manila, where she was awarded the Frank L. Lynch Social Science
Award “for academic excellence in the social sciences, demonstrating
leadership in social science activities, and for showing exceptional promise
as a social science scholar and professional.” Ms. Romero has decided
to combine her academic brilliance and love of the arts in her new career
as a writer, serving as a Writing Consultant and Script Editor for the
film Fortune Cookie Smiles (Manila) and Research Consultant on the documentary
Laban: The Meaning of the Edsa Revolution. She has been published in major
Philippine broadsheet newspapers such as The Philippine Star, The Philippine
Daily Inquirer and the Manila Bulletin. She is currently writing the biography
of her grandfather Dr. Paulino J. Garcia, who was Health Secretary for
Presidents Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia and Ferdinand E. Marcos.
ANGELA FRAGA
Associate Producer
Ms. Angela Fraga provided essential logistical support in the production
of the film Laban: The Meaning of the Edsa Revolution, securing archive
material from major TV networks such as NBN4, ABS-CBN, and GMA7, as well
as key institutions such as the Department of National Defense and the
Catholic Church. Her talents range from the strategic and organizational
to the creative, plotting routes and choosing shooting locations, organizing
b-roll shot lists, as well as collating invaluable data on various personalities
and institutions for production. An AB Comparative Literature major at
the University of the Philippines, she is a key decision maker in choosing
the topics to be developed and filmed.
KATHLEEN C. AGUDA, Researcher
Kat Aguda is a first year student at the Ateneo Law School. Her exceptional
charisma and extensive connections with people from RTVM Malacanang, NBN
Channel 4 and ABS-CBN allowed her to obtain exclusive archival footage
and evidential photographic accounts of what truly happened during the
three EDSA Revolutions. This former member of the UP Women’s Football
Team and the Under-19 National Team is a graduate of the University of
the Philippines with a BA-English Studies major in Anglo-American Literature.