Happy New Year you guys!

Hope you had some great Holidays, and a super-duper begining of 2008!

Check out the short videoclip I attached to this email for some "tropical" greetings!

You should be able to watch it using Windows Media Player or Quicktime.

If you dont' have Quicktime, you can download the free installer at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

Well, here's a snapshot of this past 2007... (get some coffee first, it's long...)

As you know,  I moved to PI a year ag trying to pursue a 50/50 business, working as a child psychologist at a local hospital (through some connections I had i PI), while also doing lots of uw shooting for myself and a few production companies.

I was hoping this arrangement would allow me to further pursue my passion for uw filmmaking while at the same time rely on the child psych biz (http://www.oceanwonders.org/cpclinic ) to bring in the steady income, plus regular income from some US production companies for uw footage.

The results so far have been mixed.

After an initial period of several months of brisk business, the child psych practice has been slow for the past 3 months, and if it keeps being like this in the next 2-3 months, I'm considering possibly moving to Manila, which is a lot bigger than where I live now (Bacolod City, on the Island of Negros, Vysayas, where the best diving is - macro galore!).  Not the most exciting prospect though: heck, if I gotta be stuck in traffic even in the tropics, I'd rather stay in Los Angeles then...    :-)

On the underwater filmmaking / production work side, things have been a mixed bag.

I shot and sold stock HD footage to a local Manila prod company, I have an ongoing gig with an HD channel in the US that wants me to provide them with HD uw and "tropical" topside shots on a monthly basis (but they've been slow with payments...).

Recently I also had a gig with a NYC company that had hired me to shoot in PAlau for a few days for a show that was scheduled to go on The Travel Channel. However 1 week before I was supposed to go to Palau they pulled the plug on the project because they were running a super tight deadline...

Welcome to the frustrations, unreliability and flakyness of the show biz...

But, there's nothing like being down there and filming.. and so I guess we each have our cross (passion?) to carry...  :-)

The satisfactions have come from being hired for a 2 week shoot in the Visayas Sea by an ocean conservation agency (http://www.thelawofnature.org) for a documentary on the health of the reefs in that area, and on the importance of enforcing the environmental laws that do exist here in PI, but that are often ignored because of corruption, etc.

The film, "Gems of Hope", was co-sponsored by the PI Dept of Tourism, and has received very good reviews both here in PI (eg., at the Celebrate The Sea Film Festival in Manila), as well as after it premiered in Montreal and NYC a few months ago.

You can see an online version of "Gems" at  http://www.oceanwonders.org/Gems_full/index.html

There are also 2-3 new projects here in PI that hopefully will be granted in 2008; e.g., a research project filming whale sharks in Mindanao in Feb (DOT and Siliman University), a promo DVD for the Shangri-la resort in Cebu City (to promote environmental awareness throughout the region, so resorts can be better of is the ocean is healthier), and a "part 2" of the Gems of Hope story in a different part of the PI.

There's also another project to put together a DVD for the Dept of Tourism promoting diving in the PI, and one for a "companion DVD" to a well known book on diving in the PI.

On the competition front, it has been a good year overall. Won:

- 2nd place at the Stan Waterman - Beneath the Sea for my "Macro Neighbors" (1st was Leandro Blanco, so given his caber I can't complain! )

- 2 and 4th place and LAUPS, for my "Mystery Wreck" and "Pier Magic", respectively. See http://www.oceanwonders.org/LAUPS_2007

- Honor of Distintion for "Macro Neighbors" at the Celebrate the Sea Int comp in Manila (organized by Australians)

- 2nd place at Northern CA UPS for "Mystery Wreck"

Two other films were shown at the S Diego UW Film Festival, and two made it as finalists into two big competitions also, in Europe (e.g, Antibes), but didn't win anything. Oh well....!

At least I won 2 trips on 2 liveaboards, one one the Bilikiki in the Solomons (near PNG), that I was able to move to next year , the other on a boat to Tubbataha, an awesome reef here in PI, near Palawan, with lots of sharks, mantas, etc. Will use both trips in 2008, even though the flight to the Solomons is very expencive, and money is super tight right now.

Underwater job-wise, there is a potential hiring by a international film school in Cebu City, to teach uw filmmaking, editing, etc It'd be a great position, with the potential to become a permanent one. It's been a couple of years that I've been wanting to offer a couple of uw video seminars a year, and this could be a very viable solution (they have all the gear, Macs, props, studios, and they're located 20 mins from some very nice diving near Cebu). More at http://www.filmschool.com

I've also recently received a new offer to work as an uw video pro in Palau, this time at the other (better) of the two largest dive centers there (Sams Tours). May kick in in a month or so, IF everything falls into place (we're discussing work visa with them as we speak) ....

The place would be amazing, both because the diving is unbelievable (particualrly for the big stuff - sharks, mantas), and also because it's so close to PI, where the macro is out of this world, and where I could teach uw filmmaking at the school in Cebu druing the slow months (tourist-wise) in Palau.

This dive center also is in the process of creating a Digital Imagin Center, where they'd love to have me teach a few uw filmmaking courses a few times a year.  They just ordered 6 brand new megafast Macs and all kinds of uw cameras and videocameras (also to be rented out to divers) .... I'll feel like a kid in the candystore, if that goes through!

I'm learning more and more that, in this crazy uw filmmaking biz, you've got to have 10 sticks on the fire at any given time to ensure that maybe one (if you're lucky!) will actually kick in...

But, again, I'm stubborn and persistent, and like when children need to fall hundred times before they succed at walking, maybe - just maybe - there is indeed even for me a permanent uw filmmaking position somewhere in this world....

I miss CA and all of you there, of course. And the kelp forest is very hard to forget... such a a unique and gorgeous place!

Sure PI is nice, w the tropics and all, but the way of thinking here is overall pretty backwards, and the strong Asian component certainly creates its' own difficulties in terms of personal interaction and communication. Luckly though, not as much as you  would think, perhaps thanks to the past 60 years of strong US and western influence. Filipinos are wonderful people, always warm and ready to help you with anything, and always opttimistic about things. For sure a lot to learn from, as a westerner...

Which is the beauty of travelling and living for some time in a place so far away, of course. Stretches your mind...

Btw, it was nice to see Steve and Gretchen and other folks from the Anacapa Dive Center (e.g, Lacy and Steven) when they came here to PI in October, we all had a blast diving Apo Island and searching for macro critters in nearby Dauin. I actually put together a DVD for them, with some nice video of their scuba vacation. Don't know if Steve is planning to share it with you all, but he and others that were on that trip enjoyed the video a lot  (of course, I'm biased...!).  :-)

Anyway, better wrap it up here, or for sure you'll be screaming for some more coffee!

How is everyone doing? How is the diving there this year? How was the Xmas party? And the lobsters?

May you guys have a great 2008, and thank you as usual for your on-going wonderful support!

As they say here, God bless!

Nick

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Nick Martorano, Ph.D.
Underwater Filmmmaker
http://www.oceanwonders.org
http://www.youtube.com/OceanWondersVideo