On July 13, 2019, Sun Life Financial Philippines dropped the very first film to come out of the “Kaakbay” campaign – a series of films honoring certain people in the brand ambassadors’ lives that have made their existence significantly brighter
The first release starred swimmer-turned-actor Enchong Dee who now found his way back to the cool waters as his way of giving back. Merely seconds into the film and it is apparent how his relationship with the water impacted the creation and direction of the 5-minute film. Set in a lap pool not much different from where he first learned how to swim, Enchong told his own story – a refreshing contrast to the multitude of masks and characters he has put on throughout his acting career.
“Swimming. Eskuwelahan. Bahay. Yun lang yung buhay ko. Nagkaroon ako ng pangarap, ng goals, at ang gusto ko lang, maging best swimmer that I could possibly be. (Swimming. School. Home. That was my life. I had a dream and goals and all I wanted was to be the best swimmer that I could possibly be.)”
Enchong set the tone of the film with how the water current led him to acting opportunities like no other at such a young age, but definitely the main element in his story was the man who taught him everything he needed to know about swimming (and indirectly, life): Coach Caloy. He was one of Enchong’s coaches when he was training for the national swimming team, the film recalled.
As Enchong put it, Coach Caloy was not just a coach to him. He was a friend, a partner. And this why the film was entitled “Coach”, in honor of the young actor’s life partner who pushed him to be his best, throughout and even beyond his short life.
The series of films for this campaign was created by Indie.go, a creative content studio situated in the heart of Makati. We were able to catch up with Direk Jun Reyes, Creative Head of Indie.go and the Director behind this heartwarming film.
Direk Jun shared with us how he crafted the film around water being the central “texture” that flows throughout Enchong’s personal story to truly reflect his swimming career. Moreover, to give the film an even more personal layer, photos and videos of his youth were flashed on the screen – from low resolution competition videos to grinning group shots with teammates and Coach Caloy himself.
Direk Jun talked about the unexpected challenge presented in searching for these aforementioned footages as Enchong shared with him that he didn’t have much photos growing up, coming from a less affluent background and not having the resources to buy a camera to document it at all.
Since its release, the film has garnered 5.3K engagement, 700 shares, and 200 comments on Facebook, as well as 400K views on Youtube in a span of a week. 3 more films are set to be released soon for Matteo Guidicelli, Piolo Pascual & Iñigo Pascual, and Charo Santos-Concio.
The campaign is also hand-in-hand with an online contest by Sun Life Financial in search for the best kaakbay story. Entrants are invited to comment their piece on the campaign videos from Jul. 13 (Sat) to Aug. 11, 2019 (Sun) for a chance to win 3 Days and 2 Nights roundtrip tickets to Singapore for 2.
