Dentsu Creative Manila teams up with Maya for explosive short film starring Liza Soberano and Dolly De Leon

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Filipino financial services and digital payments company Maya just dropped its latest blockbuster short film, starring Liza Soberano and Dolly De Leon, in its first campaign with new creative agency partner, Dentsu Creative Manila. The three-and-a-half minutes of manic movie mayhem were the product of radical collaboration among an A-team of brand, agency, production partners, and the two endorsers.

The film was shot and brought to life by Director Lyle Sacris (Pabrika), together with Just Add Water, The Acid House, and Hit Productions. 

“Everyone brought their A-game and kept everybody else in check to make sure this would truly make the strongest possible impact in the market. The final output was made better, because we brought the best out in each other. We’re proud to work side-by–side with Dentsu Creative Manila and all our production partners on this big bang campaign and the upcoming 15s that we think are going to be just as delightful and impactful,” said Pepe Torres, Chief Marketing Officer at Maya.

The stars align 

After the success of Maya’s first campaign with Liza last year, it knew it had to go even bigger this time. Enter frame: BAFTA Film Awards nominee, Dolly De Leon. The two actors proved their Hollywood pedigree with an otherworldly (perhaps, multi-dimensional?) performance. 

But in between Dolly’s shoot and Liza’s Lisa Frankenstein press tour, finding a common schedule for these two jet setters was a real challenge. 

“Dolly was the perfect choice to be Maya’s newest endorser and Liza’s co-star. They’re both bold and spunky actors who reached their Hollywood dreams on their own terms. Bringing them together for this project felt like the most rational decision to make,” shared Wacky Torres, Creative Director at Dentsu Creative Manila.

The “big bang” 

An all-star team coming together was necessary to produce an overwhelming explosion of positive reception across all social media platforms and the industry. 

“The entire collaboration with Maya was a manifestation of an aligned partnership. Since day one, our minds and eyes were set on meeting our objectives and goals. We specifically wanted to create a material that would transform and move behavior. In between creating and producing, we constantly surprised ourselves that we could outdo what we originally set, almost setting ourselves up for the impossible. Yet again, we were aligned to go beyond what else we could do. And the response was overwhelming and exceeded our expectations,” said Pamy Hernandez, Managing Director at Dentsu Creative Manila.

CREDITS:

MAYA TEAM: 

● Pepe Torres – Chief Marketing Officer 

● Jessica Lara – Brand Equity and Campaigns Manager 

● Apol Sta. Maria – Head of Creatives 

● Miggy De Dios – Head of Copy 

● JP Meneses – Head of Art 

● Hazel de la Cruz – Head of Consumer Marketing 

● Sophie Gianan – Senior Marketing Manager 

● Frankie Cuerdo – Marketing manager 

● Francis De Guzman – Head of Integrated Media 

● Ico Aganon – Integrated Media Senior Manager 

● Jama Francisco- Media Lead 

● Nick Wilwayco – Head of Public Affairs and Communications 

● Rhij Sarenas – PR Manager 

● Leah Arellano – Head of Brand Operations and Governance 

● Lexie Ramos – Brand Equity and Campaigns Sr. Associate 

DENTSU CREATIVE MANILA TEAM: 

● Jerry Hizon – Chief Creative Officer 

● Biboy Royong – Executive Creative Director 

● Wacky Torres – Creative Director 

● Tim Cruz – Art Director 

● Cel Hembrador – Art Director 

● Carleene Emnace – Art Director 

● Lei Viguellas – Copywriter 

● Pamy Hernandez – Managing Director 

● Sarah Cabalatungan – Account Director 

● Trixie Ramos – Account Executive

CG/ VFX team The Acid House 

Design directors: Ivan Despi, Pauline Despi 

Senior animator: Cherylee Sng 

Senior 3D artist: Jeff Hazel Ombrete 

Designer: Mica Bautista 

Styleframes and additional CG assets: Ivan Despi 

3D sculpting & texturing: Rod Tinapay 

3D animation: Sean de la Torre 

VFX & Compositing: CJ Martin, Raymund Tan, Dondi Fernandez 

Environment artists: Maryam del Pilar, Lei Pura