Meta is launching the Creators of Tomorrow showcase on October 19, 2022, which highlights diverse individual talents across Asia Pacific who are inspiring a new movement of creative content online.
These chosen Creators are original content creators who are breaking out among their communities online, and showcasing a best-in-class approach to video formats, technology and interactive entertainment—creative qualities that will be integral to the metaverse.
“The opportunity for content creators is bigger than ever,” said John Rubio, Philippine Country Director at Meta. “Creators are turning their passions into skilled professions, and at Meta we will continue to invest in ways for creators to earn money and build their community. From fashion to AR filters, artistic content to entertainment—we are excited to see the rise in creator entrepreneurs.”
FILIPINO CREATORS OF TOMORROW
In the Philippines, Meta identified five Creators who have turned their passions into professions across Meta’s family of apps. These particular Creators are experiencing exciting growth that will unlock new opportunities that span the future of the internet.
AR and VR pioneer Mitsuko Ono
Mitsuko is the only Meta Spark artist originally from the Philippines. She has created over 200 AR effects which have garnered more than 2.4 billion views and 34 million shares and has created effects for Meta, Mcdonald’s, Tinder, Unilever, Miley Cyrus, Flume and Coachella. She won the grand prize for Lenslist’s AR effect contests twice and her works have been featured in Meta’s Spark AR’s top 10 effects in 2019 and 2020, Paris Digital Art Month and Cannes Lions.
“I want to make something never-before seen or even never-before imagined and I get inspiration from everywhere and from everything—even from the most mundane things. My new goal is to make more interactive experiences for both AR and VR by leveraging all the new features Meta has developed for creatives to push the boundaries of art and technology even further.” – Mitsuko Ono
Innovative vegan home cook Jeeca Uy of The Foodie Takes Flight
Ever since Jeeca went vegan, she has been on a quest to cook vegan versions of her favorite food to show people that vegan food can be delicious, exciting, accessible, and easy to prepare. Today, she has over 800k followers, and her Reels are among the most engaged with in the Philippines. From January 1 to Oct 11th 2022, over 120k people followed @thefoodietakesflight on Instagram after viewing one of her reels.
“I started posting on Instagram in April 2015 initially just to document my meals and experiences but it slowly evolved into a passion for creating, sharing, and connecting with a community to share our unique stories and love for food.” – Jeeca Uy
DIY home decorating inspiration Elle Uy of Elle Uy Decor
Known for her colorful and budget-friendly home makeovers, Elle is a decorator whose content shows that creating a beautiful home is very much attainable. It started with her blog many years ago, and up to this day, she still stays true to her blog’s name and tagline: Decor Me Happy, the Pursuit of Happy Homes. Elle has built a combined following of almost 250k across her Facebook and Instagram and continues to grow her community of aspiring home decorators.
“My mind has been toying with many concepts on how I can maximize the use of Reels to share design advice, room transformations, DIYs, in a much more fun and engaging manner. I’m so excited to make those concepts into reality and produce more creative content to inspire my community.” – Elle Uy
Funny and uplifting confidence queen Pipay
Pipay started posting videos two years ago, reacting to and remixing other funny viral content on the internet. She found her calling when she started reacting to comments left by fans and haters alike, mostly tagging her in photos they say give off the same energy as Pipay. Pipay admits that these comments used to affect her, but she has since grown into her own skin. She has learned to take these comments in stride and even turn them on their heads to create hilarious, self-deprecating but relatable content enjoyed by her 1.5M-strong followers on Facebook alone.
“I mostly do entertaining random videos para sa masa at sa mga PWDs para ma-feel nila na ‘di sila nag-iisa—na meron palang katulad nila. I make my videos super light and it targets kung sinuman ang may low self-esteem. I create my videos to make them feel good about themselves because personally, nahirapan akong i-build yung sarili kong confidence. I’d like to remind my audience that you only live once at ‘di ka pwedeng malungkot.” – Pipay
Writer and relatable relationship guru Marcelo Santos III
Marcelo has paid his dues as a screenwriter and best-selling author but he felt like he had more to share with the world. He creates content that reminds his community of almost 12M that more than hugots and fixating on romantic relationships, it is important to continue showing kindness and love not just to others, but also themselves.
“It feels good to have people sending messages to me about how the simple words I’ve said in my posts, videos and Reels have helped them. My mission is to be a friend who will listen, a friend who will give advice, a friend who will understand and accompany them on their journey of recovery from failed relationships and what they are going through in life. I want to inspire people to use their talent and passion to help others as well.” – Marcelo Santos III
More than just utilizing Meta’s tools and technologies to keep their passion for creating alive, these Filipino creators are connecting with their audiences and inspiring them to go out and create for themselves. As Creators of Tomorrow, they are paving the way for a future of better, more diverse, and more accepting online communities.
“We at Meta have always found joy and excitement in seeing all the cool new ways people are engaging with each other across our platforms. Meta will continue to collaborate with creators to help them grow their audiences and turn their passions into professions, and look forward to spotlighting more diverse creators from across Meta technologies,” adds Rubio.