Our Company
Epicmedia Productions Inc. is a Philippine-based film production company, founded in 2011, currently led by Bradley Liew and Bianca Balbuena. Its mission is to create stories that matter by collaborating with fearless filmmakers and discovering the next generation of storytellers.
Epicmedia’s notable credits include Truong Minh Quy’s ‘Viet and Nam’ (Cannes Un Certain Regard), ‘Directors Factory Philippines’ (Cannes Directors’ Fortnight), Kenneth Dagatan’s ’In My Mother’s Skin’ (Sundance Midnight Section) which sold to Amazon, ‘Nocebo’ (the first Ireland-UK-Philippines coproduction) by Lorcan Finnegan starring Eva Green and Mark Strong, ‘That Thing Called Tadhana’ (one of the highest grossing independent films in Philippine’s box office history) and Lav Diaz’s ‘A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery’ (Berlinale Silver Bear Winner), ‘Season Of The Devil’ (Berlinale Competition), the ARTE supported ‘When The Waves Are Gone’ (Venice Out of Competition) and ‘Essential Truths of The Lake’ (Locarno Competition). Epicmedia places special focus on collaborations within the Southeast Asian region, co-producing Southeast Asian titles like Pham Ngoc Lan’s ‘Cu Li Never Cries’ (Berlinale Best First Feature) and Mouly Surya’s ‘Perang Kota’ (International Film Festival Rotterdam Closing Film).
Epicmedia’s work in the narrative series realm includes show-running titles such as Astro Malaysia’s ‘Boo: A Philippine Horror Anthology’; Cignal Entertainment’s LGBT comedy, ‘My Delivery Gurl' and the pandemic set anthology, ‘Now Streaming’; detective-noir series, ‘The Tapes’ (iWant & Netflix); two seasons of the hit Philippine web series, ‘Single/Single’ and the Malaysian episode of HBO’s ‘Folklore 2: Ayizah, Ayizah’. Currently, Epicmedia works closely with creating and providing content for Netflix and other major international streamers in the region.
Epicmedia’s Line Production servicing is a major focus of the company, leveraging iconic locations such as the pristine natural beaches, lush jungles, and stunning landscapes of the Philippines, as well as the bustling urban metropolis of Manila. These locations have also served as stand-ins for settings like China, Louisiana, and Indonesia. Epicmedia has provided line production servicing for various projects, including large-scale science fiction productions from Switzerland, U.S.-based crime thrillers, and collaborations with major studio partners such as the UK’s Film4.
Our Team
Bradley Liew
CEO
Malaysia born, Manila-based, Bradley Liew is the CEO of Epicmedia Productions Inc. He’s an alumnus of the Asian Film Academy, where he was Awarded Lumos Award for Outstanding Performance from celebrated Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke; the NAFF Fantastic Film School, Berlinale Talents, Talents Tokyo, Locarno Filmmakers Academy, EAVE Ties That Bind and the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab. He’s the Group Leader for the Malaysian Development Lab for Fiction Feature Films (Mylab) and has also served as part of the jury at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Jakarta Film Week and the Talinn Black Nights Film Festival.
As a Producer, he focuses on championing both seasoned and upcoming directors with distinct and uncompromising voices. He has produced a trio of Lav Diaz’s films, including the anti-musical “Season Of The Devil” (Berlinale Competition), his 16mm film-noir “When The Waves Are Gone” (Venice Out of Competition), and “Essential Truths of the Lake” (Locarno Competition); as well as Kenneth Dagatan’s Sundance Midnight Section’s “In My Mother’s Skin”, which was sold to Amazon. Additionally, he has coproduced “Nocebo”, starring Eva Green and Mark Strong; Pham Ngoc Lan’s “Cu Li Never Cries” (Berlinale Best First Feature) and Mouly Surya’s “This City Is A Battlefield” (IFFR Closing Film). In 2024, his films “Viet and 'Nam” by Truong Minh Quy competed in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, as well as “Directors Factory Philippines” which pre-opened at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
As a Director/Producer, his debut feature, “Singing in Graveyards”, made its world premiere in-competition at the Venice International Film Festival Critics’ Week. It went on to compete and screen in over 30 festivals and won best film in both Kolkata and Malaysia. His sophomore feature, the creature-horror “Motel Acacia”, made its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival (Asian Futures Competition) and was the closing film of the Jogja Netpac Film Festival. The film was sold to North America, Japan and Southeast Asia.
He has done extensive work in the realm of narrative series as a show runner for Astro Malaysia’s “Boo: A Philippine Horror Anthology” and Cignal TV’s “Now Streaming”. He is also the writer-director for the detective-noir series, “The Tapes” (iWant & Netflix) and HBO’s “Folklore 2: Ayizah, Ayizah”.
Bianca Balbuena
CFO & COO
Bianca is an educator and producer based in Manila. She is a founding member, incumbent Chief Finance Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Epicmedia, which has produced Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard title “Viet and Nam”, Berlinale Silver Bear “A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery”, Berlinale Best Debut Feature “Cu Li Never Cries”, Venice Lion of the Future “Engkwentro” and the first Filipino film in the Sundance Film Festival Midnight section “In My Mother’s Skin”. She was also the General Manager of telco-backed Anima Studios for two years and former lecturer at University of the Philippines Diliman.
She is the recipient of the Asian Film Commissions Network’s Producer of the Year, the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ highest honor: the Camera Obscura Award, and the youngest awardee of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards FIAPF Award for her outstanding contribution to cinema. She has served as jury of film festivals such as Busan, Sydney, Fribourg, Seashorts, Bangkok ASEAN and Durban. She was the European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs Ambassador for Asia and has mentored at Locarno Open Doors, Talents Tokyo and Berlinale Talents Short Form Station. She has a casting director credit for Cannes Film Festival Palm D’Or “Triangle of Sadness” by Ruben Ostlund. She’s actively doing series content for international streaming sites such as HBO, Netflix, Astro, Amazon Studios and Prime Video.
Championing international collaborations, she produced Lorcan Finnegan’s Screen-Ireland-supported “Nocebo” starring Eva Green and Mark Strong which was distributed by Universal Pictures and RLJ Entertainment, Cannes Film Festival Critics Week’s Norwegian short film “The Manila Lover”, Shanghai-winning Malaysian title “Barbarian Invasion”, and Venice Critics Week title “Singing in Graveyards” by Malaysian-born Manila-based filmmaker Bradley Liew coveting the first ever Best Film of the Malaysia International Film Festival.
Annecy Bautista
HEAD OF PRODUCTION
Annecy “Achi” Cherie Bautista, is the Head of Production at Epicmedia, bringing a wealth of experience in both local and international productions. An alumna of the prestigious University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI), she has built a solid career in both scripted and unscripted formats since 2018, with a proven track record in corporate studio settings as well as independent productions.
Over the years, Annecy has been instrumental in the production of various narrative series, including “The Tapes” for iWantTFC, “My Delivery Gurl” for Cignal Play, “Folklore 2: Ayizah, Ayizah” for HBO, and the critically acclaimed Philippine-Singapore-Taiwan coproduction “In My Mother’s Skin” (Sundance Midnight Section), directed by Kenneth Dagatan.
A specialist in line production, Annecy’s career took off with the Swiss-German-Netherlands-Philippines coproduction “Electric Child” (Locarno Film Festival), directed by Simon Jaquemet. She continued her expertise in international coproductions with Rafael Manuel’s “Filipiñana”, a Philippine-Singapore-UK project backed by Film4, and contributed as a producer on Victor Villanueva’s popular sex comedy, “I Am Not Big Bird”.
Annecy is also deeply involved in industry networking and development. She was part of the Philippine delegation at the Asian Contents and Film Market and attended Platform Busan at the Busan International Film Festival.
Marienel Calma
Epicmedia’s Junior Producer and Executive Assistant, Pampanga-based Marienel began her journey into production in 2021. Since then, she has experienced her many firsts in the Film and Advertising industry as a Script Continuity Supervisor, a Post-Production Coordinator, and a Location Manager. She continuously develops her skills in the field of producing, in hopes that one day, she can provide significant contributions in Filipino filmmaking through seeking stories from young filmmakers living in the regions, indigenous communities, overseas, and in diaspora. Her most recent short, Ing Tianak, screened in the 15th International Silent Film Festival Manila (ISFFM) as part of the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP’s) Mit Out Sound 2021—a government initiative to revive silent cinema in contemporary times.
Steven Noora
Epicmedia’s Administrative and Accounting Assistant. Steven began as a film student at Mapúa University before setting foot in the world of production on numerous film projects, series and digital ads as a Production Associate. He is one of the writers of the Fourth VP Choice Awards Best BL Series of the Year: Rainbow Prince. His short film Something is Brewing became an official selection to the Lift-Off Filmmaker Session 2022 in the UK. It also ended as a quarter-finalist and an honorable mention at the Student World Impact Film Festival 2022 in New Jersey, USA. As a filmmaker, Steven wants to focus on queer stories with the intention promote visibility and to make the LGBTQIA+ community stay visible and safe from the prejudices of society.
Jayson Alcazar
Epicmedia’s Administrative Assistant, Jayson began as a theatre student-artist in De La Salle University-Manila’s premiere theatre group, Harlequin Theatre Guild. In 2020, he was a finalist to GMA’s Drama Scriptwriting Workshop out of thousands of applications but was not let to proceed further due to still being a student. In 2022, when the theatre guild explored on theatre-film fusion, his adapted screenplay of Ian Jay B. Formacion’s Lunas, won Best Adapted Screenplay. He also won Best Direction and Best Male Actor in the same piece. In 2023, his five-poem anthology titled Iling won the Honorable Mention in the 38th Annual DLSU Literary Awards. In 2024, he worked as the Script Continuity Supervisor in Cedrick Labadia’s threefor100: o ang tamang porma ng pag uukay at iba pang mga bagay-bagay, i think! which won Best Film at The Manila Film Festival and later on entered the slate for the wide-angle section of the 29th BUSAN International Film Festival.
Collaborators
Patti Lapus
Patti Lapus was a cum laude graduate of UP Film Institute, and has since attended University of Tübingen’s International and European Studies Program, NAFF Fantastic Film School, Locarno Match Me Program, the Full Circle Lab’s Fiction Lab and Creative Producer Lab. She is graduate of the 2024 International Film Business Academy Program - Business Track in Busan. She has worked on over 20 feature films and mini-series includingHer film works include Rae Red & Fatrick Tabada’s ‘Chedeng and Apple’ (Udine FF 2018, Frameline FF 2018), Kerwin Go's ‘Mina-Anud’ (Hawaii IFF 2019 & Netflix), Dodo Dayao’s ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’ (Fantasia FF, Neuchâtel IFFF & ToHorror FFF 2021), Rae Red’s ‘Tenement 66’ (BIFAN 2021), Lorcan Finnegan's ‘Nocebo’ (Sitges IFFF & SGIFF 2022), and Kenneth Dagatan's ‘In My Mother's Skin’ (Sundance & BIFFF 2023). She is an Intimacy Coordinator certified by Intimacy Professionals Association (IPA) based in Los Angeles, USA. She also serves as the Interim Chairperson of Inter-Guild Alliance, a community-based network of active workers in the film, TV and advertising industries in the Philippines.
Iana Bernardez
Iana entered the industry in 2017 as an associate producer before venturing into producing with Epicmedia. She has since produced the critically acclaimed Ma, Kenneth Dagatan’s debut horror feature, and Oda sa Wala, Dwein Baltazar’s third feature, which won Best Film at the 2018 QCinema International Film Festival. Iana was also the lead actress in Dwein Baltazar’s second feature, With All My Hypothalamus, recently featured at the Busan International Film Festival. She is also the producer of Rae Red’s Gawad Urian winning Babae At Baril and Eve Baswel’s Tia Madre.
April Batican
April has spent the past five years building her experience and learning the craft – starting with apprenticeships and working her way up to line producing films and producing international co-productions. She hopes to produce and develop thought provoking films that tell meaningful stories. She is an alumna of Rotterdam Lab, SEA Producers Network, Tribeca Film Institute (Luang Prabang Talent Lab), and Full Circle Lab. April has produced Kerwin Go’s black comedy, Mina-Anud (Cinemalaya Closing Film, Hawaii IFF), Bradley Liew's miniseries The Tapes (iWant & Netflix), and Carlo Enciso Catu's Cignal Play miniseries My Delivery Gurl. She is currently producing Carlo Enciso Catu’s Hold My Gaze (Full Circle Lab).
Kenneth Dagatan
Kenneth is a Manila-based writer and director, originally from Cebu. In 2018, Kenneth’s made his debut feature Ma, a horror film about a young boy who sells his soul to a sinister entity in order to bring his dead mother back to life. Ma was a nationwide success when it launched as the first original film for ABS-CBN’s VOD streaming service: iWant. In 2023, Kenneth’s sophomore feature In My Mother’s Skin became the first co-production between the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan and the first genre film to be supported by the funding boards of the 3 countries. In My Mother’s Skin premiered at the Midnight Section of the Sundance Film Festival (the first Filipino film to screen in this section) to widespread critical acclaim. The film was acquired by Amazon Studios.
Rae Red
Rae is a screenwriter and director. Her writing credits include Birdshot, which was the Philippine entry to the 90th Academy Awards; Neomanila; and Eerie. Her debut directorial feature, Si Chedeng at Si Apple (co-directed with Fatrick Tabada) traveled to festivals such as Frameline and Udine Far East Film Festival. Her debut solo directorial feature, Babae at Baril (The Girl and The Gun) swept all major categories at the Philippines Gawad Urian (the Philippines equivalent of the Oscars). It was also the opening film of the New York Asian Film Festival and was sold to Netflix. Rae's 3rd feature, Tenement 66, was produced by iWant, the largest local streaming platform in the Philippines and competed at the 2021 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.
Benjamin Padero & Carlo Tabije
Benjamin Padero and Carlo Tabije are Filipino Production Designers with over 20 years of experience in feature films, tv commercials and tv series. They are known internationally for their work on Brilliante Mendoza’s Serbis (Cannes Main Competition) and Captive (Berlinale Main Competition). They were also nominated for Best Production Design at the 2016 Asian Film Awards in Macao. Their notable collaborations with Epicmedia include Pepe Diokno’s Above The Clouds and Kapatiran as well as Bradley Liew’s Singing In Graveyards and Motel Acacia.
What we do
Creative Production
As an artist-led company, we are trusted by filmmakers to be their creative partners. We protect and respect our directors' visions, as we guide their work from development to financing to production to distribution.
Line Production
For productions looking to shoot in the Philippines, we serve every need, from locations to casting to grind to post. Our strength is our people. We put together the most capable, hard-working teams to meet even the most challenging expectations.
Branded Content
We develop, pitch, and produce branded content, bringing together independent creatives and the Philippines' top companies. Our strength is in storytelling, using narratives to tell branded stories with universal appeal.