Star Trek's Fil-Am visual effects artist: Talent in PHL 'unbelievable'

Emmy award-nominated Filipino-American visual effects artist Frederick “Eric” Alba has a high regard for the creativity of local artists in the Philippines. In an interview with GMA News Online, Alba said, “The talent in the Philippines is very unbelievable. Even in graphics, just drawing and painting and animation. It is very strong.” “I actually came here for an extended time to help build studios in the Philippines. I love the Philippines. I love the culture. It is very musical and very artistic,” Alba noted. Alba has been nominated for an Emmy award for National Geographic’s “Strange Days on Planet Earth” in 2006. Eric's mother was from Quezon City and his father, from Caloocan. Eric grew up in the US but he never forgot his Filipino roots as he travels in the Philippines quite often.   Admires Pinoy's passion Alba, who loves lumpia and pancit bihon, said he admires the passion of Filipinos.   “In anything they do, they’re passionate. They try and do 100 percent. They try and achieve the highest goal whenever they can and they’re unwavering in many ways. They don’t let anything get them down,” Eric said.   “What I notice when I was working here, the student and artist I am working with they went above and beyond. I don’t know if you can be over committed to the craft but they are over committed to the craft,” he added.   To this, Eric proudly said that he has met a lot of Filipinos, whose talent made them internationally competitive and renowned urging the Filipino youth to pursue their dreams.   “I think there is nothing stopping them [the youth] from being the best effects artist or animator in the world. They have all the tools available for them,” Alba said.   “There is some very good education going on around here. I personally know some people who were educated [in the Philippines] and they have come to America and now they are working in great companies,” he added.

Learns by 'making mistakes' Eric, who started his career without a college diploma, claims that he learns everything "by making mistakes.”   Right after graduating from high school, Eric worked as a video tape recorder operator for the National Video Post. After teaching himself to edit videos, he found a job as a video editor.   Eric later accepted an internship at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood.   “[Visual effects] kind of chose me… I thought it was interesting and I wanted to learn it. I was motivated by curiosity of how things work. I love film, I love movies,” he said.   He later landed a job in the visual effects department for the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation."   For this TV series, Eric received two Emmy Award certificates for his contributions in two separate episodes of Star Trek. The TV series won outstanding visual effects for a television series in 1994 and 1995.   Secret to visual effects   Speaking to students at the iAcademy in the Philippines last October, Alba showcased his work and revealed the work that goes behind the special effects. Currently, Alba is part of the visual effects team behind "Boardwalk Empire Season 2." He has been part of several American series like "Gossip Girl Season 2," "The Sopranos Season 6," and "Sabrina the Teen Witch."   He was also part of the visual effects team of movies like "Drive Angry," "The Mechanic," and "Inside Man."   To be successful in the visual effects field, Alba told the students that one should be “enthusiastic and flexible.”  He said the greatest challenge of visual effects artists was “to achieve a creative goal within the time and budget constraints, and still satisfying the client’s and director’s goal.”   “Don’t be afraid to contribute an idea… and always improve your craft,” Alba advised. - VVP, GMA News