I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t this massive multi-cultural complex complete with ostriches at the front and a Tiki bar in back with a view of the ocean, flanked by two NC-24 sound stages and a three story school and hotel in the middle.
The lobby, decked out with huge flat panel TV screens playing a loop of Fashion TV with models on under water shoots and clips of BigFoot movies, has a café that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Students and mentors and film crew rapidly walk through if not eating. Most of the ex-pats, crew and teachers, frequent the FTV café. The canteen outside to the back serves more local cuisine, like lumpia, is way cheaper so it is the spot for locals and students. Cheaper means a bottle of water for 20 pesos, roughly .75 us cents. Outside the canteen is the smoking area, a de facto conference room. And further back, just along the beach, is the Tiki bar, originally built for a movie set and now the happy hour locale of choice. The Tiki bar at night is hopping busy, with this international creative set kicking it back with the kazillion tiny feral cats.
Note, the ocean view is better at high tide. Low tide takes all the water out of the small bay, leaving a muddy morass highlighting the shacks on stilts built in the middle of the bay.
Also note that there is a pool built for underwater shoots.
Also please note that there is another housing complex called Casablanca on the property that serves as a dormitory for the students from over 25 countries and overseas film crews. The most recent term just started this week (there are 5 “intakes” throughout the year) and there are 28 students, representing Pakistan, India, Iran, Uganda, Ireland, the Philippines and Ireland.
And finally, please observe that there are fashion models walking around. They are model “interns” and work for Fashion TV. They wake up at 7 every morning for a workout and “breathing” exercises designed to teach them how to hold their breath for underwater shoots.
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