CINEMALAYA INSTITUTE
INSTRUCTOR PROFILES
JOHN PAUL SU
(PRODUCING)
John Paul “JP" Su is an award-winning U.S.-based filmmaker. Born and raised in the Philippines,
JP has produced news and feature programming for major media outlets around the world. JP
is a Master of Fine Arts graduate at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Asia. His
short documentary, The Caregiver, has been selected in various film festivals including DOC
NYC and the American Documentary Film Festival, and won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. The
Directors Guild of America named him Best Asian-American Filmmaker for his short fiction
narrative "Pagpag." The short film continues to win more accolades around the world, including
a Silver World Medal at the New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards and a
Platinum Remi at Worldfest Houston. "Smell A Memory", his first directorial project with ad
agency JWT Singapore was a finalist in the 2013 Cannes Lions Awards and won the Silver
AdStar award. JP is also an Ani ng Dangal recipient. JP is currently one of the twelve directors
selected to participate in the 2014-2016 Disney/ABC-DGA Directing Program. He is also finishing
his first feature-length film “TOTO”.
SOPHIA WELLINGTON
(SCREENWRITING)
Sophia Wellington began her film career on the floor – literally: putting down marks for Richard
Gere during her time as assistant camera. After years in the camera department, working on a
number of Anglo-American features, Sophia moved into the cutting room where she is, to her
Cinemalaya Institute 2
Instructor Profiles
knowledge, the only (living) assistant editor to get an apology out of Harvey Weinstein. Sophia
moved into development in 2003 when she joined World Productions to develop a feature slate
for their production deal with Sony Columbia. During her time in development Sophia has
worked with a variety of writers and directors on films including Layer Cake and Becoming Jane.
Sophia has taught screenwriting at a number of film schools including the London Film School
and London Film Academy. She is currently based in Singapore where she divides her time
between freelance script consulting, teaching and developing a Thai based thriller.
CARLOS SIGUION-REYNA
(DIRECTING)
Carlos Siguion-Reyna, film director, received his M.F.A. in film from New York University’s Tisch
School of the Arts (NYC). His NYU thesis short Patas Lang (Fair Exchange) was awarded in the
narrative category of the 1989 Nissan FOCUS Awards. His latest feature Hari ng Tondo (Where
I Am King) received the Special Jury Prize in the Directors Showcase category of the
10th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and Competition held on August 1-10,
2014, and has since screened in the Toronto International Film Festival, Hawaii International
Film Festival, LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy), and the Seattle
International Film Festival.
Siguion-Reyna has made thirteen feature films, various short films and documentaries,
television and stage works, including:








Hari ng Tondo (Where I Am King) — Special Jury Prize, 2014 Cinemalaya Philippine
Independent Film Festival; rated A by the Philippine Film Ratings Board (2014)
Choices — short film on reproductive health and women’s right to choose, aired during
the 15th anniversary of ANC cable channel (2011)
Azucena (Dog Food) — Grand Jury Award, 2001 San Diego Asian Film Festival; rated A
by the Philippine Film Ratings Board (2000)
Kahapon May Dalawang Bata (Yesterday Children) — Second Runner-up, People's
Choice Awards, 1999 Toronto International Film Festival; Best Foreign Film, 2000
Newport Beach International Film Festival
Ang Lalaki sa Buhay ni Selya (The Man in Her Life) — Special Jury Prize, Teddy Bear
Awards, 1998 Berlin International Film Festival; Best Asian Film, 1998 Newport Beach
International Film Festival
Aangkinin Ko ang Bukas (Tomorrow Will Be Mine) — Best Movie for Television, 1996
Singapore International Film Festival
Ligaya ang Itawag Mo sa Akin (They Call Me Joy)
Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin (Harvest Home)
Cinemalaya Institute 3
Instructor Profiles







Ikaw Pa Lang ang Minahal — Best Director and Best Picture, 1993 Urian Awards
(Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino), 1993 Film Academy of the Philippines Awards, 1993
FAMAS Awards; Best Film, 1993 Young Critics Circle Awards
Hihintayin Kita sa Langit (I Will Wait for You in Heaven) — Best Director, 1992 Urian
Awards (Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino)
Walang Sugat — historic Filipino zarzuela, written by Severino Reyes, Fulgencio
Tolentino, et.al.; a Tanghalang Pilipino production (2012) presented at the Cultural
Center of the Philippines, for TP’s 26th theater season
Aawitan Kita — television program championing traditional Filipino music and culture
(directed from 1986 to 2005)
At All Costs — short documentary on government fraud in the 2004 Philippine
presidential elections
Bahay na Pula (Red House) — short documentary on justice for Filipinas forced into
comfort women status during WWII
Payatas: Point Counterpoint — dance video collaboration (with choreographer Myra
Beltran and co-director Nonoy Froilan) on domestic violence, screened at Global Dance
2002: World Dance Alliance Festival (Dusseldorf, Germany)
His films screened yearly from 1994 to 2000, and again in 2014, at the Toronto International
Film Festival. His works have also been shown at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater (New
York City), the Directors’ Guild of America Theater (Los Angeles), and the international film
festivals of Berlin, Tokyo, Seattle, Hawaii, Chicago, Palm Springs, Sydney, Paris, Valladolid,
Shanghai, Dublin, London Human Rights Watch, Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy), and LA
Asian Pacific Film Festival, among others.
He has received ten Best Director awards from principal film industry, press, and critics'
organizations in the Philippines, and was selected one of The Outstanding Young Filipinos
(TOYF) in the field of Arts/Cinema (1995).
He served three terms as president of the Directors' Guild of the Philippines, Inc. (DGPI), and is
a member of Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Pelikulang Pilipino (NMPP). He was member of the
main competition jury of Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival in 2013.
Siguion-Reyna has taught film direction at the University of the Philippines Film Institute’s film
program and in short lectures/workshops for the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines, the Cultural
Center of the Philippines and the Mowelfund Film Institute.
From 2008 to 2015, he was in the faculty of New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia’s
M.F.A. program in film, where he taught film directing, directing scenes, directing actors,
screenwriting, team collaboration in filmmaking, and music video. From 2013 to 2015, he was
also Head of Third Year Studies in the same graduate film program.
###