Mark Meily inspires aspiring filmmakers at IndieGenius 2025

Award-winning film maker and president of the Directors Guild of the Philippines Mark Meily talks to future filmmakers and the importance of impactful storytelling at the media launch of 2025 iNDIEGENIUS.

The second edition of iNDIEGENIUS will focus on filmmakers aged 18 to 35. In addition to the 10 projects competing for two P500,000 production grants, the program has expanded its scholar slots from two to ten. Scholars, while not yet ready for production, will benefit from workshops and mentorship to advance their projects.

"This expansion means that up to 20 projects in development will benefit from the project lab," said ¡ACADEMY's creative director and iNDIEGENIUS program director Keith Sicat.

"Last year's scholars, Cedrick Labadia and Sophia Velonza, had transformative experiences at the Busan International Film Festival — one with their iNDIEGENIUS-developed film and the other through Platform Busan, its educational arm."