10 Pinoys who have succeeded in Hollywood
by Danielle Balanga / June 17, 2019
These Pinoys have made it big in showbiz and the comics industry!
Entertainment is kind of a huge industry, and Hollywood is where all the action is. Most of us don’t expect Pinoys to be big parts of the grand machinery, but Filipino talent thrives everywhere, even in mainstream media, and especially behind the scenes.
Here are some creative Pinoys making their mark on pop culture. Remember, this is just a small percentage of the countless artists currently working in different media!
1. Ryan Rubi
A native of Camarines Sur, Ryan is currently the Senior Technical Director of Sony Pictures Imageworks. His team created the stunning visual effects for Spiderman: Homecoming, adding to his previous special effects work on other mainstream Hollywood films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Transformers: Age of Extinction.
Follow him on Instagram.
2. Leinil Yu
Leinil is the creator of Marvel’s first ever Filipino superhero, Wave. He has worked for both Marvel and DC, illustrating countless volumes, covers, and comic runs, from classic heroes like Batman and the Avengers to cult classics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Follow him on Instagram.
Jaye Atienza
Pampanga-based artist Jaye is a self-confessed minimalist who uses color as a driving point of his illustrations. He’s won over five Talenthouse creative campaigns for films such as Rampage, The Nun, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Aquaman, and just recently, Brightburn.
Follow him on Instagram.
3. Gini Santos
At the helm of Disney’s Coco is Manila-born Gini Santos, the company’s first female supervising animator. Her first Pixar Project was Toy Story 2. From there she went to work on A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., and many more. She hopes to inspire more female creatives to join the industry.
4. Ken Hensley
A Cebu-based graphic illustrator with a penchant for surrealism, Ken is a favourite of bands international and local when it comes to creating their album covers. He also designs for his apparel brand Kansuke Creations, and was recently brought in by the creators of Stranger Things to create official art for the popular Netflix series.
Follow Ken on Instagram.
5. Dante Basco
A celebrity in his own right, Dante has lent his voice to numerous animated classics, the most popular of which is probably his role as Prince Zuko of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender series. His voice work is broad and diverse, ranging from Mortal Kombat to We Bare Bears. But don’t forget where you saw him first: as Rufio, in Hook (1991)!
Follow him on Instagram.
6. Josie Trinidad
A Disney story artist, Josie helped create a number of contemporary Disney animated films. She worked on Wreck it Ralph and its sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, as well as Tangled and The Princess and the Frog. She also voiced minor characters in Zootopia and Big Hero 6, on top of writing for both films.
Follow her on Instagram.
7. Dennis Radaza
An illustrator from Rodriguez, Rizal, Dennis stuns with his near-monochrome work for David Yarovesky’s new film Brightburn. He was handpicked by producer James Gunn along with fellow Filipino artist Jaye Atienza for the film’s creative campaign by Talenthouse.
Follow him on Instagram.
8. Nelson ‘Rey’ Bohol
Nelson’s broad body of work spans decades, from classic animation to 3D Pixar favourites. He began with animating traditional 2D with cult classic Anastasia and later worked on several Pixar’s best rated films such as Wall-E, the Incredibles, Inside Out, Monsters University, Ratatouille, Cars and Finding Nemo.
Follow him on Instagram.
9. Robert Lopez
A Fil-Am composer, Robert is a multiple Tony Award winner for Best Original Score, with his theater work on Avenue Q and Book of Mormon. He also composed music for several TV shows, like the acclaimed musical episode of Scrubs, and children’s shows such as Wonder Pets and Phineas and Ferb. All this led him to work on more Disney titles. He composed Frozen’s “Let it Go” which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song, an award he would win again two years later, for Coco’s “Remember Me.”
