J.R.: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of One Thousand Gurus, where we share the stories and lessons from people of all walks of life. I am your host, J.R. Yonocruz. Today's guest is Bani Logroño. He is a Filipino-American writer, director, and the creative director of The Filipino Story Studio.

Through award-winning documentaries such as Surrender Two, The Hunters: ROTC Guerrillas, and Honor: The Legacy of Jose Abad Santos, as well as his current flagship social media project with over one point eight million followers, The Filipino Story, Bani has dedicated his career to uncovering and celebrating the beauty, genius, and the spirit of the Filipino people.

His work has reached millions across social media and continues to inspire young Filipinos around the world to reconnect with their history and embrace their core Filipino values and awaken the Bayani spirit within them.

This was another very enjoyable and insightful conversation with someone whom I was mostly a dance acquaintance with a ton of mutuals, but we've been mutuals on social media since college, and I've been following his filmmaking and career journey and thought it would be cool to have him [00:01:00] on the show to share his journey, but also for myself to connect with him as a friend and a fellow human being.

I found out that unsurprisingly, we have a lot in common besides being Filipino freestyle dancers and creatives who spent a huge chunk of our lives in SoCal.

We go over his personal background, how he got into b-boying and dance, then his journey to making films professionally, breaking down the elements of a great story and the importance of storytelling, a lot about Filipino history, identity, and culture, and teasing some of what's next for Bani in the future.

It was such a pleasure to have him on the show, and I'm excited to have him back for part two whenever time permits, as we have so much left on the table to cover.

So without further ado, please enjoy this episode with Bani Logroño. 

Bani, welcome to the show. 

Bani: What up, J.R.? Thanks for having me . Yeah. Phil- all the way from the Philippines. 

J.R.: Yeah. Where, where are you at right now? I know Philippines. What city, province? 

Bani: Yeah. So, I'm in a [00:02:00] particular part of Manila called Marikina. It's on the east side. After I got married to my wife, who lives here this is where she grew up, and then this is kinda- 

J.R.: Mm

Bani: where we're gonna establish our home and future family. 

J.R.: Nice. Excited, man. I swear, like, sometimes I'll see your videos on social media. We'll get into how I know you, but I'm like, "Where is this guy at right now?" 'Cause I know you do a lot of... You post a lot of content in the Philippines, but sometimes you're in other places, right?

Bani: Yeah, yeah. I, I do a lot of traveling b- just because of my work. And even before that I had, like... Because of the nature of my immigration status in the US, I had to... And then my work was here in the Philippines. I had to do a lot of back and forth. So that's- Yeah ... kind of been the narrative of my whole adult life.

Adult life is going to- Yeah ... different countries, and my friends just wondering where I am . So yeah. 

J.R.: Yeah, yeah. Nice. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'm like, "Where, where is Bani right now?" [00:03:00] Like, I'm so curious. But that's cool, man. Okay. Let me... Before we jump the gun, let me go into how I know you real quick.

So we met through BBA at UCI. I forgot which year. I know it was sometime during my undergraduate. For people who don't know, BBA is a freestyle dance club and then a larger freestyle community in SoCal. Andy Ho and Wei Chen were both in BBA as well, who are former guests on the show. And like we mentioned before the recording, Bani and I had never really connected even though we've had a lot of mutuals and we've seen each other before in person, but we're connected on social media.

And so how I see Bani is, like, 90% his social media presence about how passionate he's, he is about filmmaking and showcasing and celebrating Filipino culture and heritage. And so that's, that's generally what I... I know you're Filipino, obviously, but that's pretty much it. And I would have read your bio by now, but any clarifications on on what, like, all that stuff?

Bani: No, I mean, to be honest, I [00:04:00] think our relationship and friendship before this moment is mostly, like, through our mutual friends, you know? Yeah ... I think we've never, like, really directly talked to each other in the past. It's mostly been when I'm, like practicing- Mm ... dancing with Andy Ho, like, which is one of the friends you mentioned.

And then he would tell me, "Oh, yeah, J.R. is such a cool guy." And that, that's, that's pretty much it. I don't... And then maybe, like, we've, we've said hi a few times in person, but never really- Yeah ... like, getting to talk and know each other. So, yeah, but this is gonna be cool. It's not only gonna be about you learning n- more about me, but also myself learning about you, too, because you know- Yeah

I've heard my whole life that y- you're a cool guy from Andy Ho, so this is gonna be fun. 

J.R.: Thanks, man. Yeah, thank, thank you, and thanks, Andy. Real, man yeah, likewise, and real quick, so I v- I vividly remember the first time I heard about you, and it was through Andy. [00:05:00] We were outside of The Ark. It was literally in front of the, the doors of The Ark, and he's like, "Something, something," he mentioned, like, "Oh, yeah, Bunny, he's so cool," like, blah, blah, blah, something about your dancing, and I knew you were a b-boy, 'cause he was talking about that.

And I was like, "I, I don't know who this guy he's referencing, but okay." And then eventually I saw you at one of the sessions or something like that, and you're, you were getting down. You're a b-boy, and I'm like, "Oh, damn, he's hella good." But that's, that's pretty much my first impression is just Andy yelling about how, like, he's obsessed with you, and then seeing you dance, like, oh, dude, this guy's dope.

So yeah, likewise, shout out to Andy Ho. He gave each other a good impression of us, so. 

Bani: Yeah, I mean, I mean, honestly Andy is such a, such a great hype man friend to have. Like, he, he always speaks positively about everyone and, and you know, I, I, is, he's probably one of the people who's shaped me and h- how I should talk about my friends with my, with other people as well, because just because of how, you know, [00:06:00] positive he talks about other people with.

So shout out to Andy, too. 

J.R.: Yeah, definitely, man. So there's a few things I wanna ask you about. So obviously background and origin story, we can kinda get into it. I'm curious, like, where did you grow up and what were your main influences? But also, like, what was your... I think that'll color the context, 'cause I'm genuinely curious, like, what led you to UCI?

And then obviously my gaps, I'm missing everything from our UCI experience till today. So I don't know where you wanna start off with that. 

Bani: It's... Okay. Well, I probably wanna begin by saying I, I didn't actually go to UCI.

J.R.: Uh-huh. 

Bani: Yeah, 

J.R.: yeah. Yeah, I know, like, like most-- a lot of the BBA community, they were just from all over.

Like, even Wei didn't go to- Right ... if you know Wei, like, he didn't go to UCI, but, like, he was there, so I guess that's what I mean by went to UCI. Yeah, 

Bani: yeah, for sure. Okay, so we can I can start a little bit further back. So I [00:07:00] was born in Australia, and then I grew up actually my early childhood years here in the Philippines, specifically in Mindanao, which is the southern parts.

I was there because my dad was a missionary. So he he, he brought his whole family there me included. But then when I was around nine years old, that's when we immigrated to America, to Laguna Hills, Orange County. Mm. And it was there where I started, you know, actually developing my personality and my interests.

But at the same time, I was an immigrant in this new world with a new community, a new culture that I had a hard time connecting with. Because honestly, you know, I'm not a very social person, especially when I was younger. I didn't really, develop those skills necessary to be able to deve- to develop close relationships with [00:08:00] people.

But I think the breakthrough that I had when I was younger was I found through creating art. Beginning with drawing and writing poetry, I discovered that when I did those things, and especially with other people in mind that it made other people feel seen and, and it made them see how I saw them and how special that I saw them, I guess.

And so for me, that was like, oh, this is this is a way for me to connect with people other than the just, you know, the regular way of, of, of talking with people and connecting with them in that way. So, I, I, I guess that's how I developed, like, my my, leaning into my artistic personality and artistic interests.

And then from there it was just a matter of exploring other art forms. So eventually fast-forward to when I was a bit older in high school, that's when I [00:09:00] discovered dancing. And it was just from YouTube at first because let's see, I was in high school 2006, and that was around the same time when YouTube beco- became more accessible and people started posting on it from all over the world, and Korea included.

And at that time in Korea, that's when the b-boy scene was blowing up. Mm. And so, as, as a Asian Filipino guy, I guess, I was interested in watching dance videos and, and that was kind of what was on my YouTube feed at that time and what my other friends were watching as well. And then I guess what draw- drew me into break dancing or b-boying was the fact that when I saw these b-boys dancing they did it with a lot of confidence and, [00:10:00] and just being able to express themselves in such a bold way.

And like I said, me being kind of an introvert and not as socially intelligent or confident then that kinda drew me in and, and made me think, "Oh, maybe by doing this I can gain some confidence in the way that I express myself too. And also maybe I can, you know, get some girls along the way."

So, so I, I think that's, that's why I, I started getting into dancing. And actually parallel to that, the same time, I got my first video camera from my parents, you know? I, I just, because I was discovering b-boying through video, I subconsciously, I was like, "Oh, maybe I can record myself dancing as well and 

post that wherever I could post it- and then show my friends. that's my, like, art- artistic origin story where I discovered these [00:11:00] two love of my lives basically, dancing and filmmaking, making videos at the same time, gaining confidence and learning how to express myself through dancing, and then through filmmaking, it was learning how to use the language of filmmaking to evoke, like, certain emotions or deliver a certain message.

 there was no, like, active intention to be a, a filmmaker in the future yet. I'm a filmmaker now because it all started with break dancing.

Hmm. And then 

After graduating from film school, I, I went back to Orange County, and then I had to find a community to serve this, this new career of filmmaking that I developed from film school. And the only community that I knew at the time and I was comfortable with interacting was the dance community.

And, and the [00:12:00] biggest dance community there in Orange County is, you know, UCI, and, and that's how I ended up there, and that's how I sort of met you through Andy Ho and, and other people, 

J.R.: Now l- place us in... I'm, I'm curious. My brain works very, like- analytical, methodical. So I know you mentioned you were born in Australia, and then you moved to the Philippines. What age was that? And then I know from there you went to Laguna Hills, was- were there from ages nine until whenever you moved to the Philippines to do film school, and then you moved back.

Yeah. Could you place us, like, your age at each of those periods? 

Bani: Oh, yeah, sure. So the-- being born in Australia was very brief and almost just like an accident because I was there- Oh ... because my grandfather, my mom's dad was on the brink of passing away at the same ti- around the same time that I was born.

So that's actually why my name is Bani. It's short [00:13:00] for Bonifacio, which is my Lolo's name, my grandfather's- Oh ... name. It, well, it's not my real name, my but that's what my family started to call me because of the closeness of those two events, of me being born and- Mm-hmm ... my grandfather passing away.

So I was only two two months old when I moved from... Not, not even moved, like traveled from Australia to the Philippines, and then we were living in Manila when I was just a baby. And then I think it was around when I was three, maybe four years old that we traveled to Mindanao, which is where my dad had his long-term mission trip.

And then after that was done, we moved back to Manila when I was maybe eight, eight and a half. And then we went to America when I was nine years old. Was there under my parents' visa, so I didn't even have my, my own visa or [00:14:00] reason to stay in America other than the fact that I was my parents' child.

So I was there until I was 18, and you know, because I, I was just a child and didn't have my own papers I didn't move at all geographically that whole time I was just there in LA, Orange County, San Diego area. But then when I was about to turn 18, my mom told me, "Hey you actually need to leave the country for a little while in order to get your own green card and permanent residency for America.

But to do that you have to leave America for a while." So that's the reason why I had to study overseas. And it wasn't... i, I w- I had no plans of doing that, you know? Like, it, it just all came out of the blue. So I, I was kind of actually very angry at that, at that fact when I first, when [00:15:00] my mom first told me.

Because, you know, that meant that I had to leave my friends for a while, leave the community that I grew up with. And there was no the, like, there was no set time period that my mom could tell me, like, how, how long would I need to be out of the country for before I had this, this green card that would allow me to stay in the Phil- in, in America.

So yeah, it was a very, like, very unsure period of my life. But it actually turned out for the better because eventually I decided to study film school here in the Philippines in this island called Cebu, and it was an international film school, and it was actually there that I met my wife, Mai.

So that's that-- it was-- And it was just a technical school, you know? It wasn't, like, a full-on college four-year degree. So it was, it was only about a year, a year and a half that I was there. And after that [00:16:00] traveled back to Los Angeles and try to make a living out of this new profession that I, I studied and, and worked for.

And that, that was my-- the time in my life where I was very heavily involved with, in UCI because like I said earlier I needed a community to, to serve with my new skills and, and that had just happened to be BBA and the Orange County dance community as a whole. But, and then eventually after that I had an opportunity to work on a World War II documentary here in the Philippines to write and direct it.

I think that was when I was already 22 years old, and then that's the reason why I came back here. My wife was the one who recommended me, and the person who was working on this project was actually my father-in-law because he, he's also a, a filmmaker. Wow. He [00:17:00] wanted a new director for his films to make it more catered towards a younger audience.

And so my, my girlfriend at the time, who's my wife now recommended me. And then for me, this-- that was kind of sort of the gateway to learn more about my, my culture as, as a, as a Filipino and learn more about the history of this country that I came from. Because, you know, as someone who grew up in the education system in America, there's, there's not much to learn about the Philippines there, so.

And, and I'm someone who is really interested in, in history and, and all these things, so I took that as an opportunity to make films about my interests as well. And so from there, as a 21, 22 years old it became a back and forth situation because in order to maintain the green card that I that I acquired, I couldn't leave America [00:18:00] for too long.

It-- I could only do it, like, six months at a time. So I would spend six months- Wow ... in the Philippines working on my career, and then six months in America dancing. So- Yeah ... so that was my situation until finally, I think, in 2023 I got my US citizenship. So because- Wow ... during the pandemic in 2021, I, my wife and I just decided to stay in America without going outside for too much, and that that's what you need to do in order to transition from a green card to a full-on American citizenship, is- Mm-hmm

uh, to just stay in America to show the government that, you know, you actually wanna live there. And so yeah, that's my, kind of my background. Now that I'm an American citizen, I'm living here in the Philippines ... because I can, I can stay out for longer. But that's- Yeah ... just because for me, throughout the course of my career [00:19:00] of learning more about my history, I've discovered that I w- I want to serve the people here, and the Filipinos who are living outside as well, by telling you know, our history, our culture, connecting these two worlds together because I think there's a fracture there that needs to be healed in a way.

And I think s- storytelling, making films can kinda do that. 

J.R.: Man, there's so many pieces I wanna jump off into.

Let... Before we go d- I know we're gonna touch on the filmmaking part and the storytelling, Philippine history, culture, identity, et cetera. Let's go back to dance really quick. So I know you said that, w- if I'm not getting this wrong, you started with film and dancing around the same time, like high school-ish?

Bani: Yes, yes. Okay ... freshman year, basically, yeah. 

J.R.: Oh, okay. Gotcha. What... I'm curious because, I mean, as a fellow dancer, I, I think you're [00:20:00] dope. W- where, well, where did you train? Like, what were your main influences, and how did you, like... I mean, as someone who... Okay, maybe we start off with that. Like, what, where...

Like, what did you, where did you learn from? 

Bani: I learned from primarily or in the beginning from YouTube. 

J.R.: Okay. Okay. '

Bani: Cause, you know, I, I lived in Laguna Hills, Orange County, California, which is This place in Orange County where it's a small town. The most of the people who live there, the population is seniors.

So yeah, there, there really wasn't much going on where, where I lived. And my, my friends and I just discovered b-boying, like I said, through YouTube, and we just kinda started by emulating what we saw, you know? In particular, I was drawn to this b-boy named [00:21:00] B-Boy Born from Rivers Crew because like I mentioned, it was, it was the confidence- Korea, right?

Korea, from Korea. 

J.R.: Okay. 

Bani: Yeah. And so I was drawn to the, the confidence in which he moved and danced. So it wasn't the moves necessarily that drew me into break dancing, but the, the story that you could tell when you're dancing. You could portray yourself as this confident person. And so that's kinda how I got interested and got started dancing, is just, you know, emulating these people that we saw on YouTube.

And then, of course, the people that I practiced with, my, my friends in high school influenced me, B-Boy Slip B-Boy Yoshi and just a few others, B-Boy Zhang. And from there because of my, like, videos that I uploaded on [00:22:00] bboy.org that was kind of the, the signal or the, the megaphone that made people nearby aware that, "Hey, we exist, b-boys in Laguna Hills."

So, so from there, we started meeting other people. And I think the first, like, very significant person that we met that influenced us a lot is L-10. And he used to s- he used to train in Heritage Park in Irvine. During that time, he had this trailer, like a dance trailer circulating on YouTube.

And it, it was just, you know, at-- When we were kids, we just thought it was really cool, and then we were like, "Hey, I think that's Heritage Park in Irvine. There's, there's a b-boy there. Let's just go practice and, and see what he's like." And so, yeah, we just showed up one day. And lo and behold, he was actually there stretching.

And then from, from there, like, we, we got a, a mentor, I guess, who was [00:23:00] able to, teach us i- in a, in a casual way. You know, it wasn't, it wasn't formalized in, in any, in any sort of way. And then at the same time, there was also this French guy named Matthew who just showed up in Laguna Hills, like, out of nowhere o- one day, like, after school, and then we decided to practice in the community center next door to our high school in Laguna Hills.

Like, he was it was really, like, super random. It we-- So just imagine us kids who have been watching B-boying all our lives through a screen on YouTube, and then all of a sudden there's this French guy i- in our city doing air flares. And then, so for us that was mind-blowing. And for m- so for me, I think we were drawn to each other because I think he had just moved from France to Laguna Hills of all places- Mm-hmm

uh, trying to find a community, and then he saw that, oh, we're, we're these kids trying to learn [00:24:00] break dancing. So, we, we formed a friendship there as well. And so yeah, I'd say our, me and my friends mentors when we were just starting were those two people, Matthew from France and El Ten. and then there's also this other guy named Tyler or, or Mad who was a moderator in this website bboy.org who, who just so happened to live in the area, too.

And then we decided, we just decided like, "Hey, let's, let's go session together." And then he actually ended up in, in my crew, Miles of Styles eventually as sort of like an older brother or even a father figure for, for some of us because he's, he's like a, a decade older

that's how my dancing sort of developed, And then, for me more than the, just the dancing, I really liked the community aspect of- 

J.R.: Hmm

Bani: of b-boying and dancing in general. So one of the things that I would often do even earlier on when I was just starting was l- [00:25:00] like throwing these jams right there in Laguna Hills. And it was just in the park, like the park next to my high school for free. I didn't even tell the, the people who was managing the park that there was gonna be an event.

So I, I w- I would just, you know, make these flyers with whatever knowledge of Photoshop that I had, and then people, people would actually show up . A- and then I would make videos out of those events, and so those videos would go out, and it would just kinda keep on circulating from there and keep on growing and growing.

And so that was my contribution to the dance community, And that's, that's where I met a lot of my dance friends, too. 

J.R.: Hmm. That's, that's dope. I had a few questions, or a couple I guess. First one is like at that point, I know you're dancing, you're building this community, and you're really into it.

Did you have any aspirations to I don't wanna say do [00:26:00] dancing as a career, but anything beyond just, you know, learning and growing and, and connecting with people? And then second, how would you describe your style, and does that, do you think that is a reflection on how you see your... I know you mentioned the whole confidence thing and, and having your- Yeah

i- idols and mentors, but sometimes as dancers, the way... I mean, it's an art form, right? So it's a self-expression. So do you think that your style reflects maybe a side of your personality? 

Bani: So the first question was, did I have aspirations to- Any 

J.R.: aspiration, yeah, 

Bani: yeah ... be like a professional dancer or something?

And I, I, I guess so. I mean, at the time that I was starting, the Red Bull BC One competition was also, like, growing, and I, I guess that was the, the spotlight that young B-boys wanted to eventually be a part of in the future when we got good enough, and I was a part of that group of young B-boys. So [00:27:00] on that level, I guess, yeah, I had those aspirations.

Eventually as I continued with my dance journey and discovered that I, I probably won't get there or, or I, or I discovered that I liked filmmaking more than dancing that's when it kinda slowly dissolved, and I started pursuing filmmaking more. But in terms of my style it, it, it, it's definitely more leaning into, like, footwork and, and playing with the music.

Initially because, like I mentioned earlier, like my point of entry into B-boying was B-Boy Born, who, who does dance like that. You know, he primarily focuses on foundation and, and musicality, and and so naturally that's what I was drawn to as well. And [00:28:00] then also because I have a track and field background I, I think people would describe my style also as very explosive.

Like a lot of explosive movements. I, I try to incorporate that, a lot of jumping. And so my name Bani kind of evolved from being a a h- an homage to my grandfather to an homage to the, the animal the bunny . So, because, you know, I w- I was hopping a lot, and then bunnies hop obviously. So, yeah, that, that's how I would kinda describe my style.

And, and I guess yeah, I, I'd say that's a, a reflection of my personality too. You know, I, I do things with a lot of intensity and it's usually very short bursts. And I'm not sure if it's the B-boying that dictated the, the personality or the personality dictated- Mm-hmm ... the [00:29:00] style. Maybe it's a, it's a mixture of something in between.

And as I grow older, I, I also find my style changing as well because, you know, I'm, I'm 34 now and not as explosive and intense as I used to be in terms of movement. But also it turns out it's in terms of my personality as well. I find that, you know, slowing down a bit and being a bit more doing things in a bit more of a steady, manageable pace is more efficient and effective than just exploding into whatever you wanna do and, and then burning out after

J.R.: Mm. 

Bani: So, yeah, that, that's very interesting how you can figure out someone's personality by their style and, and for me, I, I find that to be very true. Like, it's, it's a, it's, it's almost like a one-on-one reflection. 

J.R.: Yeah, I like that. I was [00:30:00] gonna say because that was also my conception of how your dance style...

I do, when I think about your dance style and the videos that I've seen, there is that explosive aspect. I don't wanna say power, but I wanna say there's that explosiveness that I guess, mm, yeah, flashiness, aggressiveness maybe is a good, maybe is not the best word, but somewhere around there. But it makes sense because, like you said, your background and your dynamics.

But I think, too, and some of the more recent videos that I've seen, I'll be like, "Dang, Bani's still getting it." And I know we're not getting any younger, but you're still, like, you're getting in with your power moves or, or at least your dynamic movements. So that's why I was curious- Yeah ... about that, if it reflect, if you think that it reflected your sort of internal personality, which I think is cool 'cause maybe a lot of dancers will agree.

Bani: Yeah. 

Well, actually- Yeah ... ano- another thing I'd want to mention, too, that plays a part in influencing how I danced and, and all these things is what movies [00:31:00] and shows and, and stories- Mm-hmm ... I was watching at that time. And I guess a, a big, a big story and show that I was following when I was dancing in high school was Naruto, you know?

Mm. And the, the as, as anyone who watches that knows, like, the, the protagonist has this very excitable and, and very optimistic view of being able to achieve your goals. And, and for me that kinda translated to how I wanted to portray myself when dancing as well. And I guess when you do that, because dancing is you, you dance with your body, you know?

So, and so you embody whatever you do with your body until it becomes a part of who you are, I guess. And so, yeah, I just wanted to mention that as well because I think that that was a, a big influence into my style as well, and then eventually how I approach whatever else I do in life. [00:32:00] 

J.R.: Right. Yeah, that's awesome.

Okay, so I wanna shift now into filmmaking. So I know you kinda teased a bit where you had this opportunity in your early 20s to go make this film. And, oh, I do remember, like, didn't you film some of URMO's videos, too? Like, some of theirs... I, I think I vaguely remember that, like, you were helping with the video projects that they were doing.

Bani: Yeah, yeah. I mean, when I came out of film school I just wanted to do whatever projects I could get, you know? It did- it didn't matter if I was gonna get paid or not or, or whatever. Like, for me, it was just a matter of developing my skills even further connecting with people, developing those relationships, and and building a, a reel to be able to show to, you know, future employers.

So URMO was one of the dance groups who were kind enough to give me the opportunity to, [00:33:00] you know, to... for me to capture them and their art. And so yeah, I did a couple of projects for them when I was in UCI. 

J.R.: Yeah. I just remembered that. I'm like, "Oh yeah, that was another thing," because, like, I was in Urban Motus for a while, too.

And so after I'd left and Andy was on the team as well I remember them being like, "Oh yeah, Bani's gonna help us, like, you know, do our video projects." That's pretty cool. So I want to now go into... I guess there are so many threads at this point in your life, right? And we'll get into the storytelling and the Filipino history and culture, but how...

W-

were there any turning points where... I mean, I know you were kind of committed to this being your kind of career or, like, your purpose or... I don't know how clear it was at that point in your early 20s, and you got this opportunity. Were there any turning points or pivotal moments that solidified this as kind of your mission, your [00:34:00] career, your life journey?

Bani: Yeah. I think it was actually earlier on. So when I was in high school and I was discovering film and and dancing at first, you know, I, I didn't actually take these two things seriously, you know? I just looked at them as, as hobbies.

Because for me, I, I wasn't really sure how would I even approach making a career out of either of those two things because I, I didn't have like a, a, a template or, or someone to look up to, you know, who was, who I could talk to and who was near me that that I could follow their footsteps or anything like that.

but at the same time I, I wanted, I did know already that I wanted to be an artist. Like, just any- Mm-hmm ... sort of art was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. And [00:35:00] so when I was in high school, I was actually looking more at writing, like writing books as the career that I wanted to do because you know, I was l- I was looking at J.K. Rowling, right? Like she's she, she became a billionaire from writing books, and I was like, dang, I could j- if, if you can just make up stories and become a billionaire out of that, I think that's probably a career worth pursuing. So that was actually like... And that was a th- serious thought, you know? I was like th- this is something I really want to look into.

But then when I was pursuing that a little bit more and just started writing stories of my own, I realized that Like, "Huh, this, this journey is actually you know, pretty lonely." Like, writing is a very individual- 

J.R.: Mm ... 

Bani: process, writing books specifically. Like, you, you're in your head alone just doing it by yourself a lot of the [00:36:00] time at least when I was trying it when I was in high school.

And then so from there I realized you know what? I actually want to do something with people, working together with people more than just working with myself. But, but at the same time, I discovered more that I, I love stories, I love storytelling, and so that's how I landed on filmmaking deciding that making films, telling stories through this audiovisual medium is what I wanted to do because it's a very collaborative process.

I mean, when you watch a movie, you see that it's directed by someone, by this one person, and usually they get all the credit, but actually if you stay for the whole credits, it's actually made by 100 people, 1,000 people, and it's, it's, it's the work of that collaborative energy. 

And, and although I, like I mentioned earlier, I was like, an introverted person, socially awkward person, [00:37:00] I, I still love people, you know? I, I, I desired for that connection. And, and, and like I said, my, one of my main influences is Naruto, who is all about friendship. And so I wanted that f- friendship connection to be a part of my work as well, and that's why I leaned into filmmaking.

And, and then when I w- when it was time to go to college, I wanted to go to film school of some sorts. And then it just so happened because of my citizenship situation that I went to a technical school in Cebu outside of America, and that's how that career kind of blossomed. 

J.R.: Hmm. I like that, especially the point about you mentioned sometimes it's a misconception that introverts don't like connecting with people when the common denominator of all human humanity is the desire to connect with people.

We're social creatures. Yeah. So I love that self-awareness of even if you are more of this energy type person, [00:38:00] we all... You, you understood that we all like to connect with people, so I, I love that a lot. Yeah. You mentioned this one thing about the value in art and stories and the power of storytelling, and I'm curious on that note, so the power of storytelling if you wanna elaborate on that.

But also, what do you think are the most important elements to great storytelling f- so that the audiences can connect or resonate or whatever the mission might be? 

Bani: Yeah. So, For me, I think storytelling is such a fa- fundamental aspect of being human, you know? I think it's what makes us human. N- no other creature on Earth tells stories.

I mean, bees, they say can tell fellow bees where certain flowers are, and they can communicate in that way. Birds and, and other primates can communicate a little bit as well. But nothing to the level of creating meaning out of the [00:39:00] things that happen to us, and I think that's what stories are, is we- Yeah

create meaning out of our memories, out of the things that happen to us, and we do it in such a fundamental way. It, it's almost automatic and subconscious. Like, for example, let's say you're driving on the freeway and someone cuts you off. Instantly you come up with a story like, "Oh, this guy- 

J.R.: Mm ... 

Bani: is a rude person," you know?

Or, "Oh, this guy is probably in a hurry 'cause they're late for work, or there, there's an emergency at home." Ei- either way, no matter what you excuse you come up with, it's just a story you made up, and it's, it's a story that you made automatically. So, storytelling, making stories is, is fundamental to human beings and, and that's why I think what I do and storytellers are such a fundamental part of society as well.

Because when we tell stories, it, it [00:40:00] shapes the meaning of the things that happen to us. Like, that's the main value of of stories, of films, of books is it, it gives you a perspective of how you can look at the world, of how you can create meaning of why we exist. And you know, that's like, you, you can see that just from the, like, the example I mentioned earlier, right?

Of how Naruto influenced me when I was young. Or even, I... And I, I watched, like, some of the other podcasts that you've done with other people, and they've mentioned, like, other anime as well influencing them, and that's because a lot of the stories and narratives that anime portrays is young men being able to, find the confidence and, and break through the challenges and the obstacles that are in their way.

And by watching those as we grow up, we gain that [00:41:00] confidence and desire to, to break through the challenges that we face as well. And so that's, I think, the value of stories is being able to see someone overcoming something or solving a problem or facing a fear or a challenge that is similar to what we face in our own world and, and gaining something to be able to face our own challenges at the same time.

And so, that's why I think storytelling is, is really important and valuable in the world. And for Filipino people and Filipino culture specifically there's this certain narrative that we Filipinos, because you're a Filipino too as well, right? Th- there's this narrative that we're all a part of as, as part of this Filipino nation.

And it's the fact that we are we all come from this one archipelago. And in the [00:42:00] past, we had our own culture, we had our own way of living, way of looking at the world. And then because of what happened in history there were waves of colonization that happened to our ancestors which fractured the way that we live, fractured our identity.

And as a result There's this thing that exists now in our narrative, in our psyche called colonial mentality. And then so, and so that's what I'm trying to kind of heal and, and close the narrative of with the stories that I tell is is that We, as Filipinos, we live in this unfinished story of hey, this, this very messed up thing happened to us in the past, and as a result we [00:43:00] are the way we are today moving in a certain way looking at life in a certain direction because of that messed up thing of colonialism.

But it doesn't have to be that way, you know? We can, we can look beyond that and remember who we were before, and we can complete that circle of finishing that wound in history and healing from it and, and so that's why, like, a, a big part of the work that I do, the films that I tell is about Filipino culture because I believe that storytelling is plays a big part in healing those wounds.

J.R.: Mm. 

Bani: I hope I explained that kind of- 

J.R.: Yeah. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Man, there's a lot of things, a lot of points I have to pull from my brain. I like that about the whole unfinished sort of story. It reminded me of a hero's journey, right, the typical [00:44:00] characterization of why, why we resonate with stories.

It's a person. There's some context. They go through the hero's journey. They have that sort of challenge or that story arc, character development, and then they overcome it, and that's what we resonate with. That's what we wanna connect with and get inspired from and/or move forward. And kind of like what you're saying with Filipinos all over the world, there, there is a lot of context of why Filipinos or Filipino culture is the way it is, and like you're saying, a lot of, a big piece of that is colonialism.

So it's kind of like an unfinished story, which I love, and I... There's so many things I wanna ask you to pick your brain about. As someone who has studied Philippine history and knows way more than I do, I'm so curious about your thoughts on certain things about Filipino culture and, like, our, I guess, our tendencies or things about that, but I know there's a lot of context.

I wanna go back really quick now even further, which is so you mentioned the whole connecting and resonating. I'm curious if you had any specific thoughts on what makes a great story, and I think I ask from the c- [00:45:00] from the perspective of, I guess, selfishly on this show, I also love to connect and hear about other people's stories in hopes of I can take the same...

kinda learn something from someone, and then pass that along to other people, and maybe they will listen to an episode or watch something and really resonate with someone's own journey, which I've heard before with some of my audience. They'll be like, "I really loved that episode with so-and-so, and I also want to become a doctor or a lawyer or whatever it may be."

And so their journey and how it was so zigzaggy and the challenges they overcame and how they eventually found their way there it was very enlightening for me. And I'm like, that's exactly the whole point, is I'm trying to just find these stories. So I guess, selfishly, I'm curious, as a filmmaker, as a storyteller, what do you think makes a great story and/or any advice you have on, I guess, what I'm doing, which is trying to hear individual people's stories and sharing with other people?

Bani: Yeah. Well, a, a story has a lot of elements,But in terms of, like, fundamentally [00:46:00] what makes a great story, if, if I could just pinpoint one thing, it would be that a story transforms. The whole point of a story is the transformation from a, a person seeing the world as one way, and then by the end of the story, they look at it in a different way.

And then the person watching or reading that story making that transformation in their mind as well and embo- and embodying that transformation.Like for example, I'm I just recently worked on this animated series called "The Filipino Story," and the whole objective of this animated series is for Filipinos outside the Philippines to kind of remember the beauty and genius of their culture again and sort of, be more celebratory of, of who they are, of who [00:47:00] they are culturally, and to look at aspects of their Filipino identity and celebrate that.

And so I took this concept that probably a lot of Fil-Am's are familiar with this idea of a FOB, right? Like, maybe when we were growing up in school, we we heard this as a derogatory term, or it, it is a derogatory term. Like when you call someone a FOB, fresh off the boat, you're calling someone as someone who's new to American culture and, and someone who's awkward, and they, they don't really know how things work around here.

So f- for some reason, that makes them lesser than, than other people. And so, as a result, because we grew up with that idea in our minds, the, the, the concept of being on a boat is looked at in a negative way. And so what I did with the first episode of this animated series, "The Filipino Story," is [00:48:00] I took this idea of a boat and I sh- I tried to show the viewer through this video that, hey, you know what?

Actually, if you look at this idea of a boat- this is actually where our culture started. Our ancestors their whole lives re- revolved around being on boats thousands of years ago. Th- that's how they discovered the Philippines. That's how they were able to settle in all our islands. That's how they were able to provide for their families.

And in a boat, that's where our core values of connecting with each other and being there for each other first originated and first began because, you know, you can't be on a boat for for like years and months at a time w- without like connecting and, and being there for each other and seeing each other as, as the same person and looking out for each other.

Because, you know, if you know about our Austronesian ancestors, they would travel like thousands of [00:49:00] miles from the Philippines to Madagascar or all the other islands in the Pacific th- thousands of years ago, before even the invention of the compass or any of the, all these advanced technology that we have to make these journeys easier.

They, they all-- They just used the, the currents and the constellations to, to be able to make these crazy journeys. And, and so looking at it in that way, we should actually be proud that we come from a boat. And, and so that's the transformation that I try to have in the stories that I, I tell, the films that I do, is you-- we take this concept that may be familiar from my audience that may, that they may look at in a certain way and flip it into looking at it in a different way, looking at it, looking at it in a positive way.

And so, for the Filipino story specifically we take this concept of fresh off the boatand then look at the [00:50:00] context of it, look at the history of it, that actually this is a source of pride in our history. This is something we actually should be proud of because this is the, the genesis of Kapwa and Bayanihan, these core values that make us who we are today, that make us Filipinos.

The reason why people look at us as the most caring, the most giving, the most s-social people on the planet, you know, always wanting to have parties and, and, and sing karaoke and, and they're really good at the service industry and the hospice care because they have this heart that really desires caring for each other.

And that caring for each other originated in our early years of traveling around the seas on a boat. So actually, being a FOB should be a source of pride, you know? That we, we can take these things that people used to call [00:51:00] us to kind of, look down on us but actually flip it and turn it into a source of pride.

And actually, that's like a, that, that's what we've always been doing throughout our history, you know? like the, the baro- the barong, for example. You know the barong, right? Like our, our national attire. 

J.R.: Yeah. 

Bani: They say that the Spanish made us wear it during the time that they colonized us so that they could see if we're hiding weapons, Yeah

underneath our clothes. But then Jose Rizal, our national hero, flipped it, and when he went overseas and were traveling to different cultures and different nations he wore it as a source of pride and, and wore it with a sense of identity. That, "Hey, you know what? This is actually what makes us Filipino because this piece of fabric is made with Filipino fiber.

It, And the reason why it's transparent is not because in or- order for the Spanish to subjugate us, but because we [00:52:00] are a transparent people. We want you guy- we want everyone to see what's within us, and we want to be able to connect with each other." And so, you know, j- just, I think that's what makes a story really valuable and, and the, that's what makes a great story, is taking a concept that people may think about a certain way, and then flipping it, transforming it making it into something else, and then taking that into your own life and moving forward with that.

J.R.: Mm. I love that transformation, and those two things you mentioned, like the, the wardrobe, but also the boat are really good examples of, hey, you guys might see something as a negative thing, but let's give you the context and then also let's transform it as something else, and that really creates a great story.

I love that. I'm, like, taking mental notes in my head. I'm like, "Wow, that's fascinating." There's one thing that you did mention, which is this concept of bayani, and it's an underlying theme in all of [00:53:00] your work. Could you explain for the audience what that is and why it is an underlying theme in your work?

Bani: Yeah. So just to put it in a m- in a way that I think more people in Western society can understand, I think if you look at Europeans, they have knights. And then if you look at Japanese culture, for example, they have samurais or ninjas. For Filipino culture, we have Bayani. So a Bayani is the idea of a warrior that we have in our culture, you know?

And it comes from even before our colonial period. It comes from our ancient history. A Bayani is someone who fights for their community, and [00:54:00] you can see it right on the word, right? Like, if you know a little bit of Filipino, the word bayan means community, it means country. And so Bayani is someone who fights for the community, who serves the community.

And it's, it's a-- And defining and deepening that concept and this idea of Bayani is basically the, the thread and the theme that runs through all the, the work that I do. In the same way that maybe if you look at Christopher Nolan, for example, like he likes to play with the idea of time, right? And what, what does time mean in this context of a story or in, in that context of a story?

For me, it's just really playing around with this idea of Bayani. Like, how does this idea of heroism and being a warrior for your people show up in different times of our history as well? Like I mentioned-- I think I mentioned earlier that I started my filmmaking career [00:55:00] after serving the dance community with World War II documentaries.

And so there, it was a very natural ex-exploration of what is a Bayani during the time of World War II. And, and so that really fascinated me when I was doing that work because when I was studying about World War II in America, you know, there wasn't a lot that I could learn about that in terms of the, what happened in the Philippines.

And so when I was doing these World War II documentaries that's where I really learned that there, there was this whole very exciting story that happened here in the Philippines during World War II that kind of sounds almost like Star Wars, you know? Where this empire, Japanese empire, invaded the Philippines, and then small resistance groups popped up to fight against this [00:56:00] massive empire that was bigger than, that was bigger than us.

They, they had... They, they... At that time, Impe- Imperial Japan was considered a superpower in, in the world stage, you know? And the Philippines is just this tiny country. And yet when we look at the way that people often tell the story of World War II in the Philippines, they often focus on the negative aspects, you know, that we had this thing called the Bataan Death March where a lot of Americans and Filipinos died.

We look at how we lost a lot of the battles. We, we surrendered to the Japanese, and they occupied us for three and a half years. And so when I made my World War II films, I, I looked at-- I wanted to look at the history through a different lens, not through the defeats, but through the victories, and how this idea of Bayani sort of popped up during that period in our [00:57:00] history.

And how it popped up was the fact that, okay, even though we had this huge imperial force looming over us and, and fighting against us. Despite that fact, we still had this Bayani spirit awaken in our people, in even the youth, in even people that were only 13 years old, 14 years old, 15 years old.

And they decided that even though we have nothing, we have no arms, we have no supplies, we have no food to be able to fight against the Japanese, we're still gonna go up in the mountains, form a resistance group, and, and fight against them with everything we got or with nothing that we have. And for me, like that, that was an inspiring story for me when, when I heard that.

And like I said, it was, it sounded a bit like Star Wars, and I was like, did, did-- is this where George Lucas copied his story from? But, but, but it was actually better than Star Wars, you know, because it's actually real. It actually happened in [00:58:00] history, and the main characters are from my own culture, from my own heritage.

And, and, and so, it inspired me being able to tell that story, make this documentary about young people fighting-- young Bayanis fighting against something bigger than themselves, fighting against evil, having hope despite the fact that with other people, they might look at it as a hopeless situation.

And as a result, a lot of young people, a lot of young Filipinos got inspired by that story as well. So it, it was just such a privilege for me, you know, being able to interview these actual veterans who were just my age when they fought against the Japanese during World War II, who, who have long passed away now because I made these films, like, so many years ago.

And but be- being able to encapsulate their stories and use it, use that as a source of inspiration for the, the generation now and be able to carry [00:59:00] that Bayani spirit forward I think that, that was just such a great, like, jump-off point for me to my filmmaking career, and that's why I wanna tell the story of Bayani and how it shows up in different times in our history.

And it just sort of naturally progressed to the work that I'm doing now with the project called The Filipino Story, where it tells the story of where the Bayani is now. And actually the Bayani if we look further into the historical context of that, it's not just a warrior serving their community, but a warrior who goes out of the community, finds treasure.

In Filipino context, we call this treasure ginhawa, and brings that ginhawa back to the community. So if you kind of parallel that to what kind of Filipinos have that story today, it's the [01:00:00] OFWs. If you're familiar with overseas Filipino workers that's-- it's actually become such a big narrative in Filipino culture, Filipino society now, this concept of Filipinos going outside of the country for better opportunities and then bringing whatever they obtain through hard work back to the motherland.

Like, that's, that's that's something that a lot of Filipinos do today, and that's why actually we call OFWs modern Bayanis. But not only that, but l- like I was mentioning earlier, right, about unfinished narratives there in America specifically did you know that Filipino Americans are the second highest earning group in America?

Like, out of all the other immigrants and other cultural communities that are there, Filipinos are the second highest earning group. Wow. So th- that is the ginhawa that Filipino Americans have. [01:01:00] And maybe if Filipino Americans realize that they're a part of this culture where we have this concept of a warrior, a hero called the Bayani, who goes outside the motherland and brings back ginhawa back to their community, maybe that's the narrative that Filipino Americans can finish, you know?

Like, okay, we're this we've achieved the American dream or the Filipino dream or the Filipino American dream here in America. We've become so successful because we have all these opportunities in America. We've become the second highest earning group. And because now I know that there's this idea of a Bayani, why don't I finish that narrative and bring some of that ginhawa back to the motherland?

And so, for me, that's my current project right now. The Filipino Story is telling that narrative of Filipino Americans awakening their Bayani spirit to join these two groups together, Filipinos in the [01:02:00] motherland and Filipinos in the diaspora, and finishing that narrative of the Bayani. 

J.R.: Hmm.

Wow. That's so fascinating. I feel like you just unlocked something. This is context that I feel like has been- ... missing. Because I mean, as a Filipino American, I was born and raised in California, been here my whole life, and I've obviously been surrounded by my family, especially like my dad's side of the family, who, you know, they go back and forth to the Philippines.

And my dad actually moved back to the Philippines last year. And a lot of my family's, or I guess Filipino culture, a lot of it is very connected to this concept you're talking about of, you know, being the warrior, being the, finding those treasures and kind of bringing it back to the family. So these things that you're explaining just colors so much context of things that I've been exposed to but never really quite understood.

But I feel like you just clicked something into place in my brain, so that's so fascinating. And I love- Yeah. Yeah. It- ... that, that concept 

Bani: It's crazy, right? Like e- [01:03:00] even you've probably heard of balikbayan boxes and how your family probably does it. It's like- Yeah ... we, as, as the f- the part of your family who's outside the Philippines y- at the same time, you guys still probably have family in the motherland, and a way of bringing back treasures or ginhawa is through these balikbayan boxes.

Mm-hmm. Which, as it turns out, comes from that tradition that we have even thousands of years ago, is of bringing back ginhawa to the country. 

J.R.: Yeah. That's, that's so crazy. Yeah. So many things are just clicking into place. You just unlock something. I always thought that in my conception of Filipino culture for better or for worse, it's very centered around this generosity in your community, people around you, et cetera.

But now it puts into the context the whole, the balikbayan boxes and just sending things back home. And even my dad, a big part of his whole personal life arc was working hard here in America [01:04:00] and, you know, sending money over, and this is something that a lot of Filipinos do. And now that he's back in the Philippines building up his community and for his family and the people around to, like, build a better life because now that he's worked hard in the States to bring it back.

And so it's very inspiring to me because now it... I think it's, it helps me connect my own sort of internal motivations. I didn't know where this came from. I know my family, of course, but maybe it's a deeper rooted heritage of I do have this desire that I wanna give back. I wanna be generous. I wanna be that sort of bayani, that hero, finding the communities and serving them.

And now that I know that it's part of my heritage, it's kind of like, wow, that's so cool. Like, it inspires me a lot. So, I'm so, like, inspired by the work that you're doing in telling these stories, especially for our culture and our heritage. I think that's an amazing thing. 

Bani: Yeah, man. And, and like I said other cultures have their own idea of what a warrior is.

And, and so, for me, it's just a matter [01:05:00] of uncovering and discovering for us what that looks like. And it gives context, like you said, to why we are the way we are today. Because even though we don't know it consciously we, we see glimpses of it in the way we move and not knowing the reason for that.

And I find that when we look at our past that's where we discover that, and clarify it for us, and dive into it, and embody it even more. 

J.R.: Yeah. Man, I... So I have another topic that I wanna shift to that I might not get to. I just wanna pose this right now. If you would be open to eventually in the future when time permits, to have a part two, because I have so many questions of- Yeah, yeah

th- I wanna do, like, a special episode where I'm like, "All right. Here's what I notice as a f- as a Fil-Am, why... Like, the things, how, how Filipinos are, at least the Filipinos I've been exposed to. Now from Bani's historical educated perspective, why do you think we are the way we are for [01:06:00] these sort of things?"

Like, a sort of Q&A or maybe a discussion that I'd be so curious to get your thoughts on now that you ha- you have both, you know, a motherland experience, and then obviously living in the States, and then now studying about Philippine history and culture. D- I just wanna pick your brain for hours, but maybe we'll save it for a part two if you're down.

Bani: Oh, yeah. We can, we can definitely do that. At the same time- Yeah ... you know, ju- just a quick plug, you know, The, The Filipino Story- Sure ... is a social media platform in which we put out a lot of these videos explaining these things already. So if we don't get to that part two anytime soon you can check that out there- Yeah

and the people watching can check out those things. 

J.R.: Absolutely. Yeah, thank you for that plug. I was going to plug it near the end, but definitely check it out, 'cause as Bani's talking, I'm remembering, 'cause I did watch a few of the episodes on YouTube, and then I've seen the Instagram as well, and it is very fascinating and very high-quality stuff.

So highly recommend it. I'm gonna be checking it out now, now that I've gotten this enthusiasm and passion on your end. Cool. So, I think we might have to save the next sort of [01:07:00] grouping of topics of personal things for next time 'cause I wanna get into rapid-fire questions. I don't wanna take up too much of your time.

But before we get to that, I, I wanna... Maybe if you can give me a TLDR. It's a selfish question, but- 

Bani: Yeah ... 

J.R.: as a filmmaker, how... 

I wanna ask, how do you approach making making films or being a filmmaker as a career? Challenges that you face as a filmmaker, and then advice for people who see your story and be like, "Hmm, maybe I wanna be a filmmaker like Bani too."

Like any advice or words of wisdom you'd give them? 

Bani: Sure. So, in the spirit of, you know, flipping ideas and perspectives that you may have about a creative career, that a lot of people may have about a creative career, I think a lot of people look at that path as something that is impossible or it doesn't have a lot of money going towards it, especially if you're, you know, Asian American or [01:08:00] just Asian, right?

Maybe your parents discourage you from doing that. But as someone who's on that path right now and had the parents who gave me the freedom to be able to pursue this, because I'm the youngest in my family, and my other siblings already accomplished my parents' dreams. So thank you to my siblings for, for giving me this opportunity.

But As someone who's walking in this path already of, you know, a creative career, dude, there's, there's so much money. Like, so many people, especially nowadays, know the value of art and storytelling, especially in this era where AI is emerging. Th- there's so many people and companies who know that human-made art, human-made creativity has tremendous value for their customers, for society as a [01:09:00] whole.

Nothing I said earlier about how stories shape the next generation is anything new. Like, every everyone knows that, and that has such tremendous value. So, you should just pursue it, you know? And if you're just starting out do what I did, which is just pursue this w- not with any sort of profit or career in mind, just have the spirit of curiosity, have the spirit of play.

 take yourself back to when you were a kid and you just, were exploring the world with a sense of wonder and curiosity, and, and that's how you behaved. that's how you should act with a creative career is, is just exploration, wonder curiosity, playfulness.

And then from there you will find naturally what kind of stories and art forms that you le- lean into and are good at. A- and then once you lock in on where you want to go more specifically that's where you can kind [01:10:00] of, focus on honing your skills a bit more. 'Cause, you know, there, there is, of course, a technical side getting your personal skills to a certain level of technical excellence in or- in order to be able to do it professionally.

And so for me that was a big part of what I did towards the beginning of my career too, like really making sure that I was good at filmmaking and good at storytelling, where when I had a job and my boss told me, "Okay, you need to make two to three videos a day," I decided to make five to six videos a day because I wanted to go get those reps in.

And that's what I learned from, you know, sp- doing sports and dancing, is to be able to hone your skills and in order to get to a certain level of excellence where you can just execute a move naturally and without thinking about it, you gotta get those reps in and be able to practice it enough times so that you j- it's just as [01:11:00] natural as breathing.

go at it with a spirit of wonder and curiosity and playfulness on one hand, and also be serious about honing your skills on the other hand. Tho-those are two seemi-seemingly opposite things, right?

But at the same time, what I remember that Bruce Lee described as well, that in order to be a great martial artist, you have to have natural unnaturalness or unnatural naturalness. You ha- you have to be able to sit in in between those two seemingly polar opposites and that's where you will find the, the most value in, in creativity.

 Wow, I like that. it's almost like a bicycle, right? The two sides, the two pedals that you kinda need to push, you know, simultaneously, but they're both important. You can't just push one side. But I like that. 

Yeah, yeah. Good, good, 

Good image. 

J.R.: Thank you for that. I think [01:12:00] that's very, very insightful. 

Bani: just one more thing about the,

the other, like, aspiring artists or filmmakers might find useful, because I, I do a lot of workshops and, like, classes and stuff like that, and a, a big question that, you know, my students often ask is how to overcome creative blocks, you know, artistic blocks, stuff like that.

 the answer to that is always, like, the, the spirit of play, you know? When you have a creative block, I think most of the time or all the time it's because you've stopped looking at your creative work with the s- the spirit of play in mind.

Because when you're- Kind of ... when you have a playful spirit You can always find the solution, you know? Like, there's, there's, there's never a challenge that a playful spirit couldn't overcome. It's almost like that improv exercise that actors do where [01:13:00] they... When some- when someone says something and then the other person has to say, "Yes, and..."

Like- Mm ... they have to accept whatever situation comes to them and improvise off of that. And that's the spirit of play, basically, and, and that's, I th- I think how I found myself overcoming a lot of the challenges that I've faced throughout my career. 

Like, I my, one of my hard drives died for a film that was gonna come out one one week left for the screening to happen.

And instead of just having a very linear thought process about it and moping and crying because all that work that I did for months was now gone, I had to remember that, "You know what? This is a creative work. I can't look at it so linearly. This thing happened. It, it's right in front of me.

What can I do about it now?" And then it, it actually turned out better. Like, I'm grateful that that hard drive died because it gave birth to this new possibility. And [01:14:00] so, that, I think that's another thing that maybe people would find valuable if they wanna pursue a career in something creative.

J.R.: Hmm. I like that. Very insightful. It's like the mindset that you approach it with can make all the difference, especially in a block, right? Yes, 

Bani: yes, yes. 

J.R.: Cool. All right. Rapid fire, are you ready? 

Bani: Sure, sure. 

J.R.: All right, so first question, billboard question: If you could put up a sign for millions of people to see, what would it say?

Bani: Yeah. I was thinking about this last night and I think I would put something that is often attributed to Filipino national hero, José Rizal, but I don't, I don't think it, he quite put it in these words. But people say he said "Know history, know self," with the know being K-N-O-W, knowledge. Yeah. And 

J.R.: then 

Bani: after that, "No history, no [01:15:00] self," no being N-O, meaning if you wanna know yourself, the, the knowledge of yourself, then look back at your history.

But if you don't do that, you don't, you won't have context about who you are. I think knowing yourself has tremendous value in terms of what you can do with your life, then you gotta look back at your story.

Culturally, spiritually, whatever you believe in, there's a history to everything. There's a story to everything, and so no history, no self. No history, no self. 

J.R.: I love that. All right. In the spirit of transformation and/or character arc, what is one of the hardest challenges you faced, and what did you learn from it?

Bani: hardest challenge that I faced is to don't make your career the center of your identity. Yeah. I think that was something that I, I, I didn't touch on in this,in this podcast. Butwhen the [01:16:00] pandemic happened a lot of my projects disappeared.

And because I leaned so heavily into placing my identity into my work I felt that loss as, like, a personal loss, you know. But at the same time that's when I discovered that, you know, my work isn't actually my identity. My work is just something that I do. And so if I had learned that idea earlier on, I wouldn't have had that existential crisis

 but yeah, that's, that's the biggest lesson, I would say. Of all the, the lessons that I've learned throughout my career is don't actually make it the center of who you are.

J.R.: That's good advice. Okay. This might, if, this might be different, but if you could give your younger self advice, what would it be? 

Bani: A very practical, I think, is what I would tell my younger self if I had a time machine and go back. I would say, [01:17:00] "Dude, you gotta, you gotta sleep more.

You gotta, you gotta not take your youth for granted so much." I think if, if there's anything that I could do differently in the past, I, I, I would, like, yeah, take care of my health a little bit better. Get those, you know, eight hours not eat so much sweets and ice- tubs of ice cream and tubs of that Red Vines.

You know, th- those are things that I, I used-- the instant ramen, you know, those are things that you, I just did when I was younger that didn't think of the consequences for. And for me yeah, that's, that's what I would tell my younger self. 

J.R.: Nice. I like it. In the last few years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has improved your life, if anything?

Bani: Well, connected to what I just mentioned, i- it's just rest, you know? Like, having a rhythm in life where it's not so [01:18:00] intense all the time, where I give myself a period of, of saying, "Okay, by 5:00 during this workday, just, just stop working," you know? Because in the past because I do creative work, and it's not necessarily in a business schedule, you can just go, like, however long you want.

I could edit and write three days straight if I wanted to, and I did. That's what I did in the past. But now I'm finding myself enjoying the rest, finding it more fulfilling, because I think part of the creative process is not just doing the actual work, but s- stepping back and enjoying the creation that you've made, and that's what rest does, is finding a period to step back and having your mental and physical capacity to restore itself [01:19:00] also.

J.R.: How do you define success? 

Bani: I love my friends and my family, and I love what I do. So I actually think that I'm in the path of success already. But if I were to envision it as a destination in the future I would say that success is a place where I Where my friends and family are in a good place as well, you know? Like they, um Well, I, I, I don't wanna say, like, there's no worries or no stress because that's also a part of life and, and the cycle of life.

And we... I- it's part of being able to become who we're born to be, you know, these, these challenges and these difficulties. But I, I would say having peace. There you go. Having peace and joy, and not [01:20:00] letting go of those things despite the storms that may come in our way. So, that, that state of mind comes and goes for me.

You know, sometimes when I'm in that state and something bad happens then, you know, that, that's exactly where I wanna be. But sometimes anxiety and stress overcomes me and and that's not where I wanna be. So I think I, the whole... My life, to put it simply, is finding this process where I can just be in that constant state of unexplainable peace and joy despite whatever tragedy may happen.

J.R.: yeah, can definitely resonate with that. What is something you've been pondering recently or something you often think about deeply, if we haven't already touched upon it? 

Bani: what's my life's purpose? What is the meaning of life? For me in particular- Yeah, sure What, in terms of [01:21:00] what makes me feel most alive it's, it's creativity. It's, The meaning of life is to create. Like, when, when we've taken care of the things that we need in order to survive, food, shelter clothing, protection and you know, money what do people do?

It's to create. And if you just look at, you know, the stuff behind me, these are indigenous artifacts, you know, people that Filipino indigenous communities create in their little societies. And, and as you can see, it's, like, very creative work. And so, as someone who looks to my culture in, in terms of,where to find meaning and to how I live I, I look at that and, if I were to define what is the Filipino, and in one way it's some of the things I already mentioned, like Filipinos are people who care and share and love, [01:22:00] and that was, that came from our culture on the boat thousands of years ago.

But also, on the other hand, 

 if I were to define the Filipino identity, it's that we're actually a very creative people, and you can see that if you look at our history and if you look at it today who some of... Look at yourself. You're a, you're a dancer. You're, you're-- you do all these things.

I, I have a creative career. Some of the biggest personalities in the creative industry are Filipino, Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars all these people. And even looking at, the people in our community who are most in need, you know? Like, here in the Philippines, poverty is a big problem in our community, right?

In our nation. And yet, if you actually go into these informal settlements, like, like I do regularly to tell their stories, they're still out there creating. Even if you come to the Philippines and [01:23:00] experience a typhoon, 'cause those things happen all the time here, floods, especially here in the city, Marikina gets flooded all the time.

What do Filipinos do when something bad like that happens? They create joy. They create playfu- playfulness out of that situation. They, they turn their living room, which has been flooded, into a swimming pool. And you know, of course, we don't want these things to happen, but for some reason, our people culturally just tend to do that in those, even those very tragic situations.

Like, going back to poverty, you know, there's, there's this s- certain cultural practice that our people do where they take leftovers from restaurants and fast food, and they, they re-cook it. We call it pagpag, you know? And it, it... obviously, that's something that people shouldn't do because food is actually abundant here in this country.

Like, the food can grow everywhere. Our [01:24:00] soil is very fertile. But because of their situation, they had no choice but to create that for themselves. So even in that very low and unfavorable situation, we find our people being creative and 

creating joy out of these very sad and very tragic situations you can find creativity there as well. 

J.R.: I like that. Yeah, very resourceful, very joyful and adaptable and, like you say, creative.

It's very inspiring 'cause it, a- again, gives a lot of context to how, like you mentioned, Filipinos being some of the most artistic people, it gives a lot of context to a lot of that and why we are the way we are. This might be the last one, but favorite hot take or something you think most people would disagree with if you, if any?

Bani: This may, this might be more specific to, like, Filipinos here or Filipinos who are more focused on, you know, their journey of Filipino [01:25:00] identity. But just something that I learned from one of the historians that I work with and who's also a friend, Professor Shao Chua.

He mentioned that in terms of when we reference like, our, our history before colonialism happened and after When, when we reference our culture before, people often refer to that period as our pre-colonial history, right? And so what I learned from him was that, well, actually, we should stop calling it that way because when we call it, call it as pre-colonial, we're almost, like, anchoring our history and our identity on the colonial period- Mm

as, like, the pivotal point, the most pivotal point of who we are, of our history, as like, okay, colonialism happened here 500 years ago, and then... So it's almost like BC and AD, right? Like, as a [01:26:00] Western Christianized society, a lot of societies use that, the death of Jesus Christ as the pivotal point in history.

And then for us Filipinos in the academic field or who study this stuff, a lot of us use that period in the same way that we use the death of Jesus Christ as like, okay, w- colonialism happened here so we have pre-colonial and post-colonial period. So, I, I don't know if that's a hot take, but for me that's why I, I stopped using that as much.

Like, when I wanna refer to the past, I, I just, I just say ancient Filipinos, you know? My- Mm ... forefathers, my ancestors, and then, yeah. 

J.R.: I like that, 'cause it's kind of like we are anchoring in time or defining our history based on an external force like that, a- as opposed to saying, like, you know, or h- like it was a pivotal moment, obviously, 'cause it kind of redefined some s- a lot of [01:27:00] things.

But defining our history and our past based on something like colonialism, I understand the sentiment. That makes sense. 

Bani: Yeah, yeah, exactly. 

J.R.: Cool. Okay. If you, if you can give a TLDR on this one. I'm just curious before we stop the rapid fire any best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made in either time, money, energy, et cetera?

And part two would be if you have any media recommendations for people to check out. 

Bani: Ooh investments Oh, you know what? I find myself, 'cause I'm a filmmaker, I, I document things. My filmmaking journey began with making vlogs from my dance journey, you know, dancing with friends. And I find myself shooting with a 360 camera a lot of the time, because with a 360 camera, it captures everything.

But at the same time, I don't have to, like, focus so much on what I'm capturing, you [01:28:00] know, because it captures everything. Oh. And I can just reframe the, the frame after the fact. So I find my- I find myself using this as a solution for the problem of being detached from the actual experience when, you know, you wanna capture an experience, but at the same time, you just wanna be a part of it.

Mm-hmm ... I think that's a problem that a lot of people who vlog or document things have is, you know, because filmmaking is an art form, and obviously you g- you wanna pour into that, but at the same time, you wanna just experience life, you know? You wanna, you wanna be present with the people around you and with the experience itself.

So I'd say this is, like, a huge investment for me to be able to just be a part of my life now, rather than in the past, where I had to focus on making sure I was shooting good footage. And then there was a [01:29:00] second part to your question. 

J.R.: Yeah. Any media recommendations like books, movies, videos, articles, et cetera, that you share or recommend the most, besides your own, 

Bani: of course?

Right. Well, it, in terms of what's current well, I just watched the Odyssey. I think that was, Same ... yeah, yeah, that, that was a great surprise, you know, like, and I think the director Christopher Nolan intentionally did that where the trailer was por- portrayed the film and the story in a certain way for maybe catered towards a certain people.

But when you actually watch it it's actually about something else. And so the film itself in a meta sense is like a Trojan horse where it was wrapped around a certain packaging with people expecting something. But then when you actually watch it you come out of it the message with, with something else.

So I think as a filmmaker it is highly respectable to be able to watch something [01:30:00] that has so many layers like that, you know, where, okay, the film has a certain message, but then there's an underlying message on below that in the way that he executed the film and, and made the film and, and marketed the film.

And also just the fact that, you know, a, a lot of the the way and the process in which he made it was through very practical old-fashioned ways. He, he wo- he did it the hard way, you know, instead of the very easy shortcuts that we have now with all the technology that we have and, and that's very admirable as well.

And for me that, that inspires me also as a creative to push harder and put my all in everything that I work on 

J.R.: Yeah. Forgive my ignorance. I didn't watch the trailer, but how was it packaged that was different from how it was presented in the film? 

Bani: I... Well, I, I would say that because I was also hearing some of the commentary that [01:31:00] people were saying, right?

And because of the casting, I think the casting in particular was controversial for a lot of people because it's a Greek story. A- and then, you know, obviously with the way people are, they, they want things to be authentic, and- Mm ... y- it, it didn't make sense for a lot of people. So, they, they viewed the movie as something that you know, could be from a, a, a left left perspective.

But when you actually watch the film, it, it actually has very I would say you know, f- foundational themes that is u- universal no matter what part of the polit- political spectrum you're a part of. 

J.R.: Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, I, I did hear there's a lot of controversy, or I guess maybe is the word, of casting or some sort of directions, which I'm like, "Okay, maybe that's just the, the nature of the beast of, you know, online society and [01:32:00] culture."

But like you said, when I watched, I'm like, "Yeah, this is, this is The Odyssey," like similar to what I remember reading about in school. But I think it's... I, I guess as another meta taking myself out of the viewer experience they were like, "Yeah, we're Greek." And I'm like, "Yeah, and you guys speak perfect American English.

I love it." 

Bani: Yeah. Yeah, 

J.R.: yeah, yeah. Cool. Awesome.

Bani: So, I mean, I mean, I can't, I can't know for sure, like, if that was his intention, you know? Right. It, it's just how it came across to me, like that, okay, like, the way it's marketed, it seems like there's a certain message that the filmmakers wanted to show.

Mm. But then when you watch the film, it's actually nothing about, Right ... all these things. It, it's about a father rightfully coming home to- 

J.R.: Yeah ... 

Bani: where he needs to be. And, like, for some people, they may view that as a very conservative message, you know? If we look at- Sure ... the political- Yeah ... spectrum of ideas, there's a, a, a left and a right, and then, [01:33:00] yeah.

J.R.: Yeah. I mean, but it's like a universal thing, right? Like, that's the reason why- It's a universal thing ... storytelling resonates with people is 'cause it's just a story about a guy trying to get home, and then obviously there's challenges and people along the way. I think, like, the... And maybe a tangent real quick, but I know the casting probably was, like, the biggest sort of controversial thing that I've saw with social media memes, but it just feels like a Christopher Nolan film, like a stacked A-list Christopher Nolan film where, like, these really big actors wanted to be a part of a Christopher Nolan film, and then they were all shoved in, and they did a great job.

All the acting was amazing, storytelling, the film cinematography, et cetera. And so I'm like, "Okay, that's cool." But then of course from the outside, maybe the people looking at it were, like, trying to pick it apart and be like, "Is there a, is there, like, an agenda here?" Kind of like the Superman, the most recent Superman, where they're like- Yeah

"Oh, this is so progressive, left-wingy, left-wing," whatever. But then you're like, "Well, maybe you guys made all that stuff up," but in reality, this is just The Odyssey. Everyone knows what happens in The Odyssey. Yeah. It's just a stacked cast. I don't know. [01:34:00] 

Bani: Yeah, yeah. E- exactly. Like, it's, it's the thing I mentioned earlier, right?

About the guy in traffic cutting you off, and then you just make up stories- Yeah ... about why he did that. It, it's the same thing here, where people think there might be a search- certain agenda behind it. And for me, that was just, like, what's, what was being fed to me in the, in my social media as I was hearing things about the movie that, you know, oh, th- this is...

Christopher Nolan didn't wanna tell a authentic retelling of The Odyssey. There's a certain agenda behind it. Oh. But then when you actually watch it, like, it, it's, it's,

J.R.: Yeah ... 

Bani: people just made that up, and that just- Yeah ... goes to show that we're- 

J.R.: That's so, that's so funny you say that. Totally agree. Okay, let's finally wrap this up.

We're almost at two hours. Sorry. I appreciate the time. Thank you so much. No, no, no, it's all good. I'm fast. Like I said, I could probably talk to you for hours and I'd, I'd have fun. But we gotta wrap this up. Ending question. So Bani, we always end with gratitude. Shout out to my mom. What are you grateful for?

Bani: Man, I am [01:35:00] grateful for Absolutely everything. I'm grateful that I had the experiences in my life and experienced it in the way that I did, even the bad things, maybe especially even the bad things. I refer back to when I mentioned that when my mom came to me before I turned 18 and told me that, oh, I had to leave the country because otherwise I would never be able to go back to America ever again.

I have to work on my citiz- citizenship outside the country, and how angry that made me and how it gave me so much despair having to detach and separate from the community that I learned to love so much and grew up with. And I look at, look back to that and, and just laugh at how I was, you know? That actually that, that's [01:36:00] all part of the narrative that I was supposed to go through.

And so as someone who is, well, I don't know how long I'll, I'll be li- I'll be alive for, but let's just say I'm in the midpoint. No, let, hold on. But I- You have 

J.R.: plenty 

Bani: of time. Yeah, yeah. I've, I've lived through three decades, and so I'm able to look back at quite a, a big amount of memories and time, and I guess I'm just grateful to be on this part of the mountain of my life and look down and see that the mistakes and the challenges that I used to look at with so much pain and anguish I'm grateful to look back at them and look at it with gratitude and be thankful that those challenges actually were a crucial part of shaping me to [01:37:00] be who I am right now.

J.R.: Hmm. I like it. All right. Do you have a final ask from the audience or any final takeaways that you'd like them to have from this conversation? 

Bani: Oh, man. J- JR's a great podcaster, interview. 

J.R.: Thanks, man. 

Bani: Yeah. I've, I've done, I've, I've done quite a few actually, and I'd say this is the one where I've been able to be most myself, because maybe it's because, you know, we both kinda grew up in the same area and, and so, I'm able to communicate more naturally in the way that I am able to.

But other than that, other than, you know, promoting One Thousand Gurus I'd also like to invite you guys if- You were curious about anything that I've talked about in terms of Filipino identity and storytelling. I invite anyone who's watching to look at some of my work. It's called The Filipino Story in all [01:38:00] social media platforms YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

It's where I, like I said, explore the meaning of what it means to be Bayani, the Filipino version of a warrior, and how that relates to the Philippine- 

J.R.: Nice. Thank you, man, and I appreciate the kind words. It means a lot to me. I think more than learning and sharing my guest's story, if my guest can have a really good experience, I think that's the most important to me.

So thank you for that. I know you just plugged the, The Filipino Story handles, but if someone wants to check out what you're up to or wants to connect possibly, where can they find you? Sure. 

Bani: So I also have, you know, obviously my personal accounts. I think I'm most active on Instagram, so I'll give you guys that.

It's my, just my full name, Bani Logroño. And there I, I, I... yeah, I just put up personal videos, photos. I'm actually [01:39:00] currently working on writing a fantasy book. So- 

J.R.: Oh, wow ... 

Bani: yeah. So- Coming back to 

J.R.: it. Yeah. 

Bani: If you recall,

J.R.: Your roots ... 

Bani: when I was- Yeah. When I was a teenager, I was thinking, "Huh, maybe I can be really rich, a billionaire like J.K.

Rowling if I make, if I write a novel." And- Yeah ... and then now after being a filmmaker for a while, I'm exploring that idea once again, and I'm actually deep into it. It's a Filipino high fantasy novel similar to Lord of the Rings but, you know, based on Filipino culture. So if you look at Lord of the Rings is based on Anglo-Saxon or Norse mythology.

This book that I'm writing is Filipino culture and Filipino mythology. So if you wanna read that in the future, then you can follow me on my personal account, Bani Logroño. And that's the last surprise that I'm gonna give in this podcast that i- in the spirit of finishing [01:40:00] narratives, I wanna finish that narrative as well of pursuing that dream of becoming an author.

J.R.: Yeah. That's awesome, man. Yeah, thanks. Thanks for that. We'll look forward to that, the, Yeah, I can't wait to... That sounds pretty exciting. I feel like something you would enjoy. Some w- quick tangent. It's like as I'm connecting with people, especially from my past, and, you know, knowing our roots, like you said as a central theme here sometimes it's like the spirit of curiosity or fun or our childhood ambitions will sometimes come back to us if we really dig deep.

And I find myself in my own personal life going back to those things where I'm like, "I was always curious about this as a kid." Like, for me personally, it's like stand-up comedy. I'm like, I've always liked making people laugh. And I remember when I was at pre-high school, I'm like, "Huh, I wonder what it would like, be like to be a stand-up comedian."

And now I'm currently doing that, like pursuing it as a hobby. But then you get some sort of joy out of going back to, like, our roots or what we th- you know, what our child versions of [01:41:00] ourselves were really like. So, that's very inspiring, so thanks for sharing, man. 

Bani: Oh, wow. That, that's so sick. I didn't know you were pursuing stand-up comedy.

Like, that's amazing. 

J.R.: Yeah, no, it's, it's it's something that I've been dabbling with as I'm wrapping up my dance era, and now I'm, like, wanna pursue this art form, something that I can just pursue with a lot of fun and joy and curiosity. So yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. But yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to the book whenever it's, it's published, man.

Bani: Awesome. Awesome. 

J.R.: Yeah. Cool. All right. So if nothing else, we will finally wrap up. Thank you again. I'll give you your shout-out and kudos, Bani, for taking the time all the way from the Philippines. I've enjoyed this. Like I mentioned, I'm, I'm genuinely would, could listen to you talk and ask you questions for hours.

So I appreciate you lending us your insights, and I know I'm gonna take a lot of notes when I edit this because I've learned so much and I need to digest some of this, and, like, and ins- and very inspired by a lot of this. So, thank you for that. I appreciate [01:42:00] it. So I'll do my sign-off to the audience.

Thank you guys for being here. I appreciate it. Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, leave us five stars on whatever platform you're listening to. Leave Bani love in the comments. And reminder to always be kind to other people, especially yourself, and remember that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen.

So thank you guys for being here. 

Bani: Nice.