BA Documentary “Box City” wins 1st place in San Francisco Press Club’s Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards

San Francisco Press Club’s outgoing president, Antonia Ehlers
(center) with the Box City team (L-R) Jon Santos, Jeremiah Ysip,
 Henni Espinosa, and Mike Carrion.

A distressing design of cardboard roofs and plywood floors hunched and cramped beneath the majestic backdrop of San Francisco’s glossy high-rise apartments, sparkling condominiums, and million-dollar homes is captured in BA’s documentary, Box City. It is also an encampment that many homeless in the community call home.

Box City won 1st place, besting AJ+, in the TV/Video Documentary category of San Francisco Press Club’s 41st Annual Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards. The team behind Box City – Producer/Writer Henni Espinosa; Director of Photography Jeremiah Ysip; Cameraman Patrick Luna; Editor Jon Santos; and Graphic Designer Mike Carrion were awarded certificates of excellence for their notable work.

Have a Shaka Saturday spent at ASAP in Honolulu!

In just a few days, the island will witness the biggest gathering of over 30 of the brightest celebrities from the Philippines when ASAP, the longest running, top-rated weekly Filipino musical variety show, takes place at the Blaisdell Center this Saturday, June 30, 2018.

An ASAP in Honolulu ticket guarantees the holder entrance to the ASAP Marketplace where one can enjoy food, drinks, games, prizes and a lot of engaging activities, starting at 10:00 A.M. All these pre-show activities will be at the Neal S. Blaisdell Exhibition Place.

TFC Bags Back-to-Back Wins at the 2018 Regional EMMY® Awards

TFC nabs two awards at the 47th Annual Northern California EMMY® Awards held recently at the SF Jazz Center.

TFC bested KTVU Fox 2, KRCB in Sonoma County, and Hawaii News Now (KGMB) when “Box City,” an original Balitang America documentary, won in the Public/ Current/ Community Affairs – Program/Special – English category. The documentary tells the story of homeless Filipinos, who built their small homes made of cardboard and plywood, living in an encampment they call Box City.

Box City was produced by the same team behind the EMMY® award-winning documentary “The Filipino Champions of SOMA,” that won the regional EMMY® for the same category five years ago: Overall In-Charge of Production Olivia De Jesus and John Lazatin; Producer, Writer and Host Henni Espinosa; Director of Photography Jeremiah Ysip; Editor Jon Santos; and Graphics Artist Mike Carrion. Patrick Luna was asked on board to provide drone shots and additional video.

ABS-CBN TFC’s BA, Adobo Nation, Henni Espinosa and Jeremiah Ysip nab program and individual nominations at the 47th Annual NorCal Emmys

The 47th Annual Northern California Area EMMY® Award Nominations were announced today and ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel (TFC) received four nominations in both program and individual categories.

ABS-CBN TFC’s daily news show BA, the magazine talk show Adobo Nation, ABS-CBN North & Latin America News Desk Editor Henni Espinosa and Director of Photography Jeremiah Ysip were all recognized by the 2018 NorCal Emmys. 

Ontario’s Premier Visits First Jollibee in Toronto

Jollibee’s first Toronto location continues to draw crowds out the door, with non-Filipinos joining the mix to see what the hype is all about.

Even Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne paid a visit, greeted by Filipino community leaders, Jollibee’s North America President Jose “Pepot” Minana, and none other than a jolly red bee.

Community Screening for BA Original Doc “Lost & Found” Prompts the Discussion on Adoption

A special screening for the BA original documentary “Lost & Found” was held Thursday night at the TFC Studio. Representatives from local government, media, and the community saw the story of orphans from the Philippines being adopted by families from an unlikely community in the snow-covered mountains of Montana.

“Lost & Found” moved the audience. Esther Misa-Chavez of the Inquirer shared that “It’s touching. It’s a human story. For them (the children), the transition must have been difficult emotionally, physically. It was an eye-opener.”

Filipinos Find the Warmth of Family in the Snow-Covered Rocky Mountains in this BA Original Documentary

“These are difficult times in America right now. The country seems divided on certain issues, hate crimes are so common, but it was refreshing to see how people here are so open and willing to help someone in need.” This is what BA Correspondent Steve Angeles noticed when he spent several days in Bozeman, Montana while filming “Lost & Found.”

“Lost & Found” is the latest BA Original Documentary and it presents the stories of children who were orphaned in their home country, and who have found welcoming homes and their new forever families in a snow-covered community in the Rocky Mountains of Montana.

BA Gets Winner Status in Media Newser Philippines’ Authoritative List

Still exuberant after a full year of delivering the news on its 15th year of service to the Filipino American and Filipino Canadian communities across North America, BA was just recently in the news for making it to Media Newser Philippines’ list of 2017 wins.

Media Newser Philippines or MNP is an independent media news website which covers the Philippine television news industry, specifically ABS-CBN News, GMA News, News5, and CNN Philippines.

BA Executive Producer Troy Espera stresses that “while BA’s mission is to empower and connect Filipinos throughout North America through news that affects us here, we know that there’s value to sharing these same stories with viewers in the Philippines.” Espera recognizes the global relevance and impact of the stories they tell on BA. He adds that “anyone back home who catches BA on any of ABS-CBN News’ TV or digital platforms can get a taste of the issues, the struggles, and the triumphs involving our kababayan in this part of the world.

ABS-CBN TFC’s BA Honored With 3 Telly Awards

The news team of Balitang America (BA) –- a daily news show produced by ABS-CBN International for The Filipino Channel (TFC) -- was recognized for its original news and lifestyle reporting, at the 38th Annual Telly Awards.

The Telly Awards honors the best productions in TV, film and digital around the world.

Awarded in the news category is BA‘s team coverage of the U.S. Presidential elections last November.