Why 2026 Is the Year You Finally Start Filming

January always feels personal. It’s not just a new month—it’s a quiet confrontation with ourselves. New calendars, new planners, new posts about “starting fresh.” And somewhere between all that noise is a familiar thought: “This is the year I finally take filmmaking seriously.”

If you’re here on The Film Dream, that thought probably hasn’t left you alone. Maybe it’s been following you since high school, since your first short film idea that never made it past your Notes app. Maybe it started when you realized you watch movies differently than everyone else—paying attention to silence, framing, and the way a scene makes you feel long after it ends.

I didn’t begin with a camera or a plan. I began with a phone and a moment. I was stuck in traffic on a jeepney when a vendor hopped on, sang a few lines, collected a few coins, and disappeared before the light turned green. I recorded without thinking. When I watched it later, the shot was shaky, the audio was messy but it felt alive. It felt like a story that would disappear if no one bothered to notice it.

That’s when it hit me: filmmaking doesn’t start when you’re “ready.” It starts when you pay attention.

Filipino life is overflowing with stories, and most of them aren’t loud or dramatic. They’re subtle. A parent coming home late. A sibling leaving for work abroad. Kids playing on the street before the sun fully sets. Conversations during brownouts, when everyone slows down because there’s nothing else to do. These moments don’t look cinematic at first glance, but they carry truth—and truth is what lasts.

For a long time, I thought films had to look foreign to be good. Clean locations, flawless English, perfect lighting. But the more films I watched, the more I realized the stories that stayed with me sounded familiar. They were imperfect, emotional, and sometimes uncomfortable. They felt Filipino not because they tried to be, but because they were. 

Filmmaking is not a title you earn after years of validation. It’s not something someone gives you. The moment you start filming—anything—you’re already a filmmaker. You don’t need a “real” camera. You don’t need a big crew. You don’t even need confidence. Confidence comes later, after the mistakes, after the awkward first attempts, after you finish something and realize you survived it.

And yes, your first films will probably be bad. Mine were. Bad framing, bad sound, bad pacing. I wanted to delete them all. But those films taught me how to see, how to listen, and how to finish. They taught me that embarrassment is temporary, but not starting at all is something you carry much longer.

2026 doesn’t need to be the year you go viral or win awards. It can simply be the year you stop waiting. Use the new year energy, but don’t depend on motivation. Motivation fades quickly. What stays is the habit of showing up, writing scenes even when they feel small, filming moments even when they feel ordinary, finishing projects even when they’re imperfect.

If you’re young and Filipino, your voice matters more than you think. Our stories are still being shaped, and too often they’re told by people looking in from the outside. You don’t have to represent the entire country. You just have to be honest about your corner of it.

So start now. Film your family. Film your street. Film your silence, your confusion, your joy. Film with whatever you have in your hands. One day, someone will watch your work and feel seen and you’ll realize that starting was the most important decision you made.

Make 2026 the year you stop dreaming about filmmaking and finally start filming.

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Reel Talk with Ken

Kenneth John Luna is the Creative Director at The Film Dream Studios where he spearheads innovative and purpose-driven content across diverse platforms.

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