Business is not just booming, it’s a bang!

They make a big bang of an impression, they land in the finale number almost all the time and make people gawk and gape in amazement. They are superstars – in the literal sense.

For more than a decade now, Starmaker, Inc. has been providing glittering stars and fireworks to high profile-showbiz events like the Mariah Carey concert at The Fort, the 2003 San Miguel Oktober Fest that featured top music acts, the StarStruck finals, the GUESS? Philharmonic in Jeans mall show series, and even Homeboy, my daily noontime show on ABS-CBN.

"When people ask what we do for a living, we say we burn other people’s money," says Starmaker, Inc. managing director Salvador "Doy" Tan. "Well, that’s the truth."

The beginnings of the company are not something to joke about though. Because many Filipinos are used to only using and seeing fireworks during New Year’s celebration and fiestas, few availed of their services beyond these occasions. People still needed to be educated about what Starmaker offers best.

"Filipinos measure the worth of fireworks shows by duration and quantity which we could easily give," says Doy. "But we also want people to appreciate what we mount as an art form." The philosophy is understandable. Starmaker, after all, is backed by Japanese (Oguchi-Fireworks Co., Ltd. and S. Mantsuna & Co., Ltd.) technology and training. And unlike Chinese, Italians, Americans and Germans (other top makers and users of pyrotechnics), Japanese savor the aerial design and intent of particular firecrackers, thus, their use of types and colors are unavailable locally.

Among the fireworks Starmaker manufactures are Saxons, Cable Rockers, Cake Fountains, Jet Sparks, Stage Mines, etc. that give off unusual colors like pink, apple green, baby blue and even fuchsia and purple upon explosion. "Filipinos are so used to just seeing silver, red and green that they think pink is just faded red or that purple is nothing more than deep blue," he says. "But like everything else in life, each has its purpose, a special use." Apart from indoor and outdoor fireworks, the company also offers confetti effects, consumer garden fireworks, air dancers and air tubes and smog machines.

Traditionally, fire crackers were used in line with the belief that the explosion drives away evil spirits or bad energy. Now, Filipinos see them more as status symbol in any occasion from weddings and national holidays to sport meets and product launchings. If the event has fireworks, then it’s sosyal. Peak season for this kind of business is from December all the way to March just before Holy Week. Sometimes demand for pyrotechnics in February even exceeds that of December and January because of numerous concerts held during this season and of course, the Chinese New Year.

"Then comes fiesta season and then weddings and then before you know it, it’s the ‘ber’ months again so really, pyrotechnics is a year-long business. We’ve never had a lull for years now," says Doy who even recalls a time when they had to mount shows at four of the metro’s top malls in one night!

Mounting a fireworks show is not as expensive as many think. For as low as P12,000 to P15,000, Starmaker could turn your occasion into, well, a blast. Doy says that their tenure in business has equipped them to know what can be done given budget constraints and location limitations.

"We’re flexible with our clients and we give them computer-generated perspectives of what they’re going to see," he says. "And we put safety above all. Even if clients have money for it, we turn down their business if what they insist on would endanger people or even premises."

On their end, a special hardware bought from the US at mint price ensures no one is required to be on site when the pyrotechnics is fired. Starmaker uses computers to electronically ignite their products at a specific time according to program or choreography. "All at a push of the button and everything is calculated and measured," says Doy.

Are there times when clients ask for the impossible? "Sometimes. Some clients base their requests on what they see in a movie and not on real firework shows. Some don’t know that what’s onscreen sometimes is actually computer enhanced and impossible to do in reality. But we educate them and usually come up with suggestions that are do-able," says Doy.

He adds: "We also do not choose music to be used for shows. Sometimes, what we think as best is not what they have in mind so it’s better if it comes from them."

Presently expanding its market to Asia, Europe, USA, Middle East and Australia, Starmaker brings internationally a harvest of achievements they have clinched through the years. In 2003, the company nabbed the top prize in the Pasiklaban Sa Bulacan fireworks contest, becoming the first non-Bulacan (Starmaker is based in Cavite) based fireworks company to accomplish this. Starmaker also has an Award For Excellence as Pyrotechnics Manufacturer of the Year given by the Philippine National Police (PNP). They also participated in the 13th Macau International Fireworks Contest in 2001.

"The award from PNP is very special to us because it is testament to the quality of our products and our excellent adherence to safety," says Doy. The company is on commission by SM Mall of Asia to stage firework shows on Fridays and Saturdays.

For Starmaker, business is indeed not just booming – it’s a bang!