“You just pray hard that everything goes well,” says Doy Tan, top honcho of Starmaker, the country’s No. 1 fireworks and special effects supplier. Doy was in Beijing, China as consultant to Team Australia which participated in the Beijing Fireworks Competition. Team Starmaker and Team Australia went home with the third prize. They were rained out, threatened by thunderstorm and attacked by strong gusty winds which marred what could have been a perfect fireworks execution. “Everything got wet. We had difficulty setting up our fireworks because of the rains. Some of our fireworks did not light. Imagine if everything went well, we could have won either first or second prize.”
Doy and his team lit the fireworks from the barge docked at sea in Qinhuangdao, a beautiful coastal city known for its nice and ice-free port, and where the eastern end of the Great Wall of China is located. Hong Kong went home with the first prize and China, second. The fireworks competition is seen as a prelude to next year’s Olympic Games which will be held in Beijing. “More than the prize money, participants to the competition ‘kill’ for prestige. In the Beijing Fireworks competition, a member of the Olympic committee was one of the judges. So there is a possibility that some of the winners will have the chance to showcase their fireworks expertise during the Olympics in 2008,” he says.
Doy and his crew are now in Macau to participate in the 19th Macau International Fireworks Contest. Starmaker is scheduled to compete on Sept. 25. It has prepared an 18-minute fireworks display choreographed to music. Before Doy and his team left, they made an offering to Sta. Clara to give them good weather. “Prayer helps. That’s the only thing that you can do when you are right there in the field and you are ready to light the fireworks. You pray hard that everything goes well.”
Apart from divine intervention, Doy says, so much preparation is put each time they join a competition. At their fireworks factory in Cavite, fireworks to be used during competitions are being tried and tested, evaluated and sampled for its design, creativity and effectiveness. Once he thought of showcasing them at the SM Mall of Asia where Starmaker mounts spectacular fireworks every Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. He abandoned the idea and instead had his staff view the fireworks in his factory.
Since fireworks are choreographed to music, Doy says a good script is a must. No loose ends. “Have a good script, have a good script, and have a good script,” he says. Has there been an instance when a firework that is about to be lit did not light at all? “Oh yes! There is always a factor of human error. Fireworks are made by hand, and it’s set up also by hand. But as professionals, we try our best to minimize all these mistakes to zero. There are no take twos. You will get booed.” Doy reveals that inside the competition field, tension permeates in the air. “It’s like being a performer. You also develop stage fright. You get goose bumps. And you pray.”
Getting through international fireworks competition is a tough game. There are, he says, varying qualifications for you to be able to enter such. “In Macau for example, you have to be a fireworks manufacturer. Beijing and Macau competitions are both pyromusicals where fireworks are choreographed to music. Some contests are sponsored by the host government. In Macau, the government pays for the shipping of your equipment, airfare and accommodations for the technicians.”
Starmaker will be in competition against Kimbolton Fireworks Ltd. from the UK; Hanwha Corp. from Korea; Five Star Fireworks from Australia; San Tai Fireworks Ind. Co., Ltd from Taiwan; Grupo Luso Pirotecnia from Portugal; Illumination Internationale Ltd. from the US; Marutamaya Ogatsu Fireworks Co., Ltd from Japan; Artifices JCO SA from France; and Hunan Xintiancheng Fireworks Manufacturing Co. Ltd. from China.
Teams usually spend a lot of money to make great fireworks. “Sometimes, the prize money does not equal the time and effort spent in the preparation. It’s for the prestige and honor one brings to one’s country. And when you hear the applause, lahat ng pagod mo nawawala,” he says.
Competition is nothing new to Doy and his Starmaker team. In the local front, Starmaker is the only non-Bulacan manufacturer which won in the 2003, Pasiklaban sa Bulacan Fireworks Contest. It was presented the Award of Excellence by the Philippine National Police as Pyrotechnics Manufacturer of the Year. It was also given the Safety Award by the PNP Civil Security Group.
Starmaker was established in 1995 and is backed by Japanese technology. It manufactures outdoor fireworks (aerial fireworks display during holidays, weddings, concerts, fiestas and music events), indoor fireworks (waterfall fireworks, cable rockets, crackling fountains, flash bombs, jet sparks, etc.), confetti effects of different colors (confetti bombs, cannons, streamer cannons and disposable confetti cannons), garden fireworks, air dancers and air tubes and consumer fireworks used during New Year celebrations. Starmaker regularly provides fireworks display for special occasions such as the largest millennium celebration in the Philippines held at Fort Bonifacio, Global City. The SM Super Malls, The Podium, UniLab, Pfizer, SGV, Globe, Smart, PLDT are among the fireworks and special effects clients of Starmaker. It is also the fireworks and special effects supplier of GMA 7. Starmaker exports fireworks to its Asian neighbors, Europe, Middle East and Australia.