During the height of the ABS-CBN shut down in May of 2020, the now-National Artist for Film, Sir Ricky Lee, told us in his online scriptwriting workshop that the abolition of the broadcasting giant amid a public health crisis was an unprecedented feat that bares comparison to the Martial Law era.

A third of the network’s news workforce was laid off, legacy services were shut down, and productions had to be delayed or postponed indefinitely in the interest of cost-cutting. Before the workshop ended, Sir Ricky reminded us that the so-called “Golden Ages” of film and television typically arrive during or after times of crisis and political instability, conveying to us, with an unabashed glint of optimism, to chin up and do what artists have always done: prevail.