In the Director's Chair: Jeorge Agcaoili’s Journey to Arcade

m25 premium network Founders Series is an initiative to highlight the journeys of today’s leaders. Pivotal moments, mentors, and breakthroughs that shaped their paths. Each story offers candid lessons on resilience, creativity, and leadership in an increasingly tech-driven world. Jeorge leverages cutting-edge technology and storytelling to redefine the film and advertising landscape from his home in Manila. Over to you Jeorge:

My dad loved action films, and that passion was passed on to me early. At five years old, I was already tagging along to the movies. Then in high school, one of my close friends was the son of the late, legendary director, Peque Gallaga. We’d hang out on his sets and occasionally get roped in as extras. That’s when it hit me: Making movies wasn’t just a dream. It started to feel very real and I felt it was something I would really love to pursue.

Since then, I’ve always been drawn to visual storytelling, so taking up Fine Arts in UP felt like a natural choice. While I was in college, I joined an interschool competition where some of the judges were big names in advertising Emily Abrera and Teeny Gonzales. It was my first real conversation with people from the industry, and their encouragement (plus an invite to join their agency!) played a big part in shaping my path. Not long after graduating, I started my career at McCann, where I spent the next ten years working my way up to Creative Director.

While I was at the agency, I had the opportunity to work on some major brands at the time Coca-Cola, Globe Telecom, to name a few. Although I enjoyed creating ads for these clients, the idea of becoming a film director was always in the back of my mind. To move closer to that goal, I started volunteering as a storyboard artist for seasoned filmmakers, hoping to understand how they think, how they approach a scene, and how they bring ideas to life.

When I first began directing, I chose to freelance for a few years so I could build good connections and collaborate with a wide range of production teams. That period was invaluable; it gave me a deeper understanding of the craft and the people behind it. Eventually, I took on a role as an in-house director, where I stayed for over a decade, honing my skills and leading a variety of projects for clients like Nestle, Unilab, Smart Telco, Universal Robina, Coca-cola, among others.

Shifting from agency life to production work was a major adjustment. The mindset needed for generating ideas is completely different from the focus and precision required to bring them to life. On the agency side, you rarely see the grind behind execution, but going through it taught me a lot. Still, my agency roots sharpened my eye and made me more intentional as a director.

Along the way, I began to recognize the kind of collaborators I wanted to surround myself with; people who shared the same drive for excellence and could consistently deliver at the level I aspired to. I also became more intentional about how I wanted to run a project from the first meeting to the final cut. That growing desire to work with like-minded individuals who cared just as deeply about craft and quality ultimately pushed me to start my own production company.

When we started Arcade, we were fuelled by our passion and the support of industry peers who believed in what we were building. It felt like we were on the right track. Then the pandemic hit and uncertainty took over. Everything stopped. But we stayed grounded, looked after our people, and kept ourselves ready. So when the world slowly turned back on, we hit the ground running. Since then, we’ve brought hundreds of projects to life, grown our team, and picked up a few awards along the way, proof of the heart, hustle, and craft we pour into everything we do.

That said, the journey has never been without its challenges. Even after producing hundreds of campaigns, I still find myself in tough spots pushed to think differently and go beyond the expected. One instance of that was our Mitsubishi X-Force campaign. We didn’t want to make just another car ad, so we leaned into a more stylized approach using LED screens and CGI to create something fresh. It was a gruelling undertaking with tight timelines, but my team and I could not be more proud of how it turned out.

We’ve also started exploring new territory. Beyond advertising, we’re making bold moves into entertainment turning dream projects into real plans. It’s just the beginning, but we’re showing the world we’re here to make our mark.

So much has changed since I first stepped into this industry tighter budgets, faster timelines, and more platforms than ever. But it’s made us more resilient and resourceful. Through it all, one thing hasn’t changed: our belief in the heart of the story and our commitment to telling it with craft, care, and quality.