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Mighty Robo V

A documentary crew covers the Philippine Giant Monster Defense Institute's Mighty Robo V program, the Philippines’ only line of defense against Giant Monsters. The crew captures the struggles of the Institute, revealing that maybe the wrong people were hired for the job.

  • Miko Livelo
    Director
    Blue Bustamante (2013), I Love You to Death (2016), 'Tol (2019), Unlilife (2019)
  • Mihk Vergara
    Director
    Patintero: The Legend of Meng the Loser (2015)
  • Miko Livelo
    Writer
  • Mihk Vergara
    Writer
  • April Batican
    Producer
    Mina-Anud (2019)
  • Miko Livelo
    Producer
  • Mihk Vergara
    Producer
  • GB Labrador
    Key Cast
    "Dr. Benhur 'Rody' Rodriguez"
  • Aryn Cristobal
    Key Cast
    "Lani 'Laser' Panganiban"
  • James Caraan
    Key Cast
    "Johnny Boy Valderrama"
  • Nami Onuma
    Key Cast
    "Sachiko Yamamoto"
  • Rachel Coates
    Key Cast
    "Alexa Buenaventura"
  • Red Ollero
    Key Cast
    "Jergens Martelino"
  • Macoy Averilla
    Key Cast
    "Lance Samonte"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Mockumentary
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes 17 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 10, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    English, Japanese, Tagalog
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • QCinema International Film Festival
    Quezon City
    Philippines
    November 27, 2021
    World Premiere
    Shorts Official Selection, Audience Choice Award
  • Fantasia International Film Festival
    Montreal
    Canada
    July 23, 2022
    International Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Miko Livelo, Mihk Vergara

MIKO LIVELO is a Filipino film and TV director. After studying Fine Arts majoring in Advertising from the University of Sto. Tomas, he took up Film at the Asia Pacific Film Institute (APFI).
He started his career as a motion graphics artist and soon directed his first film, Blue Bustamante (2013), his entry to the Cinema One Film Festival, where it won Best Production Design. The film premiered internationally at the Osaka Asian Film Festival.
In 2014, together with filmmaker Joel Ferrer, Miko established the company PUNCHKICK, where he wrote and directed series, ads and films. His most famous series is Tanods, a digital series under D5 Studio about a ragtag group of neighborhood watch. He also directed Sa Ngalan ni Ultimate Warrior (In the Name of Ultimate Warrior), a short film for the QCinema International Film Festival 2014 about a kid’s love for wrestling.
He joined The Ideafirst Company shortly after and directed #ParangNormal Activity (2016, TV5) and I Love You To Death (2016, Regal films). He recently finished directing two films, a friendship-comedy film, ‘Tol (2019) and Unlilife (2019), a fantasy-comedy adventure film.
His filmmaking is based on his personal experiences wrapped in humor, family and love for Japanese pop culture.

MIHK VERGARA is a Filipino writer and director for tv, digital and film since 2004. While having dipped his hands in advertising, music video, tv and film it is his love for telling stories that continues to drive him forward in whatever medium he finds himself expressing himself in. 
Over the course of his career he has served as series planner and writer for the mystery thriller show Jasmine for the Philippine Network TV5, head writer for Project Runway Philippines Season 1, series planner, episode writer and director on the cult underground show, Rakista, and director for the children’s show, Alex and Amie.
A fan of collaboration, he has co-directed two shorts with his fellow filmmakers: the drama-comedy, Ang Maskot with Chris Costello and the special effects comedy, Carpioman with Miko Livelo. He has also helped adapt the South Korean drama, Tunnel, for the Indonesian market under Base Entertainment with Zig Marasigan and Tanya Yuson.
His first feature film, Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo, won the Audience Choice and Gender Sensitivity awards when it was released in 2015 at the QCinema International Film Festival and was screened at the Special Programs, New Action! Southeast Asia section of the Osaka Asian Film Festival in 2017. His latest work is writing for the Netflix Original Anime Series, Trese.

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Director Statement

In our many collaborations, we’ve always worn our Japanese Special Effects Cinema influences on our sleeves. From Sentai to Tokusatsu and Kaiju, we’ve we like deconstructing them: breaking down what we love into core elements and parts and rebuilding it to be a more down to earth Filipino version of themselves. While Mighty Robo V is still most definitely that, another more direct inspiration birthed its creation: the state of our nation.

While most Power Rangers-like shows focus on the action, costumes, and set pieces, we chose to focus on the whole endeavor as an organization. And like any organization in human history – they have flaws. That is where we believe both the heart and humor in Mighty Robo V will come from. As a mockumentary, the characters are more believable and relatable.

The comically absurd levels of how our country has been mismanaged moved us to find a way to process our emotions about that. It turns out that way is by treating sentai and ranger tropes as a blue collar, workman-like affair, allowing itself to be skewered in the way office culture was skewered in The Office, or the way family is skewered in Arrested Development. Thus, a mockumentary that calls out the failings of an organization and how systemic failings make it hard for even the best of intentions affect real change.

Mighty Robo V, like most of our work, is simultaneously a send up and love letter to the things we love, filtered through a comedic lens.

At its heart Mighty Robo V is a story about a bunch of people trying to do their best solving problems they inherited and will not be able to fix in their own lifetime.