FilAm CreatorCon debuted last year and was such a success that organizers moved it to a new venue this year to accommodate twice as many vendors and panels.
Aaron Nabus envisioned the event as a space to celebrate and empower Filipino American creators, build community and encourage cultural awareness for years to come.
"We hope to build a community that promotes solidarity, awareness and representation of Filipino Americans in the arts so that FilAm creators can thrive," Nabus said.
And San Diego, especially the South Bay, provides the perfect location.
"We have a long history of the military being here, and a lot of our fathers were in the Navy, coming from the Philippines," Nabus explained. "So the community has sprouted up around San Diego — down south, east and now up north. There's just a huge population boom of Filipino Americans in San Diego. So with that said, we thought we were at a good opportunity to create a space for Filipino American creators to showcase the work and for us to promote and celebrate them."
This year, Nabus partnered with the Chula Vista Public Library's Civic Center Branch, with 10% of all exhibitor sales to be donated to its foundation, Friends of the Chula Vista Library, to help with literacy initiatives.
Nabus has hosted panels for Keithan Jones' Black Comix Day, a San Diego convention that celebrates Black creators.
"Keithan Jones's Black Comix Day was definitely an inspiration," Nabus said. "It showed me that it was possible to have something like this come to fruition. I've always had something like this in the back of my head ever since I learned that the hero in 'Starship Troopers' — in the book — was actually Filipino. When I finally learned that was the case, my mind was blown. So ever since I learned that, and all the times I've gone to Comic-Con and seen a wealth of Filipino American talent that's there, I thought, what if I pull those people together? I've done a podcast for the last few years. I've gotten to know the community. There's a lot of community organizers here in San Diego. So we just pulled our resources together, and we made it happen. This is our second year. It's incredible. I'm so excited."
Last year, FilAm CreatorCon was at the National City Library, and organizers almost immediately realized they would need a bigger venue. The Chula Vista Library will allow the event to host 40 artist exhibitors — more than double last year's number — plus six community tables, at least 16 panels, food and maybe even live music.
Artist Arthur N. Ebuen helped organize last year's event.
"I met Aaron on a podcast to talk about my comic," Ebuen recalled. "Then it came up, and it just fascinated me that he was trying to find a way to bring light to Filipino American creators. I don't think we have much of that representation outside of maybe small bits of us that are in conventions. But having a convention dedicated to Filipinos and Filipino American creators — specifically creative folks, not just comics, but radio, music, acting, all of it, anything in a creative space — I had a big smile. I was like, Aaron, if there's anything I could do to help, let me know. And he invited me to be part of the committee for the inaugural year. It was a lot of work, but we all pulled it off. It's a great thing."
This year Ebuen is reducing his duties to being only being a vendor and panelist.
"I'm actually doing a panel with a buddy of mine, Patrick Ballesteros," Ebuen said. "We'll be sharing some interactive drawing with the audience. It's purely to empower the younger generation. In our culture, usually anything with the arts, especially in the beginning, is very celebrated. Then as you get older... it's a great hobby. I want to take the word 'hobby' out of there. It's a passion, and the passion can become a profession. My whole career has been surrounded in the arts. I was an animator for 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama.' My house was paid for by my creative career. So it's not a pipe dream. It's totally within reach. And if we can not just empower the young generation but also show their respective parents that it's completely practical and it's attainable, then it could open up their horizons a little more. And if we could do that through showing two successful artists on stage, having fun with younger folks and then even be able to answer some of those questions with parents later, we'll be glad to do that for sure."
Zard Apuya missed out on vending last year, so he signed up for emails to make sure he could be part of this year's show.
"These events are exactly what I try to look for," Apuya said. "I'm originally from Guam, and it's 25 to 30 percent Filipino. But moving to the mainland, especially California, you always try to gravitate toward the Filipino communities because these are people you understand and who understand you. You have a lot in common. So with the creative community, specifically, this is where you get to see other Filipinos and how they to portray our culture in all different means. So I feel like this specific convention with FilAm CreatorCon is the perfect space. I'm all about building a community and meeting new artists, creators. So I'm excited to be part of it for the first time this year."
Apuya described himself as "a toy artist, but also a sculptor. Specifically, what I do as an artist, I customize figurines, customize toys, but also sculpt, hand paint, everything myself. I specifically found what my niche is, and it's on the food side. So I do food art. It's like food figurines. So it's inspired by the food culture in general — popular brands, restaurants. But I found a way to apply my culture into it. So if you see all the the art I've done, you see Filipino food represented many times in all forms. The cool thing is it doesn't go bad."
He enjoys seeing how his art prompts people to share food memories, so he plans to bring lots of Filipino food-inspired art to FilAm CreatorCon on Saturday.
"I want people to have that reaction when they visit my booth," Apuya said. "I remember eating that as a kid, or I love that, or it reminds me of the Philippines, reminds me of home. It reminds me of what my mom and grandma used to make. I always like that emotional aspect of it, and that's why I like creating these kinds of food art."
While Apuya has found his niche, Ebuen is expanding his interests and adding more writing.
"My main focus right now is pushing out my story called '©alifornia, Inc.,'" Ebuen explained. "The quick logline is: In the near future, California becomes a corporate country with factions that shaped a new nation. It's a four-issue miniseries. I wrote it back in 2017. I didn't illustrate it, although I'm an illustrator by trade. I focused on writing. I met my illustrative friend Dave Law back in 2021, and we got the first issue out in 2023. We just finished the final issue, the fourth issue, a few months ago. It's nice to have the full set complete. Since those two years, I've been working on meeting more creators and I'm now collaborating with a lot more on some other projects that I'm working on at this moment. So we have a Kickstarter for an anthology called 'Systemic' right now that's actually live, and it's doing really well."
One new addition this year will be films.
"One thing that we're going to take advantage of here at the library is their auditorium," Nabus said. "We're going to screen a couple of short films this year. The first one we will be highlighting is one by Megan Reyes. She's a host for the San Diego Wave. Her movie is called 'Between Two Worlds.' It's her experience going to the Philippines and learning about how soccer is over there and how it relates to back and forth between here and the States. And the second one is 'Revolt x Kismet,' a music video from the Tsunami Brothers. We're looking forward to that as well."
FilAm CreatorCon 2025 takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m at the Chula Vista Library Civic Center Branch, 365 F St., Chula Vista. Admission is free, but organizers request that attendees register for a ticket so they can gauge attendance.
Last year's event was fabulous, but be prepared to spend some money on art because there is so much that you will want to take home. And the food will also tempt you.
