We’ve been consuming a lot more content since the pandemic left us housebound. Filmmakers are streaming their films on YouTube and similar platforms, giving us hours of entertainment. 

But how is the entertainment industry itself doing?

Adolfo Alix Jr., the award-winning film director behind films like Mater Dolorosa and Circa, says that the virus has left entertainment workers vulnerable. Many of them work on a per-project basis, with none of the usual benefits regular employees have.

In this episode, the director tells reporter Zsarlene B. Chua how COVID-19 is changing the way films and shows are shot. He also pays tribute to actor Anita Linda, who passed away this June at the age of 95. 

Recorded remotely on June 20.

According to James Lette, executive director of Manila Angel Investors Network, much of the Philippine startup ecosystem is close to the point of bankruptcy or closure. 

"A collapse in consumer demand, an inability to provide services during the Extended Community Quarantine period, and soaring corporate late payment rates as cash flows tighten have significantly affected startup revenues and compressed their runways. A generation of Filipino startups could be wiped out without further specialized liquidity support," he wrote in a column for SparkUp, BusinessWorld’s news and knowledge-sharing hub for Philippine startups.  

In this episode of B-Side, Mr. Lette expands on his piece and speaks with SparkUp editor Santiago J. Arnaiz about why and how the Philippine startup ecosystem must be saved. "Without action, the Philippines will be left behind, and startups domiciled in other ASEAN countries will capture our home market," Mr. Lette said, as he called for the "establishment of a blended finance facility to issue bridging finance, alongside private sector funds, in the form of convertible loans, to technology startups impacted by COVID-19."    

Recorded remotely on June 15. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

The local fitness industry was booming before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with international chains and small fitness studios popping up to satisfy the demand for health and wellness. 

When the country was placed under lockdown to contain the pandemic, the industry — which relies on foot traffic —  ground to a halt. 

In this episode, Gab Pangalangan, marketing manager of UFC Gym Philippines, fitness coach and founder of combat sports website Dojo Drifter, talks to BusinessWorld sports reporter Mike Murillo about the impact COVID-19 has had on the industry, how gyms are dealing with it, and what lies ahead for them in the “new normal.”

They discuss why gyms see themselves as essential businesses and how digital is the way to go — even for a “high-touch” industry like physical fitness.

Recorded remotely on May 15. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

Without a sentinel surveillance system, tech entrepreneurs Paul Rivera and Danny Castonguay believe that the country is flying blind when it comes to the coronavirus outbreak. "We're just guessing. And guessing is a dangerous game when people's lives are at stake," said Mr. Castonguay.

Those who are tasked with protecting us need reliable numbers and a way to process those numbers in order to identify trends and get ahead of the virus. According to the World Health Organization, a sentinel surveillance system is used when high-quality data are needed about a particular disease. It can be used to monitor and detect when and where an outbreak starts, and, in the context of COVID-19, provide information that can be used as the basis for targeted lockdowns.

Mr. Rivera and Mr. Castonguay are behind COVID Sentinel AI, a platform that can help policymakers and business leaders make informed decisions using self-reported data. Available in Tagalog, with several other dialects on the way, COVID Sentinel AI is mobile-friendly and can be accessed on any device; it also provides an easy way for system administrators to follow up. 

Compared to e-mail and spreadsheets (the tools that many companies are relying on to monitor the health of their employees), COVID Sentinel AI is more secure and robust. "It's the easiest and most critical way to get population data on how our employees are doing, how they are feeling, and whether or not we need to isolate individual populations in individual groups and individual teams that may be showing symptoms of COVID,"  said Mr. Rivera, who added that the sentinel platform gives companies the means to process data they are already collecting (think of temperature checks — where does that information go and how is it aggregated?). 

In this episode, recorded remotely on April 28, the founders of COVID Sentinel AI explain the advantages of using a sentinel surveillance system to BusinessWorld reporter Gillian Cortez. 

Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

Bain & Company, a management consulting firm based in the United States, said that the Philippines might benefit in global efforts to diversify supply chains and focus on business process outsourcing to cope with the economic decline brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year was a challenging year for private equity firms in Southeast Asia, with deal value slipping to $12 billion from $14 billion a year ago. Alessandro Cannarsi, a partner at Bain, said the pandemic may turn the tide in favor of countries like the Philippines.

In this episode, Mr. Cannarsi speaks with BusinessWorld reporter Denise Valdez about the country’s prospects in tech-driven sectors. He reminds us that in the past five years, private equity firms that generated the best returns were those that kept investing during the down cycle.

To attract private-equity firms into the country, the Bain partner recommended enhancing corporate governance standards, on the company level, and increasing transparency on deal flows, on the country level.

Recorded remotely on May 4. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.  

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the key to helping the Philippine economy get back on its feet. Without sufficient technology and automation in place, high-touch human operations are paralyzed. As the world recovers, it will require a re-imagination of human and business processes to future-proof against the next crisis.

In this episode, BusinessWorld reporter Jenina Ibanez speaks with Dong Shou, co-founder and chief operating officer of  ADVANCE.AI, an artificial intelligence and big-data company headquartered in Singapore.

They talk about optical character recognition (OCR), facial recognition, natural language processing, along with big data analysis, and how these AI technologies can help businesses thrive in a post-pandemic world. 

Instead of fearing digital transformation, businesses must embrace it. "Digital transformation is a process. It takes time. You don’t have to go from the beginning to the end in one big step. You can take small steps along the way to your big goal," says Mr. Shou.

And reaching that goal requires infrastructure, government support, and increased data security. It also calls for the upskilling of human beings, who can leave rote tasks to machines in favor of endeavors that need more creativity and critical thinking.

Recorded remotely on April 20. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

Health experts are still learning how the coronavirus attacks the human body. What they do know is that COVID-19 is a serious infectious disease that hits multiple organs, most commonly the lungs — which are called “ground zero” of the disease. From there, the virus can spread to a patient's heart, kidneys, and brain.

In areas of the world where there is a lack of adequate access to testing, imaging techniques — such as a chest X-ray — can help in diagnosing the disease.

Lifetrack Medical Systems, a health-tech startup that replaces legacy software and allows radiologists to remotely view and medical diagnoses, partnered with Antique’s local government and offered its technology for free to hospitals and clinics serving as COVID-19 triaging and referral centers.

Carl Nicholas Ng, COO of Lifetrack, explains to BusinessWorld reporter Charmaine Tadalan how this service is vital in the Philippines, where there are only about 1,000 radiologists in a country of more than a hundred million people.

Recorded remotely on April 29. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

COVID-19 has exposed how fragile the agriculture sector is. Local farmers are among the hardest hit by the pandemic and the protracted crisis is putting a strain on the country's food supply chains. Magsasaka Party-List Representative Argel Joseph T. Cabatbat and BusinessWorld reporter Genshen L. Espedido talk about the consequences of the delays in modernizing our rice farms and why we should aim for food sovereignty in the long-term.

Recorded remotely on April 28. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

The COVID-19 pandemic ended a 21-year growth streak in the Philippine economy as strict lockdown measures aimed at containing the coronavirus outbreak brought economic activity to a near standstill. 

Shortly after Q1 GDP data was released in early May, Research Head Leo Uy asked Geoffrey Ducanes, an Associate Professor at the Ateneo de Manila University Department of Economics, and Sarah Lynne Salvador Daway-Ducanes, an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines School of Economics, to break down the data to see how the first two weeks of lockdown affected the Philippine economy.

After parsing the numbers, they also shared their outlook for the second quarter and beyond. Both agree that it’s going to be a long, tough road to recovery: Q2 is probably going to be worse than Q1, as the numbers will reflect the brunt of the lockdown. 

Recorded remotely on May 14. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.

After two months in lockdown, Philippine cities are slowly opening up to a new reality, 

Management consulting firm McKinsey and Company recently released a report titled “Beyond coronavirus: The path to the next normal” that defined this “new reality,” this “next normal” as a time when “we will witness a dramatic restructuring of the economic and social order in which business and society have traditionally operated.” 

In this episode, Kristine Romano, managing partner of McKinsey Philippines elaborates on this report and applies it to the Philippine context. She tells BusinessWorld reporter Jenina Ibanez how the country’s business leaders might navigate the COVID-19 crisis and find an economically and socially viable path to the next normal. 

Recorded remotely on April 28. Produced by Nina M. Diaz, Paolo L. Lopez, and Sam L. Marcelo.