WITH
TONY DE LA CRUZ
TREATMENT DRAFT 1
AUG 7, 2019
SYNOPSIS
Having retired from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) after 18 years, Filipino-American former professional basketball player, Tony de la Cruz, is not just the current Assistant Coach for the Alaska Aces, but more importantly, he is also a refuge for basketball players, their fans, and people in general, seeking help in overcoming depression, personal issues, and other life challenges, as a certified life coach.
“My goal is to share stories of triumph through struggle. We all struggle and should not hide from it. Let’s explore it, call it out, grow and thrive.”
De la Cruz is perfect for the job. Not only has he gone through his own bout of deep depression, and survived in order to help others who find themselves in the same predicament; but also, he is approachable, articulate and well-liked by both the basketball players and their fans.
Because of this fervent desire to help others, de la Cruz, together with Kurrent Multimedia Productions, has come up with a platform, where the former can reach as many audiences as he can.
FORMAT
PODCAST
FULL EPISODES: TRT 10-15mins
TEASERS: TRT 1min
De la Cruz may opt to have special guests, such as basketball players willing to speak about their issues in public. This would also help the content gain more traction.
The tone is light, friendly without taking away the seriousness of the subject. The overall messaging is that the audience is not alone in their predicament.
Q&A
TRT 5-8mins
TEASERS: TRT 1min
De la Cruz answering questions from his audience.
His responses on Podcast may take as long as he needs. His responses on YouTube may take 5 minutes at the most, with the rest of the answers available for Subscribers. Subscription is free. His responses will be broken down into bite-sized pieces for social media posts.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the project, called Perfecting Imperfection, include:
Providing a venue for people, who need to seek help but are afraid, ashamed or unable to do so, to send in their life questions, as well as a platform for de la Cruz to respond via podcast, social media posts and video;
Raising awareness on, and the de-stigmatizing of, depression, stress, and other mental health issues, particularly those that are prevalent among athletes, by reaching as many people as we can through the web;
Inspiring people in general, the audience, to overcome personal life challenges that stand in the way of improving their business successes, careers, general life conditions and transitions, profession, and relationships; and,
Simply giving back to society in a most profound way.
PLATFORMS
Once people send in their questions, de la Cruz can provide his answers via:
a Podcast, which people can listen to, learn from, and go back to, at any time;
social media posts, which can provide Pocket Inspirational Videos in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram;
and, a YouTube channel, which people can access at any time.
It makes sense to have presence on the internet. After all, The Philippines again topped the world in terms of social media usage in 2018 as the number of internet users in the country hit 67 million people, according to a new report by London, United Kingdom-based consultancy We Are Social in its Digital 2018 report.
According to We Are Social, Filipinos spent an average of 3 hours and 57 minutes a day on social media sites, mainly on Facebook, which has 67 million accounts, matching the total number of internet users in the county. Another 10 million Filipinos were on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.
Overall, according to the article by the Philippine Daily Inquirer from which this information was found, Filipinos spent 9 hours and 29 minutes a day on the internet, the second-highest in the world after Thailand at 9 hours and 38 minutes.
Apart from social media, Filipinos used the internet to watch videos on YouTube and access news sites. The article was entitled: PH is world leader in social media usage.
RATIONALE
Clearly, there is a need for this kind of content online.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as reported by Rappler in an article updated in January 2019, “more than 100 million people suffer from mental disorders in the Western Pacific region, including in the Philippines, with depressive disorders accounting for 5.73% of mental disorders in the region.” These, and possibly more, form de la Cruz’ audience.
Having a platform on the web also gives de la Cruz international access. Global figures put the number of people living with depression at more than 300 million, making it the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide.
Furthermore, The Philippines has only one psychiatrist for every 250,000 population, far from the ideal ratio of one psychiatrist to every 50,000 population. De la Cruz’ availability online may not necessarily close that gap, but it can give people hope. They simply have to email, post or send their question to de la Cruz, and he will respond via podcast, social media posts and video, thus having a wider public reach.
Lastly, The Philippines is one of the last few countries without a mental health law, even as bills for it have been filed as early as 1989. A version of the mental health bill, which passed on a third and final reading at the Senate back in 2017, aims to provide basic mental health services down to the barangay level, integrate mental health programs and policies in schools and workplaces, among others. It has remained pending in the House of Representatives since May 2018.
De la Cruz can address this problem, using his popularity as a basketball player in a country obsessed with basketball. Those who are unable to pay for expensive life coaching sessions can avail of his life insights, recommendations and suggestions online for free.
GUESTS
Tony may opt to have special guests, such as basketball players willing to speak about their issues in public. This would also help the content gain more traction.
The tone is light, friendly without taking away the seriousness of the subject. The overall messaging is that the audience is not alone in their predicament.
