RIZCEL GAGAWANAN 
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PRODUCING

  Social Media

  Film & TV


  Theatre




SOCIAL MEDIA 

    


I have produced content for publishers like BuzzFeed, LADbible, PopSugar and The Latch working with major brands like McDonalds, Warner Bros and the Australian Government. I’m passionate about making content that celebrates identity, improves literacy on important issues, and educates and empowers communities.

Check out my portfolio for more information on the campaigns I’ve worked on.
Rizcel Gagawanan Producer Portfolio by Rizcel Gagawanan





BuzzFeed Australia | Filipino Week


As a proud Filipino-Australian I jump at any opportunity to share my culture and celebrate my identity. I had the privilege and honour to produce BuzzFeed Australia’s first series that celebrated diverse cultural identities: Filipino Week. This series was created as part of BuzzFeed’s Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging initiative. The BuzzFeed platform featured all things Filipino from memes, articles and a 4-part video series featuring prominent Filipino-Australian influencer talent like Angelo Marasigan, Erica Padilla and Dominic Porras. The content garnered over 2 million views across all BuzzFeed platforms. 



Filipino Aussies Try Each Other's Halo-halo

Filipino Aussies Rank Ube Food

Filipino Aussies Try To Guess Their Mum's Kare-Kare

Filipino-Australians Play Never Have I Ever


Aussies Try Filipino Snacks






BuzzFeed Australia | YouTube 


BuzzFeedOz showcases Aussie culture, light-hearted and chaotic entertainment. Their biggest audiences are GenZ and young Millennials based in Australia, USA, UK, Canada and India. Check out my playlist to watch the long-form content I’ve produced for the BuzzFeedOz YouTube channel.


Rizcel Gagawanan BuzzFeedOz Reel (edited by Rizcel Gagawanan)
Video credit: BuzzFeed Australia




Arts & Community
I have also been the Content Producer and Marketing Manager for Arts Organisations and independent theatre productions. Among my work, I’ve worked with Western Sydney creative studio, Operated Coin for their immersive experiences Ghost and Dancing Bear, Campbelltown Arts Centre showcasing their 61st Fisher’s Ghost Art Award and was the Marketing Manager for the SOLD OUT season for the Belvoir Theatre Company 25a production, Forgetting Tim Minchin (produced by The JOY Offensive). Forgetting Tim Minchin was nominated for Time Out Sydney Arts & Cultural Awards 2024 for Best Musical.




Forgetting Tim Minchin Press:
Suzy Goes See ★★★★
Sydney Morning Herald ★★★★
Limelight Magazine ★★★★
Lamarque My Words ★★★★½
Sydney Arts Guide ★★★★★
TimeOut Sydney ★★★★★
TimeOut Sydney Arts & Culture Awards




FILM & TV


Flight Risk

 Short Film (In Production 2025)
Writer/Director: Mohammad Awad
Producer: Rizcel Gagawanan Muhammad’s fruity holiday plans hit a roadblock when he gets stopped by airport security and is accused of running off to join ISIS. While he desperately needs to catch his flight, he’d still like to have some fun along the way. This is based on a true story.


Press:
MQFF Pitch, Pleez!
MQFF announces the winner for Pitch, Pleez! 2025, Arts Review


Inheritance

Short Film (In Production 2025)
Writer/Director: Mohammad Awad
Producer: Rizcel Gagawanan Inheritance is a drama-horror set in Western Sydney, which explores how a fathers untimely death affects Ameen, his estranged Queer Muslim son. Written and directed by award-winning poet and writer Mohammad Awad, Inheritance was honoured as the winning project of the national Queer Screen 2024 Pitch Off prize and will premiere at the 2026 Mardi Gras Film Festival.



Bad Ancestors

 Online Series (ABC iView, 2024)
Produced by: Purple Carrot Entertainment Pty Ltd
Director: Vanilla Tupu
Creator/Writer: Wendy Mocke
Producers: Jessica Magro, Rizcel Gagawanan
Animation Director: Jessica Magro
Dir. of Photography: Lucca Barone-Peters
Composer: Scott Majidi
Editor: Jesse D'vauz
VFX Artist: Gwyn Dixon

Best Friends Norah and Charli must spend their afterlife providing ancestral guidance to young black people.

Bad Ancestors, written by and starring award-winning writer and actor Wendy Mocke, was part of ABC and Screen Australia’s 2023 Fresh Blood initiative. It won Online Series Production of the Year at the 23rd Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Online Drama or Comedy in 2025.

Watch the full episodes on ABC iView.

Video Credit: Purple Carrot Entertainment Pty Ltd

Like A Bird

Short Film (2022)
Producers: Amy Shelford, Rizcel Gagawanan
Writer: Amy Shelford
Director: Amy Rose Hancock
DOP: Rizcel Gagawanan
Editor: Rizcel Gagawanan
When aspiring influencer Charlie miraculously meets his fundraiser goals to help his beloved endangered ibises, he finds out who the true donors are.

Image credit: Rizcel Gagawanan

Double Debut

 Online Series (In Development)
Creator/Writer: Rizcel Gagawanan
Double Debut is a coming-of-age short-form TV dramedy series about Filipino-Australian feuding twins, Raquel and Reyna, who are forced to celebrate their milestone 18th birthday together in a traditional Debutante party. This project was selected for the 2022 NSW AFTRS Talent Camp.

AFTRS Talent Camp, in partnership with Screen Australia and state screen agencies, is a highly sought-after program designed to support diversity in the screen industry. Aimed at early-career creators from underrepresented backgrounds, it offers immersive workshops in narrative (comedy/drama) and documentary filmmaking, with state and national camps. Selected participants receive funding to produce short-form works, alongside industry networking and mentorship. This unique opportunity empowers diverse voices, with many past participants achieving success in the industry. 



THEATRE

RECKŌNING
Te Waiata Paihere Wairua

 Consulting Producer, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, 2023
By Beat Entertainment
Samuel Gaskin & Johnny Hamilton 
Reckōning is a powerful one-hour show celebrating Indigenous culture through storytelling, original songs, and dance. It explores themes of racism, intergenerational trauma, and cultural reclamation, blending striking visuals, emotional music, and raw storytelling to guide audiences through truth-telling and healing. With symbolic staging, vibrant costuming, and a contemporary soundtrack by Samuel Gaskin and The Merindas, the show uplifts while addressing historical injustices. Winner of 4 Melbourne Fringe Awards, Reckōning is a journey of reclaiming power, reconnecting with ancestry, and celebrating Indigenous resilience, creativity, and strength, leaving audiences inspired and deeply moved. 

As the consulting producer for Darlinghurst Theatre Company I was in charge of producing cultural engagement events for indigenous communities for the Reckōning Sydney Tour.

Check out Reckoning Sounds more information
Photo credit: Beat Entertainment


No Pink Dicks
(Development)

Consulting Producer, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, 2023
Writer: Moreblessing Maturure  

Development Team
Director: Amy Sole
Dramaturg: Jules Orcullo
Actors: Ratidzo Mambo, Sam Marques, Mariama Whitton

No Pink Dicks is one of many works in development by multi-award-winning Zimbabwean/Australian inter-disciplinary artist, Moreblessing Maturure. This development was supported by Darlinghurst Theatre Company (DTC) and Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts). My work as consulting producer was to coordinate the creative team, manage the development and it’s budget and provide support and liaise between the creative team and DTC.

For more information about the project refer to The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting which was awarded to Moreblessing for No Pink Dicks in 2022.
In photos: Development Team for No Pink Dicks
Photo credit: Rizcel Gagawanan, 2023

Kallective

Co-Founder & Co-Producer, Artist Collective
Producers:
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack, Rizcel Gagawanan

Resident Artists:
Miranda Aguilar
Kate Baldwin
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack
Gloria Demillo
Rizcel Gagawanan
Jules Orcullo
Christine Pan
Crystal Valdez

Kallective seeks to connect, empower and cultivate awareness around the rich experiences of what it means to be Asian-Australian. The Baybayin letter “Ka” means ‘kinship we seek’ and so our practice involves cultivating collaborative spaces for creatives of colour to tell stories that reclaim our agency within the cultural landscape. We’re invested in continual learning around non-Western processes of artistic production and story making, and through that we develop our own unique methodologies. 

Kallective’s first project ‘The Filipinx Writers Room’ formed during the pandemic in 2020 and was supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. This project led to Kallective’s first theatre work Salt Baby which was further developed in 2021-2022 through the support of CreateNSW, Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts), PACT Centre for Emerging Artists and Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.
In photos: Kallective’s workshops held at CPAC
Photo credit: Annie Brockenhuus-Schack & Rizcel Gagawanan, 2022

Salt Baby

 Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, 2022
Producers:
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack, Rizcel Gagawanan

Writers:
Miranda Aguilar
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack
Gloria Demillo
Rizcel Gagawanan
Jules Orcullo

Designers:
Kate Baldwin (Lighting Design)
Christine Pan (Sound Design & Music Composer)
Crystal Valdez (Production Design)
With the support of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) Kallective was able to further develop Salt Baby with an in-depth focus on design. This work was also supported by CreateNSW (NSW Government’s arts and culture funding body) and Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s principal arts investment and advisory body). 

A presentation of Salt Baby and its design concepts was presented to the public attended by industry representatives and members of the Filipino-Australian community. 

In photos: Kallective’s presentation of Salt Baby at CPAC
Photo credit: Darren Taing, 2022

Salt Baby

 PACT Artist Residency, 2021
Producers:
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack, Rizcel Gagawanan

Writers:
Miranda Aguilar
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack
Gloria Demillo
Rizcel Gagawanan
Jules Orcullo

Designers:
Kate Baldwin (Lighting Design)
Christine Pan (Sound Design & Music Composer)
Crystal Valdez (Production Design)

Performer:
Rizcel Gagawanan
PACT has been a place for emerging artists where artists meet and new discoveries are made. In 2021, Kallective (formerly The Filipinx Writers Room), was awarded the Group Artist Residency to help further develop the theatre production of Salt Baby. This work was also supported by CreateNSW (NSW Government’s arts and culture funding body) and Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s principal arts investment and advisory body). 

The residency concluded with a showing of Salt Baby, Kallective’s first public and in-person showing after the pandemic. This showing was attended by industry representatives and members of the Filipino-Australian community.

In photos: Salt Baby showing at PACT Theatre in Erskineville, created and presented by Kallective, performed by Rizcel Gagawanan
Photo credit: PACT, 2021


In photos: Kallective’s workshops during the PACT Artist Residency
Photo credit: Annie Brockenhuus-Schack, 2021

The Filipinx Writers Room

 Research & Development Project, 2020
Producers:
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack, Rizcel Gagawanan

Writers:
Miranda Aguilar
Annie Brockenhuus-Schack
Gloria Demillo
Rizcel Gagawanan
Jules Orcullo

The Filipinx Writers Room was developed out of a desire to see more stories made by female or non-binary Filipinx-Australian creatives and provide a space to foster artistic talent. Despite the pandemic, the Filipinx Writers Room was a great opportunity for the group to cultivate kapwa whilst collaborating on an artistic project. As Filipinos, kapwa means co-spirit, the inner self is in the other, and that we are connected. This became apparent through creating space and acceptance for each other's varied experiences. After weeks of collaboration, a new theatre work Salt Baby was developed. The group presented their first work-in-progress presentation online to the Arts and Filipino-Australian community.


In photos: Stills from the online live read of Salt Baby, works in progress presented The Filipinx Writers Room
Photo credit: The Filipinx Writers Room, 2020






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