Gil Ponce is a Filipino-American filmmaker born and raised in Manila, Philippines now living in Seattle, Washington USA.  As a young boy of 11, while helping his parents run the family-owned movie theater by selling peanuts, running up and down the aisle of the theater yelling “peanuts, peanuts for sale!”, Gil would take a break and position himself in a front row seat of the theater.  Enthralled and fascinated by the world of movies, Gil would get lost daydreaming about one day creating his own movie.

Infused with the value of a college education by his hardworking parents, Gil pursued a Chemical Engineering degree in Manila, Philippines and eventually finished 4th in the country’s Professional Licensing Examination.  He went to the University of Washington in Seattle to further his studies and shortly thereafter landed a job with the airplane manufacturer Boeing. Gil put his engineering and management skills to work traveling Asia and Europe to oversee various suppliers of Boeing and was based in Japan and England for 10 years.  He was instrumental in developing the graphite composite material currently being utilized by Boeing in the manufacture of its 787 body structures. With a burning passion, perseverance and a steadfast belief that he’s got what it takes to become a filmmaker, Gil collects and read books on filmmaking every chance possible proving to himself that his childhood passion for cinema burned alive and never left his heart.

Upon his return to Seattle in 2002, Gil immersed himself in his dream:  he attended a filmmaking seminar in Seattle, he took part in a 2-week pre-production of a 30-minute narrative in Vancouver and he participated as an observer for 2 months in the production of a full-length feature film in Manila, Philippines.  Feeling inadequate about his accumulated knowledge and experience and insecure about his lack of filmography, Gil took a leap of faith that would completely steer his life in a completely different direction…he studied filmmaking by making a 35mm feature film.  Armed with a story idea, Gil sold his house, cashed in a majority of his savings from his employment, put aside his Boeing wings and took flight on his first feature film “Tall as Trees” as a director/producer/co-writer.  He self-financed the film so as to have unfettered control over his project.