Ricky Lee’s ‘Quiapo Ilalim’ brings lessons, exercise, and insights from his decades of free writing workshops to a wider audience
For years, getting into Ricky Lee’s writing workshops meant getting a seat first.
Demand often exceeded capacity, and even during the pandemic, applications for his online workshops continued to pour in, leaving many aspiring writers outside the workshop room.
Now, Lee is bringing the workshop to them.
That is the idea behind Quiapo Ilalim, the new book by National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts and a sequel to his 1998 book, Trip to Quiapo.
For more than four decades, Lee has been a major figure in Philippine screenwriting. He has written acclaimed films including Himala, Muro-Ami, Jose Rizal, Anak, and Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus. Named National Artist in 2021, Lee has also conducted free scriptwriting workshops since 1982, mentoring writers who went on to work in film and television.
Launched at Red Carpet Cinemas in Shangri-La Plaza, “Quiapo Ilalim” is less a conventional sequel than a record of what happened after the first book, as Lee continued teaching, writing, and refining his approach to storytelling.
Since Trip to Quiapo was published, Lee has conducted numerous workshops, including during the pandemic. Those sessions became the source of the new book.The launch of Quiapo Ilalim gives more aspiring Filipino writers access to lessons once limited by workshop space and schedules
“Andaming bagong experiences, bagong lessons, bagong learnings, bagong insights,” Lee said in an interview after the launch. He compiled workshop experiences that were not covered in the first book.
Quiapo Ilalim contains lectures, exercises, and other materials used in his workshops, offering those who never made it into one another way to learn.
“Kung may libro (Quiapo Ilalim), para na rin silang nag-workshop,” Lee said.
The book extends Lee’s teaching practice beyond the limits of a physical workshop. While a classroom is constrained by space and time, a book can reach readers wherever they are.
Copies were formally turned over to the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the Cinemalaya Foundation Inc.. These institutions help document, support, and promote Philippine cinema.
The launch, held during Cinemalaya 2026, featured screenplay readings by Epy Quizon, Rocco Nacino, Martin del Rosario, Miguel Odron, Zaijian Jaranilla, Yayo Aguila, Nour Hooshmand, Chai Fonacier, Meryll Soriano, and Cherry Pie Picache, with a performance by Bayang Barrios.
Beneath the celebration lay a simple proposition: lessons in filmmaking should not remain available only to those fortunate enough to attend a workshop.
Quiapo Ilalim may be a sequel by title, but its larger story is about opening the door wider.
This time, the workshop has no limited seating. It is between the pages.