Web Artists: Conquering the Web in Style
by Mike Wright, The Web Philippines, February 2000

Can tens of thousands of hits be wrong? Ronnie Miranda is one of the most successful Philippine webmasters, and has the enviable position of having cornered the market of celebrity web sites, in the processing creating sharoncuneta.com, one of the Philippines' most visited.

Ronnie's long and winding career started in 1987, when he was forced to learn 3D in Mediaboutique, using a 286 computer. He has since then achieved a lot in 3D and computer graphics; creating a station ID for Channel 9; graphics for TV shows, including 'Bakal Boy,' an interactive 3D character created fro GMA's 'Ober Da Bakod;' Viva Film's animated 3D title (usually shown before trailers and films). His company. StormViz, was created out of the need to give receipts and other formalities in dealing with showbiz companies.

In 1996, he got his first e-mail - the benefit of being an Ateneo alumnus. It was love at first sight mail when he discovered that he could instantly communicate and send files through the service. Some time after, he applied as a product tester for an ISP, and was soon toying with making websites through WYSIWYG page editors, and learning what he had to in creating his first, stormviz.com.

Ronnie's first paying client for a Web site is Sharmaine Arnaiz, and by that time, if you're a celeb, it's hip to have a Web site. The fever caught on, and work followed for Pops Fernandez, Dina Bonnevie, Mikee Cojuangco, Rachel Alejandro, and Zsa Zsa Padilla (who was the first celeb to have her own domain name). His biggest Web site came when Sharon Cuneta, who was in Boston then, heard of Ronnie's work, and asked for one herself. What followed was a year of negotiation, and a lot of careful study, because Sharon's Web site is going to be huge, owing to the body of work she already has produced.

Ronnie says that while it is prestigious working with celebrities, it can really be draining, especially since he is a one-man company, and has to attend numerous concerts and performances in updating the celebrity Web sites he has created. One would say that it was all worth it, since he had recently been married to Alice Dixson. The couple are planning to relocate soon to Canada.