The Company
A Tree in Bani Book Company is an independent imprint for independent authors, artists and creators. Founder and director Danny Obillo has been supporting independent publishers, creators and artists for decades, having had previous dalliances in short-film making and music production in the early to mid 2000's.
Thought up of in 2018, upon finishing an unreleased project, A Tree In Bani was just a pipedream until in 2020, after family tragedy and the pandemic of that year and during the creation of The Philosopher Joel and Kazumph! the company was officially founded.
The bigger story is very familiar; founder Danny stuck in between city jobs in London for various finance and marketing departments, a struggle to manage time between both... and then important decisions to be made!
Life then got in the way and after a few high and low hurdles, A Tree In Bani was conceived.
Values
Initially, A Tree In Bani was developed to showcase the many projects Danny never realised. But, through growth, the true aim of A Tree In Bani is to promote and champion the experiences of creatives from backgrounds that do not get the exposure they deserve.
Ultimately the company is about the future, and if it comes close to giving individual communities of underground artists the confidence to do their thing, then it will have been successful.
Until then, we welcome you to the first years of the company and appreciate any support in our vision.
The Team
Danny Obillo is the founder and head honcho of A Tree In Bani.
Originally a short story writer and copyeditor, Danny has since released his debut novel, The Philosopher Joel and his first children's book collaboration, Kazumph! as part of A Tree In Bani's "first wave' of books.
Danny hails from the sunny end of London, UK, where he is born and bred, although there is a particular emphasis on his Filipino heritage which is especially important!
Danny's favourite books are Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and The Atrocity Exhibition by JG Ballard.
Ayeen Pineda is the lead production mastermind of A Tree In Bani.
Ayeen is a former lecturer at De La Salle, College of St Benilde with vast experience in the animation industry. She also a key member of non profit organisations in the Philippines. Ayeen holds our production teams together with positivity and general good vibes!
Ayeen resides in Metro-Manila, in the (genuinely sunny) Philippines.
Ayeen's favourite books are Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and Herman Hesse's masterpiece, Siddharta.