Butch puts up 4 Boys Films in honor of kids

Happy Birthday (today) to Butch Jimenez whose family remains to be a significant owner of GMA Channel 7 while he works for Manny Pangilinan in PLDT, owner of TV 5. Knowing Butch, I’m not surprised how he manages to walk this tightrope.

For his 48th birthday, Butch decided to work with the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) to launch a development fund for Asian filmmakers who want to do movies for and about children with positive values. The fund was recently launched in the Cannes International Film Festival by APSA chairman Des Powers. Butch called the fund 4 Boys Films in honor of his four kids Miguel, Benjamin, Joaquin and Mateo.  

Two AUD$20,000 grants will be given to support new children’s feature films at creative inception that carry positive, life-affirming messages specifically for and about children in Asia-Pacific.

It will be exclusively available to members of the APSA Academy, a group of the region’s leading filmmakers comprised of past nominees, winners, council members and International Jury of APSA.

Butch was inducted into the Academy as the producer of 2007 Best Children’s Feature Film Nominee, The Bicycle.  

“I’ve always believed that children’s films have a unique power to influence young hearts and minds. My hope is that the partnership with APSA will encourage Asian filmmakers to do more children’s movies and somehow bridge cultural divides and leave a positive mark to the next generation,” explained Butch.

Aside from The Bicycle, Butch through GMA Films has produced some of the biggest movies in Philippine cinema such as Muro Ami, Jose Rizal and Sa Pusod ng Dagat (In the Navel of the Sea which have competed in various international film festivals. He recently supported Happyland, a true story of juvenile delinquents living in the garbage dumps of Tondo whose lives were changed through soccer.

APSA Chairman Des Power said: “Our Academy is made up of an extraordinary group of filmmakers who are extremely influential in the global marketplace. One of them is Mr. Jimenez. It is therefore very pleasing that through his foundation we are able to offer Academy members a fund of this calibre for the development of children’s films. When we formed the Academy, this is precisely the kind of collaboration and support that we hoped it would facilitate.”

The first completed project of the four supported by the inaugural MPA fund is Nader and Simin: A Separation by acclaimed Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year where it won the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bears for Best Actor and Best Actress, awarded to the ensemble cast.

Feature length narrative films, Documentaries and Animated Feature films will be eligible to apply and projects will be judged on the same criteria that apply to films in the APSA competition --- films that best reflect their cultural origins and demonstrate cinematic excellence.

The inaugural grant recipients will be determined by a panel of industry experts and will be announced at the fifth annual APSA Ceremony on Australia’s Gold Coast on Nov. 24.

(Note: For more information on the grant, you can email [email protected]m)

Carl’s Prosperity is Int’l Book Awards winner

Congratulations to Carl Balita, a.k.a. Entrepinoy Guru, whose book Prosperity: Success and Happiness of Being Rich was honored by the International Book Awards in Los Angeles on May 11.

 I am happy for Carl not only because he truly deserves the recognition but also because I happen to be a part of the book (I wrote an essay titled Echoes of Prosperity: Shoes Me The Money), along with Karen Davila who wrote the foreword; Socorro Ramos who wrote the Epilogue; and Fatima Soriano, Joy Lim and Chinkee Tan who also wrote their own essays.

Being the only Filipino-authored book, Prosperity stood out as a finalist in the category “Self-Help-Motivational” books alongside 300 winners in over 140 categories covering print and audio books.

The award was sponsored by JPX Media Group, a US-based firm involved in numerous aspects of the publishing and entertainment industries.

Available in National Bookstores where it’s the No.7 best-seller, Prosperity has sold thousands of copies since its release middle of last year.

Carl, who walks-the-talk of prosperity, is the multi-awarded host of celebrated tele-radio business program Radyo Negosyo which airs every Saturday at DZMM.