Philippine showbiz is now entering its ‘global era’
The local showbiz has entered the global entertainment group chat. Gone are the days when we say hey she’s half-Filipino or he’s Filipino when we spot a kababayan in a certain international or Hollywood project.
Now, we see our kind everywhere! We have truly arrived. But we’re not there yet. Still, the presence and the push from our local actors have been quite impressive.
It is a big help that now, our stars are also joining the Fashion Week events abroad, global junkets of major shows and in some, they even co-star in it.
Of course, the most undeniable star making the big move is Liza Soberano who is now house-hunting in Los Angeles as she will make it her permanent base after proving to be successful in entering Tinseltown.
As a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) member, she is now invited to the hottest events in town. She just graced the Vanity Fair young Hollywood party, fresh from her hosting stint at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Tokyo.
We caught up with Liza during her yet again one-day stay in the Philippines for her online banking endorsement with Maya. She said, “Not a lot of people know this about me, but I am actually a fan of anime and its storytelling.”
But what or who she is actually a fan of is South Korean Academy Award Best Director Bong Joon Ho. She shared with us her semi-awkward fangirling moment when she met him in Tokyo.
“My management and I were going back and forth. They were saying, go up to him, just talk to him. I said no, can you not? Can you guys just introduce me and make the first move?” she recalled.
“Then my manager is Korean and he did introduce me. I said, ‘Hopefully, we can work together in the future.’ Nagparinig na ako! He said, ‘I hope to see you again soon.’”
Her co-Maya endorser and also Filipina Hollywood actress Dolly de Leon is also doing a Hollywood series in Germany at the moment, which is why she was not able to join Liza.
It was Liza who shared her experience of being alongside Dolly in the now-viral commercial of theirs.
She said, “Ms. Dolly, despite achieving so much in her career and being so incredibly talented, she is such a humble human being. She reminded me to stay true to myself and to always stand by my values. She said as long as I keep that with me, I’ll go a long way.” Dolly will be back in Manila in June and will embark on another A-list project with Academy Award-winning actresses again! Stay tuned for that!
Meanwhile, here in Manila, we have Alden Richards upping the ante of events production via his company Myriad Entertainment. They were at the helm of the highly successful 18th Eastwood Walk of Fame induction ceremony.
We have been covering international events for more than a decade and upon entering the Walk of Fame event this year, we were really impressed by how extra organized and grandiose the venue was. The inductees had satellite coverage from the hotel they were being held at so that fans at the city walk had the chance to get a glimpse of their idols.
The red carpet program was also well put together and the coordination was flawless. Alden said this is his way of giving back to the industry. “That is the only way to do it! As Filipinos, we have to go global, we have to think global!” he stressed.
Besides this, we have been seeing Lovi Poe starting to try her luck in Hollywood now and was lucky enough to be able to book the film “Bad Man.” Ruby Ruiz in “Expats” was also a joy to watch in the Prime Video series as she represented our overseas workers well.
Tomorrow, Filipino production outfit 28 Squared Studios is also premiering their cross-country romance drama film “Under Parallel Skies” at the 17th Asian Film Awards, which stars our very own Janella Salvador and Thai superstar Win Metawin. It’s a first for a Filipino film!
Another first that they also inked is a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. This makes it the first movie from the Philippines that will be distributed by the global film company in 2024. Through the partnership, the movie will be released in three countries, including the Philippines beginning April 17, Singapore starting May 1, and Thailand premiering May 9.
Producer Richard Juan told us, “The fact that it’s the finale or the closing of the whole Asian Film Awards, that’s the idea. We’re doing cross-country, we’re doing it for the world, we also want the creatives to be out there.”
Go Philippine showbiz!
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