Filipino indie films streaming app to be launched
EDUKSINE, a social enterprise and hybrid streaming platform that features educational and socially relevant independent Filipino films, will be launched today. “The app aims to bridge the gap between Filipino filmmakers and viewers by delivering contextual and transformative content. The platform likewise provides sustainable support and opportunities to small local film producers, directors, actors and marketers,” says a statement. It is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST). The app was the brainchild of founder and CEO Karen Jane Salutan, a Business Management alumna from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Her vision is to provide a new unconventional venue to promote Filipino culture and arts through indie films that create social impact. Apart from the streaming platform, EdukSine likewise promises to reach far-flung areas of the country by conducting pre-arranged in-person and hybrid block screenings in companies, government offices, and schools from the metro to the mountainous and coastal villages across the Philippines. Organized by Benilde School of Management and Information Technology, the event is free and open to the public. It will be held today at 10 a.m. at the Augusto-Rosario Gonzalez Theater of Benilde Taft Campus. It will also be livestreamed via Zoom. Interested participants may register through https://forms.gle/82b1sYLCfZHMnRnm9.
TikTok Hangouts’ #WomenOfTikTok on March 25
IN CELEBRATION of International Women’s Month (IWM), TikTok will host a one-day TikTok Hangout which is meant to amplify the voices and perspectives of female TikTok creators in the Philippines. To be held on March 25 at 5 p.m., the event will feature a talk by women for women, featuring empowered female creators — Mela Habijan (@missmelahabijan), Kat Tan (@the1armedmamba), Mighty Magulang (@mightymagulang), Pauline Lopez (@pauweenie), Myrtle Sarossa (@myrtlegail), and Janina Vela (@janinavelap) — who will share their unique challenges and uplifting journeys. The talk will be live-streamed on @tiktokphilippines where TikTok users can register for free.
The Johnnie Highball Bar pop-up goes to Cebu City
AFTER successful runs in BGC and Alabang last year, Johnnie Walker brought the Johnnie Highball Bar pop-up to Cebu City at the Asmara Urban Resort & Lifestyle Village for five weekends of live musical performances and DJ sets from bands and singers from Cebu and Manila. Guests were also treated to various activities, arcade games, and limited-edition merch. Johnnie Walker also introduced the different ways people can enjoy Johnnie Walker through the brand’s signature highballs and Cebu-exclusive specialty cocktails. The pop-up ends on March 25 with performances from The Sundown and DJ sets by Victor Jad, Renzo Senining, and MC AJ Laranas at 9 p.m.
Multi-act music fest set for May
THE SIGLA Music and Arts Festival will be held on May 19 and 20 at the Batangas Lakelands in Balete, Batangas. Among the performers are Ben&Ben, Kamikazee, Morissette, Arthur Nery, Silent Sanctuary, Adie, Rivermaya, Spongecola. Part of the proceeds from the festival are earmarked for the charitable activities of Angat Buhay. Tickets, which cost P500, are available at www.beyondlimitsep.com.
Alanis Morissette Manila Concert set for August
AFTER being postponed three times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian-American singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette’s one-night concert marking what is now the 28th anniversary of her iconic album, Jagged Little Pill, will finally push through on Aug. 1 at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena. The Manila concert is part of a tour that celebrated the 25th anniversary of her album. It was originally scheduled to take place at the MOA Arena on April 2020 but it was moved on December 2021, then November 2022. Jagged Little Pill captured the zeitgeist of the mid-1990s by crossing the line between Gen-X cynicism and self-realization. The album produced a string of Top 10 songs including “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” and “Ironic.” It also won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The album was ranked number 69 on Rolling Stone’s list of “the 500 best albums of all time.”
Viu launches Viu Scream Dates at Filmart
VIU, PCCW’s leading pan-regional OTT video streaming service, announced the launch of Viu Scream Dates, a fan meet offering across its markets. Viu Scream Dates aims to extend the Viu experience beyond the screens by bringing the stars closer to their fans via live events and experiences. This month will see Lee Je-hoon’s Vacation Fan Meet across three of its markets namely the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. For the next quarter, Viu is slated to bring Lee Seung-gi to Singapore and Indonesia, among other markets. Apart from Korean stars, Viu Scream Dates will also provide a platform for the local stars from its Viu Original series to further engage with their fans locally and regionally. Viu also announced a slate of more than 25 Viu Original series for 2023, including Korean Viu Originals such as Taxi Driver 2, Delivery Man and The Secret Romantic Guesthouse, all launched in Q1. Viu also debuted four local Viu Original series, Married Ex-Boyfriend (Indonesia), The House on Autumn Hill (Malaysia), Return Man (Thailand) and UBettina Wethu S3 (South Africa). Viu has also secured the rights to over 100 shows that will debut on Viu. These include local and international dramas like The Betrayal (Thailand), Unbreak My Heart (the Philippines), Themis’s Law School Class Room (Japan), Kokdu: Season of Deity and The Heavenly Idol (Korea),as well as variety shows including Running Man.
Dungeons and Dragons opens March 29
BASED on the popular role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures, opens nationwide March 29. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opens with the unfailingly optimistic bard Edgin (played by Chris Pine) and his best friend, the barbarian fighter Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) locked away in the notorious prison Revel’s End, a result of the betrayal by the nefarious Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant), who took Edgin’s beloved daughter Kira to live as his ward in the great metropolis of Neverwinter where Forge installed himself as ruler. On a mission to take back what has been lost to him, Edgin escapes together with Holga. Along the way, they are joined in their quest by an insecure sorcerer (Justice Smith), a paladin (played by Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page) and a Tiefling.
GMA launches 12th regional station, GMA Ilocos Norte
GMA Network, through GMA Regional TV (RTV), launched its 12th regional station, GMA Ilocos Norte, on March 17. GMA Ilocos Norte can be accessed by viewers via GMA TV 5 on free TV, GMA Affordabox, and GMA Now. It is GMA Network’s fifth regional station in Luzon after GMA Dagupan, GMA Ilocos Sur, GMA Bicol, and GMA Batangas. “With the launch of GMA Ilocos Norte Station as one of the key hubs of GMA Regional TV, this strengthens our local news coverage in North Central Luzon, and solidifies GMA Integrated News’ position as the ‘News Authority of the Filipino,’” said Oliver Victor Amoroso, First Vice-President and Head of GMA Regional TV and Synergy, and Acting Head of GMA Integrated News, in a statement. “Recently, as part of our 2023 initiatives, we have also introduced our morning news program Mornings with GMA Regional TV which perfectly complements our top-rating afternoon newscast GMA Regional TV One North Central Luzon.” At present, GMA has five regional stations in Luzon, three in Visayas, and four in Mindanao. For more information about GMA Network, visit www.gmanetwork.com.
Vanessas Hudgens to make docu of her trip to PHL
ACTRESS and entrepreneur Vanessa Hudgens is set to explore her Filipino lineage by documenting her first trip to the Philippines in a project by TEN17P. The film will showcase her relationship with her Filipino mother, Gina, and sister, Stella. The project is set to shoot in Palawan and Manila later this March and will be produced and directed by Paul Soriano, director of the film Mañanita, and the Manny Pacquiao biopic, Kid Kulafu. He also directed President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s first state of the nation address and was named Presidential Advisor on Creative Communications. Ms. Hudgens, most recently been seen in Lin Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom!, has always been proud of her family history, with her mother emigrating to the United States at the age of 25. “I feel like ours is such a relatable story to so many women all over the world,” Ms. Hudgens said in a statement. “The more that we can share, the more we can lift each other up.”F inding global fame in the Disney Channel’s High School Musical, her subsequent film credits including Spring Breakers, Gimme Shelter, and Bad Boys for Life. Ms. Hudgens executive produced and starred in the films The Knight Before Christmas, and all three installments of The Princess Switch for Netflix. She is next set to star in the upcoming films French Girl and Bad Boys 4.