Page 27 - LM Confidential Issue September 2014

Why the latest Jadine and Kathniel films do local movies a favor
It started with one endearing yet for- mulaic title, Diary ng Panget.
After the Viva movie became a sleeper hit, catapulting once-ignored teen actor James Reid and Pop Girls mainstay Na- dine Lustre to superstardom, the rampage was on.
Star Cinema soon released the box of- fice smash She’s Dating a Gangster, with Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla proving this was no fluke.
Here to stay
Now Viva has countered with Talk Back and You’re Dead, another block- buster headlined by Panget leads James and Nadine.
So with 3 certified box office hits derived from stories published on the writing community site Wattpad, can we safely declare a trend?
After all, the pop novels published on Wattpad by nameless or anonymous authors are the stuff of Pinoy cinematic dreams.
Welcome news
First, you get a goldmine of material from writers, who, without Wattpad, may not have had the opportunity to get their stories on screen,
Second, their often immense follow- ing from the Wattpad community and the fan base they’ve cultivated through the print versions of their stories mean a surefire box office hit.
Third, the hits invigorate both the pop literary scene and serve as a shot in the arm for the moribund movie industry with offerings beyond the usual exclusive season for Pinoy films, the Metro Manila Film Festival.
MABUHAY Festival
Love your own
Seeing scores of people, specifically teenagers and young adults from all walks of life, lining up to watch such Filipino films is certainly a wonderful sight.
Appreciating local material, much less movies, owing to the seductive appeal of big-budget foreign productions, has been virtually non-existent until this: cultishly followed stories by love-struck teenagers all over the Philippines.
Viva Films made sure it seized this opportunity and reaped the rewards with Panget, which now opens the door for more film outfits to (hopefully) relive the glory days of Filipino cinema.
And tapping Wattpad for its content can only inspire writers and authors to
be more creative with their work and capture the imagination of a new breed of
Flores de Mayo Parade is of colours honoring the “Pagdiriwang” which highlighting the six popular The parade of fiestas and culminating activity related anniversary of the
the 116th anniversary of the Day.
PHOTOS BY FLORO VIRTUCIO
a
t h e m e means fiestas t h e to the
Mabu- P h i l i p -
kaleidoscope of the year,
celebration, of the Philippines. exhibits is a fitting
celebration of the 16th
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP - Sharmaine Sotto and
Keesha Cerezo of Lakambini; Krista Bella of Lakambini and escort; Alison Garcia of Lakambini; Participant; Miss PIDC Congeniality and Maria Clara Chloe Dumasal; Participant
Danica’s Birthday
SEPTEMBER 2014
L. M. Confidential 27
hay
Philippines and pine Independence
Filipino moviegoers.
It also bears watching how this pop lit
trend plays out insofar as altering the face of Philippine cinema: for the budding storyteller with the Big Idea or that luck- less author in search for that Big Break, and, of course, their own online fans who do not appreciate anything else than the story they are reading—not the market- ing, promotions, stars or budgets involved.
But of course, a Jadine or a Kathneil, can help.
Danica Ramos waits as her mom Rowena and dad Elmer Ramos lights up her birthday candles. Assisting them are her two grandmas.