Captains of Asia and North America

Meet Tammy Dinopol of our Philippines distribution partner Origin8 (left, with Cebu organizer Roxie) and Dylan Marchetti of Variance Films, our distribution partner for North America. I feel so lucky to have these two smart young people heading up AMIGO's launch. New path, new blood.

Crazy

See this? This is what happens everywhere we go, but especially at the Lakbay Amigo screenings in Cebu. CNU (Cebu Normal School) bought out three screenings to celebrate their "centennial +9". (They are discovering their real history too). That's about 1000 students per showing, loving AMIGO, talking throughout, and responding vocally to the suspense and the romance, and the racism. The next day in Cebu we entertained about the same number of students from San Carlos University-Carolinians as they call themselves. More "Picture?Picture?" with Joel and John Arcilla who is our other pinoy celebrity on the tour. Origin8's strategy is to screen early for students, hoping they'll spread the word both at home and to their families and friends in the US. I think it's working.

February 14 Valentines Day

Valentines filled my kitchen back home. I did my best to finish them so I could leave them behind to be mailed from the US. I hope they all arrive at their destinations, with my love. (Still carrying around a few bound for my Filipino sweethearts:it’s so hard to find a place to post a letter here!)
LOVE from the Philippines where Valentines Day is practically a religious holiday.
-

LAST MINUTE NOTICE:John Sayles Forbidden History tonight Feb 16

 Origin8 Media and Fully Booked invite you to...


U-View, Fully Booked
Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
16 February 2011, Wednesday, 6:30pm
  About John Sayles
John Sayles likes to be known as a storyteller. He is the director of 17 films, all of which he wrote and most of which he edited. He writes fiction and has published several novels and collections of short stories.  His new novel “A Moment in the Sun”, set around 1900 in Cuba, US, and the Philippines, will be published by McSweeney’s in May 2011.

Sayles supports his directing career as a “writer for hire” in Hollywood. His work is often uncredited but recently he wrote and received credit on SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES. He is one of the prime movers of U.S. independent cinema. Some of his works include Matewan (1987), Passion Fish (1992), The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), and Lone Star (1996). In February 2010, Sayles began shooting in the Philippines his 17th film, Amigo, a fictional account of events during the Philippine-American war.  With an ensemble cast of respected Filipino and American thespians and a 100% Filipino crew, Sayles completed filming in six weeks.  Today, exactly one year later, he is back in the Philippines, together with his producing partner, Maggie Renzi and the Filipino cast, to bring Amigo to the Filipino public.
Please pass and share with your friends!  We would love to have them too. Thanks!

 

Our Team in the Philippines

Origin8 is our distributor in the Philippines and I couldn’t be happier with the work they are doing to prepare the audience for AMIGO. John and I were also VERY pleased with the dinner they had to welcome us. Picture a round table in a Chinese restaurant, the lazy susan groaning with the weight of the best Filipino food including eggplant torta, one of my favorite pinoy dishes.
Our hostess Mari Lamasan on the left with the sweetest baby boy,and next to her artist Geraldine Javier, Raymond Lee at the rear, hardworking Tammy Dinopol, Emman Dela Cruz , John, me (curly hair again!), Ioni and Issi. You’re bound to meet the full 8 sooner or later.
Jade Castro,  one of the 8, directed the BTS (Behind the Scenes, Filipinos like an acronym) which is the EPK (Electronic Press Kit- I guess we like acronyms in the US too). These friends from the cast and crew were among those who came to be interviewed:
From left, Joel Torre, Bembol Roco, lovely Rio Locsin,yours truly and John, and our  VERY FIRST FEMALE DP, the excellent Lee Briones-Meily.

Wedding Bells from the Baryo

I am privileged to announce the wedding of Bobby Savoca- Guay to our Cheska Barroga. Can you believe it? Here’s a photo of them climbing into Dieter’s multi-cab after the civil service at the Maribojoc City Hall. It was very sweet, with Mayor Leoncio Evasco, Jr. officiating, and many friends in attendance including John and me, Dieter and Bee, Maid of Honor Melany Clarin, and John Arcilla who led us in singing their song,
“I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You”.
Bobby is one of our US Background Soldiers. Go back in the blog to March 22, 2010 and you’ll see Bobby in the middle of the second row, grinning. Cheska is the granddaughter of our wonderful Makeup/Hair/Prosthetics expert, Tita Cecille Baun, and was her assistant.
Bobby and Cheska’s wedding is not the first to come from one of our films, but this is the first time that along with Joel Torre John and I have been ninong and ninang (godparents) since Plummy and Mario were married during “Sunshine State”.
Very sweet.
Video to follow. And a US wedding late Summer, early Fall- at our house!

AMIGO in Bohol

Next stop, Cooper has organized a fantastic Soiree/Fashion Show by the newly formed Baryo/Amigo Performance Group.
The Bohol premier organizers (including Melany Clarin, absent here) have designed a wonderful MADE IN BOHOL poster. We are getting a lot of mileage out of Stills Photographer Mary Cybulski’s beautiful images.

The event features our Baryo Villagers, dressed in their stand-out costumes designed by Gino Gonzales. The audience of students from Tagbilaran couldn’t be less interested in John and me when we talk, but when the show begins they are rapt. They go wild for the little girls (they have grown and their skirts no longer touch the ground). How did Cooper organize such an excellent show: after their many days performing in AMIGO the villagers are disciplined, at ease and even sassy, and anyway Cooper is a miracle worker. I am so proud.