MANILA, PHILIPPINES— Fourteen companies from the Philippines are part of the 24th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) while four Filipino film projects are included in the 18th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF).
The virtual Hong Kong FILMART will take place from August 26 to 29 and the online HAF will be held from August 27 to 29. The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) will have a Country Session webinar at the HK FILMART upon the invitation of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
The FDCP has sponsored production companies for the Philippine Pavilion in the HK FILMART to provide them opportunities to find project collaborators, seek project funding, pursue sales and distribution possibilities, and expand their network of contacts in the international film circuit.
This year, the FDCP’s Virtual Philippine Pavilion will have 11 production companies: Philippine Film Studios, Inc., Project 8 Projects, Betsy D. Film Productions, Epicmedia Productions Inc., Atom & Anne Mediaworks Corp., Indiego Productions, CMB Films, Sisu Productions, Beginnings At Twenty Plus Inc., VY/AC Productions, and Blindwill Pictures.
Pavilion meetings will take place on all four days of the FILMART, and these will be concluded by the FDCP’s “Let’s Create Together!” webinar on August 29. Through the live one-hour event, the FDCP will promote three FilmPhilippines incentives to international productions. These are the Film Location Incentive Program (FLIP), International Co-production Fund (ICOF), and Film Location Engagement Desk (FLEX).
Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño-Seguerra will lead the “Let’s Create Together!” presentation together with the FilmPhilippines Office. The Country Session will premiere two video collaborations of the DOT and FDCP for the “Let’s Create Together!” campaign.
The 11 companies in the Philippine Pavilion will also be introduced during the webinar. Department of Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones will be in attendance together with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) Assistant Director Anthony Rivera, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Danilo Lim, and League of Cities of the Philippines National President Evelio Leonardia.
Other attendees are Consorcio Olivan of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Maria Teresa Loring, Rodrigo Aguilar, and Gliceria Cademia from the DTI. Representatives from the DOT include Woodrow Maquiling, Jr., Sharlene Batin, Howard Lance Uyking, Elisa Jane Camunggol, Ernesto Teston, and Dee Mandigma. National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Chairman and Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) President Arsenio Lizaso and NCCA National Committee on Cinema Head Rolando Tolentino are also confirmed attendees.
The Film Academy of the Philippines will be represented by Director General Vivian Velez, Director for Business Development & Communications Ed Totanes, Director for Programs and Events Peter Serrano, and Harlene Bautista and Njel de Mesa of the Project Advisory Committee. Meanwhile, other participating companies in the HK FILMART are GMA Network, VIVA Communications, and Rocketsheep Studio.
As for the HAF, “Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah Vs. The Amazonistas of Planet X” by Avid Liongoren and “Some Nights I Feel Like Walking” by Petersen Vargas are among the 24 fiction projects featured alongside nine documentaries. Liongoren and Vargas wil get to seek international support and cooperation for their projects at the HAF.
