IBC to venture into movie production in 2014

March 7, 2014

In its recent press press conference, and even before at the AD Congress, sequestered TV station IBC has announced that it is venturing into movie production called IBC Films. And the TV station which has rocketed into being No.3 in the TV industry promises to produce more than the number of movies being churned out by the established film outfits associated with the two giant TV networks.

Asked: This is a very encouraging bit of news but will they have the superstars to feature in their movies. Because as of now, the current crop of film and TV performers are tied up with contracts to film companies and Philippine television networks at the same time.

In anyway, IBC management and IBC Board of Directors announcement of its plan to do movies will mean the local film industry is headed for an exciting and invigorating start through IBC Films. The announcement is indeed a shot in the arm of the still ailing Filipino film industry.

Aside from this, it also announced its plan to expand its network coverage across the nation and beef up infrastructure and manpower to make it an even bigger player in the industry.

Founded in 2013 with the biggest competitors of Star Cinema and GMA Films enter the rival film production outfit called IBC Films expanded its reach in the entertainment industry with its foray into film production will have a bright future in the movie industry." We will be more aggressive this year. IBC Film will enter into a co-production with established movie producers like Viva Films, Regal Films and OctoArts and maybe even other independents who want to enter co-production deals provided that the project is really good in terms of material," IBC president and CEO Boots Anson-Roa told Yahoo! Southeast Asia.

The network will also be leapfrogging technology by investing in high-definition production equipment with a completely tapeless, digital workflow. It was then she floated the ultimate idea of producing movies made for TV, which to say the least is a very daunting task, but one that has finally become a reality for the third player in the network war called 13 Original Movie (Tuesdays at 8 p.m.) bring “the best of cinema to free IBC,” the ground breaking project brings a precious collection of quality-produced made-for-TV movies featuring Philippine cinema’s biggest superstars and created by the country’s highly acclaimed filmmakers.

IBC is owned by the intercontinental Broadcasting corporation in partnership with Viva Communicationc, Inc. and becoming the media conglomerate network. Now that it is part of this big organization, IBC will play a vital role in providing content actors all media platforms and help spawn groundbreaking possibilities for the growing multi-media group. For its entry into film production, IBC Chairman Eric Canoy shared: "For many countries, like the Philippines, movies have become part of local culture. We want to do our part in reinvigorating the Phlippine movie industry.

That's why we plan to produce more movies than the combined total of the two leading networks."

The IBC team is now headed by Boots Anson-Roa as president and CEO, and Lito Ocampo Cruz as executive vice-president and will be opening its doors to the best and the brightest stars in the industry. The latest to join IBC's growing roster of superstars is the popular.

IBC’s movie production outfit IBC Films, strengthened its position as a major player in the industry after just five months of operation. Despite the industry-wide slump in movie receipts, IBC Films produced 18 films last year, eight of which were box office hits, the most notably such as Journey It Has Been became the highest-grossing first film in the Philippines on its release that year and one of the best memorable blockbusters in Philippine cinema, Dr. Jose Rizal Story captured most of the major awards by local award-giving bodies for this year's Metro Manila Film Festival, For All of My Life, Sweetie I Love You, Utol Namahal Kita, Gayuma: The Movie, Uno, Dos, Takbo and Say the Magic Words, among others of the film production.

For All of My Love received wide international attention, touring 29 festivals and receiving awards from the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival, the Newport Beach International Film Festival, and the Turin Film Festival in Italy. IBC also released 5 movies to commercial theaters in Guam this year. Movies produced by IBC Films were also seen on international TV, such as Canadian TV (DISCTA, Quebec), and TV12 Singapore. Jenine Desiderio and Christopher de Leon movie-starrer Journey It Has Been was seen on Global IBC, while Gayuma: The Movie was scheduled for cable viewing in April 2014.

Indeed, now that the network is powered by a dynamic organization that is already experienced in providing the nation-widest telecommunications coverage in the country, people can expect the best developments in IBC in the coming months. Canoy vowed: "This is a long term investment for us, one that we know will benefit a lot of people, from those behind the cameras to those in front of them. And ultimately, the Filipino audience, whether they're watching on television, hearing the radio from AM and FM, music recording, licensing and merchandising, new media interactive, on their computers, on their mobile phones abd other device. From here in the Philippines or anywhere in the world, we will reach them and they can reach us."

TV front

Meanwhile, on the TV front, IBC's growth has gained considerable momentum in the industry going head to head with the already established networks especially in daytime and primetime viewing. It shall also venture into the global broadcast market to reach out to more Filipinos worldwide.

The Kapinoy network's entertainment division is also gearing towards better noontime and afternoon programming in addition to its primetime lineup, which has been getting impressive ratings.

"On the entertainment frontchanging the landscape, with Janella in Wonderland, Your Heart, My Love and Crazy Little Thing Called Move on primetime that's doing really well. In fact it actually beat the competition in the primetime programs, in the primetime slots last week for soap operas. IBC is likewise firm on its policy to sign more than exclusive contracts with artists.

We beat them twice. We were number one on weeknights last week, so we intend to strengthen the programming all around that, and hopefully we'll be able to sustain and win more week nights. So in terms of programming...we intend to get more superstars, we intend to really produce better local programs," said IBC Executive Vice President Lito Ocampo Cruz.

IBC is set to air new shows for 2012, such as the trend-setting fantasy series My Little Janella, Fairy Girl Princess, Mars Ravelo's Bondying, Out of the Blue, She's Out of My Life, adaption of Frijolito and reality show SM Litrle Stars, K-POP Star Hunt and Top Chef Pilipinas.