LOCAL SHOWBIZ: 35 years of entertainment

By MARIO E. BAUTISTA

January 29, 2018

1983 is best remembered as the year Ninoy Aquino was killed at the Tarmac and the tragic incident became a catalyst in the subsequent People Power Revolution.

The Filipino movie industry was at its heydays then. The best film that year was Ishmael Bernal’s domestic drama, “Broken Marriage”, produced by Regal Films. It won best picture and Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon won acting awards as a warring couple who separate but would later reconcile.

The reigning film companies then were Regal, Viva and Robbie Tan’s Seiko Films that’s famous for making titillating, suggestive sexy flicks. One of Viva’s biggest hits that year is “Init sa Magdamag”, a sexy potboiler directed by Laurice Guillen and starring Lorna Tolentino. That year, Viva also successfully launched to stardom a teenage action star, Bong Revilla, supported by his own father, Ramon Revilla Sr., in “Dugong Buhay”, a big hit.

The late Fernando Poe Jr. as Action King and Dolphy as Comedy King were still very much active then. Da King’s big blockbuster that year is “Roman Rapido” while Dolphy’s hit was “Tengteng de Sarapen” with his ladylove then, Alma Moreno.

The reigning Movie Queens then were Sharon Cuneta from Viva and Maricel Soriano from Regal. Sharon was launched in 1981 by Sining Silangan in “Dear Heart” with ka-love team Gabby Concepcion, a smash hit. Sharon’s late dad Mayor Pablo Cuneta then collaborated with Vic del Rosario to produced the next two Sharon-Gabby films that both did well at the box office, “PS I Love You” and “My Only Love”.

In 1983, Viva tried to pair her with other actors, like Rowell Santiago in “Friends in Love” and the late Miguel Rodriguez in “To Love Again”, with lukewarm results. Maricel Soriano was luckier in a film produced by Viva in 1983, “Saan Darating ang Umaga”, a huge blockbuster that even gave her a best supporting actress award. By 1984, Sharon was paired again with Gabby in “Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin” and it became a huge blockbuster.

The local movie industry was really so active then. Attendance in theaters was at an all time high, with more than 250 films produced every year and anywhere from two to three new movies opening in theaters every weekend.

But the Asian Financial Crisis came along. The cost of film production escalated and consequently affected movie production. The industry also suffered because of onerous taxes on equipment and film stocks, very high amusement taxes on ticket sales, the rise of cable TV, and later on, film piracy.

Failing box office receipts of local films caused many smaller outfits to eventually close shop. The high taxes and production costs made ticket prices quite prohibitive and made people choose to just wait for pirated DVD’s they can watch at the comfort of their own homes.

Regal Films resorted to making the so called “pito-pito” films, quickies done in seven days, which became the forerunner of what is eventually known now as indie films. Despite the fact that production is rushed, “pito pito” films harvested new talented directors, foremost among them being, Lav Diaz, whose works are now recognized in film festivals abroad. Another indie director whose films were acclaimed is Jeffrey Jeturian, who did award-winning films, “Sana Pag-ibig Na”, “Tuhog” and “Pila Balde”.

By the late 90s, only 40 to 50 full length local films are being produced annually. From using 35 mm. films, movie makers turned to digital filmmaking, which is less costly. Now, everyone just uses high tech videocameras in making films. Production companies became more frugal with their budgets and the first to be affected are action films that are expensive to make.

Action films used to be the bulwark of the local film industry, with action stars calling the shots in the projects they choose to make. But now, action films are few and far between and most producers would rather do romcoms or romantic dramas with so called “hugot” lines that are much easier to make.

So what does the future hold for the local film industry? As of now, Star Cinema remains to be the biggest film factory since they also have the biggest stable of stars both in the movie and TV industries. They discover, build up and nurture their own contract stars through their various reality shows and talent searches like “Pinoy Big Brother”, “The Voice”, “Pilipinas Got Talent”, “Tawag ng Tanghalan”, etc.

Viva and Regal are still active in producing films. The advantage of Viva is they have their own Viva Artist Agency and their own set of stars, something which Regal lacks as they just borrow the stars of ABS-CBN and GMA-7 for their own movie projects.

The proliferation of local film festivals that give seed money for funding and cash prizes to those who join them also helps keep the local film industry alive. The pioneer in this is Cinemalaya of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which has been going on for about 13 years. Then there’s Cinema One Digitals Filmfest, Cine Filipino Filmfest, ToFarm Filmfest, QCinema Filmfest, SinagMaynila Filmfest and other regional film festivals. They have produced some good local films through the years, some of which earned well when distributed and released theatrically, like “That Thing Called Tadhana”, “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” and “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”. Some of them also won honors in film festivals abroad. The indie film scene continues to be very active with a new breed of filmmakers and one of the leading lights is Brilliante “Dante” Mendoza, who has won the Cannes Filmfest best director award for his dark crime drama, “Kinatay”.

Filipino politicians, like actors who become senators and congressmen, continue to pledge that they will assist the ailing local film industry but up to now, they have not done anything really substantial to be of great help to local movies. They say they will move to ease the multiple taxes on producers, theatre operators and movie patrons, abd the exemption of the 30 percent tax on locally produced movies but up to now, these are just words words words and empty promises. They should really emulate the Korean government who is giving all out support to their own local film and TV industry which have both become successful in capturing a bigger international market.

IN TELEVISION, the long running shows then were “Eat Bulaga” (which started in 1979 and is still going on), “Student Canteen” (‘Eat Bulaga’s” rival which eventually folded up), “John en Marsha”, “Iskul Bukol”, “Champoy”, Kuya Germs’ “GMA Supershow”, “Flor de Luna”, “Anna Liza”.

The reigning TV stations then were RPN-9 and IBC-13 at Broadcast City in Capitol Hills, Diliman.

But things changed after the Marcoses were expelled from Malacanang during the People Power Revolution. The Lopezes regained control of Channel 2 which became Banahaw Broadcasting during martial law. It reverted back to its old name, ABS-CBN, and got back their own studios at Broadcast Center Bohol Ave. which was put under the Benedictors under martial rule.

With the help of Regal, ABS-CBN produced new local shows like “Palibhasa Lalake” and “Rumor, Facts and Humor”. Later, again in association with Mother Lily Monteverde of Regal Films, they also put up their own movie company, Star Cinema, in 1993 with “Adan Ronquillo” starring Bong Revilla, a co-production between Star and Regal. ABS-CBN also put up its own talent center discovering and building up new stars, eventually called Star Magic, and now has the list of the biggest and busiest stars in local showbiz.

ABS-CBN is now also the busiest TV network in the country while Star Cinema is the most successful local film company, noted for making countless romantic comedies. It has branched out into recording with Star Music and also in putting up its own publishing arm that produces magazines and books.

ABS-CBN is known as the Kapamilya network and its biggest competitor is GMA-7 which is known as the Kapuso network. For a while, there was a third major player, TV 5, known as the Kapatid network. But TV5’s foray into the big time was not sustained despite the billions invested into it by tycoon Manny Pangilinan. They pirated so many big stars from other networks but still, they failed to achieve their targetted ratings and they’re now known as a sports network.

The biggest competion that FREE TV is facing from other digital platforms. There are now companies producing content material not only for cable stations for pay TV but also for the web and for youtube, which has a proliferation of youtube channels that you can view for free.

Almost everyone can now produce or star in his own TV movie, host his own show or do whatever act you want to do and just post it on the internet. Who knows? Your might go viral and you’ll suddenly be an instant star.

FREE TV earns from advertising, but with the networks now charging exorbitant fees for the airing of TV commercials, some business establishments are finding other ways of advertising their products. They do this on the internet and social media, where their materials can be made at a much cheaper production cost and can be shown without the extravagant rates charged by TV networks.

It’s really a changing world. And at a very fast pace. Technology that is forever advancing makes all these changes on the way we entertain ourselves very possible. In the meantime, there’s the audience. Some well meaning people try to improve their taste for the movies or programs they watch with shows that aim to enlighten and improve their intelligence and level of social awareness. But the average movie or TV viewer is not interested in this. They just want to be entertained and entertained but endless teleseryes, by mindless movie fantasies and romances, by gossip on the lives of celebrities. In the end, we really get the movies and TV shows that we deserve.