This morning was nice as we were able to talk to Pepe Herrera, famed actor and theater persona, starring in his film called BANTAY BAHAY under Regal Films. This is directed by Jose Javier Reyes who also joined via zoom during the mediacon.
Direk Joey said "I already had so much admiration for Pepe since I do see him in his previous projects and in theatre. I was working on this material for a while now and I did intentionally make this character for him.. he was always in our mind even prior to shooting this."
Pepe said "Direk Joey made me realize how it was possible to work within a specific time, his system was the best I've ever experienced among those that I've made in the past. We start at 10 and stop at 10pm, sometimes even earlier, and use the time to bond with the rest of the crew. I was prepared to be scolded initially, but turns out he only shouted once and it was funny. It was the best experience with him, and if there's a chance I'd love to work with him again."
The film was shot in a mansion in Sariaya, Quezon. They saw how naturally scary it was especially the basement. The house according to owners was a pre-war property and they put women and children in the basement in case Japanese would come. They didn't get to shoot in the basement because it was also claustrophobic. To give you an idea, they have posted a tour of it on the Regal Entertainment YT channel too.
Here's our interview with PEPE HERRERA during the mediacon
If you want to watch the film, it will be out in theaters nationwide this May 1st. Pepe is a very talented actor, and I hope in some way, you get to know him a little better in the video as he talked more about his personal life.
I could have made a book out of the conversations we had with The Comedy Crew and Alex Calleja a few nights ago. Aside from the laughs, we had a glimpse of the serious side of this emerging industry. We got schooled about how they've managed to survive the pandemic and the tough industry per se. Alex is no stranger to comedy, he's been doing this for ages that much of the comedians in his team attested they watched him when they were in primary school (emphasis on he's that old).
Aside from Alex Calleja, The Comedy Crew is composed of Israel Buenaobra, Mak Navarez, Jeps Gallon, Yuki Horikoshi, Winer Aguilar, Doc Ramon Cabochan, Anthony Andres, Dawit Tabonares, Rex Milora, Grease Junio, Schneider Maxino, Marlon Cadag, Franz Opinaldo, Victor Obera, CS Dela Pena, Professor David Blattner, Jimberly Villanueva and Trixie Corpez.
Here's some serious stuff we talked about first during the press conference
Here's where Alex Calleja shared why he should tell new comedians about changing their acts and not commit career ending mistakes early on as part of The Comedy Crew
Here's some of the jokes they cracked that evening!
Alex is behind the countless comedy shows in different networks. You could say he had his baptism of fire in the late 2000's and learned the ropes. He knew where comedians failed (shared his secrets so they don't make career ending decisions) and made sure no one is left behind. This sparked the formation of The Comedy Crew. These dudes are funny AF, and we had them do a few samples of their kind of comedy during the press conference. Yes, it's quite cerebral. I asked if they see the need to educate the Filipino crowd but he says "First of all, it's not the fault of the audience if they didn't laugh at out jokes. The fault is ours. There's no such thing as an uneducated audience, it's our responsibility to adjust. If you know your audience, you choose a joke appropriate for them. That's the wrong mentality. It's like having them watch a movie and if they didn't like your soundtrack... it's not going to be their fault. You need to impress them with whatever genre you produce. You are paid to perform and if they don't laugh at your jokes, it's the comedians fault. It's why we have house rules at the beginning of the show. We use our voice most of the time, and we only ask for the audience's attention by turning off their phones for the duration of the show. We also tell them to tell us if they get offended in one or more acts, we also ask much of the crowd to occupy the front seats because it'll be a mess when they arrive late, we don't want that to happen. We only ask for people to be on time, and that's enough. In fact, I didn't know we were going to talk like this during the press con, I almost want to cry instead of promoting our show in Dubai."
It's so nice to see our brand of comedy will be seen on an international stage and these guys are crazy good.
For those who would want to experience their antics and kind of comedy, Alex and The Comedy Crew (Israel Buenaobra, Jeps Gallon, Mark Navares and Imah Dumagay) is performing at the Comedy Masala in Singapore from March 25 to 26 (sold out shows) and at the Dubai Opera this coming April 13 (Saturday) as part of the celebrations of Dubai Comedy Festival. You can get tickets for the Dubai event from dubaicomedyfest.ae. They also have a show in The Astbury in Poblacion on April 6 at 7PM and Laughtrip Olongapo-Subic (a tour) on March 29, 30, 31 at The Palace in Olongapo, Cork Room at Subic Bay and Source Coffee in Subic too.
You may visit their NEW websites www.alexcalleja.com or www.thecomedycrew.com for more information about their shows. You can also follow Alex Calleja's or The Comedy Crew's official Facebook page for more details about it.
Took the afternoon screenings at Gateway Mall for the Puregold Cinepanalo Film Festival. The entry "A Lab Story" is about two students who find themselves in interesting situations because they had to pair up for an agricultural quiz bee. It definitely felt like a coming of age film.
The teens might have been in different spectrums, one smart, the other not quite, and all they wanted to become was not to end up at last place.
It's fun, very endearing, and you will root for the two lead stars. You're going to also like Donna Cariaga in her element, the funny and quirky moments with her and Kurt screams part 2, we wouldn't be surprised if it had one.
They also had several issues addressed such as the plight of indigenous people, their home, their land and how some of them get abused. It's also about skills, knowing themselves and reaching for their dreams. So really, there's a lot to devour on such a simple looking plot.
This is just one of the entries in the Puregold Cinepanalo Film Festival, there will be several more of these full length films and short film entries that will be shown at Gateway Mall cinemas this weekend. Because as far as quality goes, this looks promising.
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