Sofia Copolla Masterpiece PRISCILLA To Be Shown in PH Theaters on the 31st!

Just got out of the cinemas this evening after watching Priscilla, the movie starring Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny. This centered on the life and love of Priscilla and the iconic entertainer/actor Elvis Presley. Set in West Germany, she gets invited to be in their home for a party, which started it all.

She was very young, but it was an Elvis appearance (heck he always get the girls from the start), they got close and she daydreamed about him all the time. 

This setup would have been shunned in 2024 (hello cancel culture and grooming), and I bet it would have been worse if people knew about it during those days too. They talked much about what life was like in the US. He dreamed and missed Graceland, talked lengthily what it was like to go back there. He's grown a bit homesick after being stationed for years in Germany. Priscilla then became smitten.

So was he.

After a few months, Elvis went back to the US and she thought that was the end of the relationship. A call came one day, and arrangements were made to have her flown to home soil... and she stayed with him for quite some time to finish her studies.

Life looked perfect, but one could see how their lifestyle was certainly different. While they were together, life was laid with substance abuse and Vegas fun. It felt like no one could stop them.

Then came reality. The popularity, the stardom, the differences, the time away, the women, the continued abuse, being controlling, which started questions about living in it. Is love really enough? Is she really living the dream or is she living a lie?!

Yes, her life would have been a dream for a lot of women. On the surface, it certainly looked like it was good. In reality, there were a lot of things that didn't feel quite normal. If you were in her shoes, you would ask if it was still worth being together. Her journey, their relationship, her desires, this will all be told in-depth in the movie.

This is a soft burn, written and directed by the award winning Sofia Copolla. This will be shown in theaters come January 31st nationwide and is released in the Philippines by CreaZion Studios Inc. (same people who got The Childe which stars Kim Seon-Ho and When Evil Lurks in 2023) represented by their EVP Real Florido. You may follow their social channels by searching CreaZion Studios or visit their official website creazionstudios.com for more about this.

For fans of the rock and roll icon Elvis, Priscilla and Liza Marie, you would definitely want to see this with fresh eyes as this will be in the point of view of the wife. The 60's and 70's was certainly different, totally americana... and I experienced that in Priscilla. Make sure you watch it!

Travelers, Get Ready for PTAA's 9th International Travel Trade Expo 2024!

Travel Tour Expo 2024 is happening this year with the theme "The World Within Reach".

Ms. Patria Chiong the TTE Chairperson says "With the help of our sponsors DOT, Unionbank and media partners, the Travel and Tour Expo is happening this year. People are raring to travel, with places that work with their budget, ease of travel and the DOT's "Love Philippines " campaign, PTAA is here to make sure people can make memories in the country. We are confident to exceed the goals of the DOT, people are raring to go out and restrictions are lifted. We are giving travelers choices, it just boils down to budget and in the TTE we've got that. From 3 to 5 star hotels, tour packages, special trips, we can offer to different needs of passengers and customers. We are looking forward to the future, way beyond this event and there's really no way to go but up! I would say it would be up by 20-25 percent (a ballpark figure). The ASEAN, Israel, Taiwan is going to be popular as they are Visa Free."

There will be 4 halls occupied and it has been sold out to travel boards, agents, and businesses. One side will be delegated to business to business markets and exhibitors, and all these will be open to the public on February 2 and 3. 

Sellers will include international offers for Australia, Balkan, China, Dubai, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, the US and Vietnam. 

As of now they have over 68 sellers and 220 registered buyers in the event. Gates will open 10am on the first day, and 9:30 am on the second day. The TTE secretariat wants to emphasize that we all need to help the DOT succeed as this will be a public and private sector cooperation. The Bayanihan spirit still exists. So see you at SMX 2F Function rooms because this will be big! Unionbank card holders will also get perks especially on the opening day plus some eGC's up for grabs.

There will also be raffle draws, prizes, surprises, entertainment numbers, and an auction for trips so make sure you bring your budget on the day!

PHILIPPINES Win Big at Acer's Asia Pacific Predator League 2024

From a gamer spectator such as me, I always knew the Philippines would fare well in the recent regional competition, Acer's Predator League 2024. At the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Philippines, fans flocked to this venue to watch DOTA 2 and Valorant country representatives (in Asia Pacific) as they battle it out to see who's best in this region.

There were over 26 world class teams who were raring to do their best in the 2 day event. The prelims was fun albeit being a bit uneasy for some teams because they had only one match to qualify for the next round. It certainly wasn't easy to adjust that fast but those who did took advantage of the format and won their respective rounds. It was also fun to also talk to the eSports athletes before they went into the actual match, here's some of them on video!

The international eSports teams also talked about their experience doing the tournament here in Manila. They did expect matches would be hard since some of them are Tier 1 franchise teams, and a lot of them wanted to experience what it feels like being in a match with them. Although some of them lost their matches, they learned a lot in the process and promise to be back with an even greater team soon.

Aside from that, executives from different regions went on to tell us how it's been actually very beneficial to run these events in their respective countries. To say the least, business has been good and they are planning to do the regional Predator League in Malaysia next year. They also want to do it bigger and better in the coming years as they find big value in knowing how name recall plays in the gaming industry and that's exactly why they're number 1 in the market!

PABLO was super good!

The Asia Pacific Predator League was also the best in entertainment. World class Filipino performers showed up and got us partying at the start, between games and in the finale. On day 1 alone, I got my dose of Valorant fare as Ylona Garcia who sang "Entertain Me" when NEON was launched as a character, oh how I love her! Aside from that, Urbanddub, Al James and Donny Pangilinan joined in the fun plus a full Valorant game with SB19 and other Acer influencers made the evening extra epic! Asia's Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo also ended the day with her performance, people were at awe! 

Day 2 had Josh Cullen, bands Sandwich and Spongecola, Pablo (who did a new single on stage) and KZ Tandingan give us the absolute best in Philippine talents, it was like a full blown concert with the games on the finale day.

And in the end, it was a sweet day for the Philippines as Team Secret won the Valorant championship and Blacklist International Rivalry won the DOTA2 championship. Both teams from the Philippines won 65,000 dollars and their own Predator Shield. Initially, BOOM Esports was actually favored to challenge Team Secret, but Japan's FAV Gaming surprised them all. They got 20,000 dollars together with Execration (for DOTA2), and BOOM Esports + Team Flash got 3rd Place with a 7,500 pot each. Team Aster and IHC Esports got the same for DOTA2. Intel MVP awards went to Jeremy “Jremy” Cabrera (for Valorant) and Marc Polo “Raven”Fausto (for DOTA2), getting a prize of 10,000 dollars too.

If you're up to it, some of the performances are already up on my TikTok account so just search @kumagcow there, and some of the country interviews were done live on my FB page (just search kumagcow) as it's all there!

 

ProPak Philippines Starts 4th Edition This Month

ProPak Philippines is getting their engines running for the 4th International Processing and Packaging Trade Event this coming January 31st to February 2nd at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Philippines. This is their 4th time doing it and this means there's a lot to learn with industry trends, business connections to make and starting of investments and opportunities in the country. They will also be having various companies showcase their products, do workshops for the public that would be beneficial for local and international corporations.

The press conference was attended by Ms. Rungphech Rose Chitanuwat Country General Manager for Informa Markets - Philippines, Ms. Blesila A. Lantayona the Undersecretary for Regional Operations Group Department of the Trade and Industry, Engr. Higinio Porte Jr. the President of the Philippine Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Ms. Julieta Austria the President of Philippine Association of Food Technologists Inc., and Mr. Ustadz Alex M. Sultan, PhD the President of Halal International Chamber of Commerce and Industries of the Philippines Incorporated.

Ms. Rungpek says "This will be our 4th edition, the 4th time we are holding ProPak Philippines in the country. There were over 50 seminar sessions from 40 speakers from around the world in the past ProPak. We are doing this because there is big potential in the Philippines. The Philippines is more into MSME and we are partnering with Thailand industries to give more options for sustainable packaging, like what the Philippines is doing in paper products. This is also free of charge, and there will be entertainment, plus various business innovations you can adapt from the show."

Ms. David from DTI ROG says "We are excited for the partnership we have in the event, the one town one Philippines is perfect for this. ProPak is aligned with our programs, it is a commitment of helping MSME's in the next three years. It is up for more growth, and they will showcase in different pavilions more ways to do product development, in transformative and we support this all the way!"

Engr. Porte Jr. of Pascual Laboratories shares "The industry is growing. Much of it though is still with foreign brands, it increased even before the pandemic. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam have programs to help their local manufacturers and I wish the same would happen in the Philippines. Our raw materials are expensive because they are imported. The packaging materials also have the same fate. The market is big, and it is still growing. From cardiovascular, diabetic, oncology and mental health medicines, it has grown in demand even during the pandemic. We have r&d for natural and synthetic ones, do logistics and distribution, manufacture and partner with government agencies."

Ms. Austria of the PAFT says "Exhibitions like these serve as knowledge exchange and best for professionals and stakeholders. We are glad to be able to participate and share our expertise for the advancement of food technology in the country."

Mr. Ustadz Alex Sultan shared a lot of Halal pointers in consumer goods and says "As one of the Halal certification bodies in the Philippines, we prove products and services are free from harmful substances. Halal is for all and not just for Muslim only. It is very simple, if it is Haram, then it is not Halal. There is a global market for it. It promotes healthy living, organic, demands cleanliness. Thank you to ProPak as we partnered with them last year. We believe we can't run alone, we need to do that for everyone. They have been so enthusiastic in providing us a lot of products and manufacturers, and partner with them. We will be there for a seminar too."

ProPak Philippines is also going to be bigger this year. They will be occupying three halls as there will be over 200 exhibitors and 10,000 people to attend the event. This will be beneficial for MSME's and entrepreneurs. Plus more sessions facilitated by AIP Institute of Packaging, the DOST, Philippine Board of Investments and Philippine Printing Technical Foundation, Production and Operations Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Association of Food Technologists Inc. and the Halal International Chamber of Commerce and Industries of the Philippines and UP. 

If you want to be part of it, just get in touch with Danah Castillo via danah.francisco@informa.com or their direct line +632-85811921.