Direk Cathy Molina slams stars’ restrictive advertising deals

Cathy Garcia-Molina

There is a reason ABS-CBN actresses Bea Alonzo, Sarah Geronimo and Toni Gonzaga wear wigs in movies directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina.

The director of box-office hits like “One More Chance,” “You Changed My Life” and “My Only U” said these actresses all have shampoo endorsements that prohibit them from cutting, curling or even styling their hair.

The latest actress to don a wig is Liza Soberano, who will be seen in Molina’s “My Ex and Whys” opposite Enrique Gil starting Feb. 15.

If Molina had her way, she said she would make Soberano wear her hair au naturel. “That is why I’m pleading to companies that get an actress to endorse their products to please separate her public persona from the characters she plays in my film and TV shows,” the director stressed.

Molina said that while her actors were thankful to advertisers for trusting them, these endorsements should not hinder talents from doing their jobs effectively.

“They can’t look the same for different roles,” she said. “These companies got them precisely because they’re good actors. Therefore, in order for them to do well in their jobs, they should be able to play different characters convincingly.”

Molina said an actress who played a cancer patient in one of her films was willing, but couldn’t, shave her head because of a shampoo endorsement deal.

Molina pointed out that these endorsement contracts also limit the creativity of her creative team, especially in terms of character development.

“For example, if an actor is endorsing coffee, milk and juice products all at the same time, then this means he cannot drink anything else but water in my movie,” she explained.

“Because of this, we would have to create, for example, a fake coffee brand just so an actor, whose character is supposed to be a coffee lover, could drink one. This makes a scene appear unrealistic sometimes.”

Molina also had this to say to those who may be interested in product-placement advertising. “I want to point out to them that this is your product as much as this is my film. We should meet halfway. This is not a commercial, but a film.”

She stressed, “We should make product intrusion as subtle as possible. It’s normal to serve and eat cake in a film—we do that in real life—but I draw the line at…requests for [product] close-up shots or taglines. I don’t care if they think I’m too strict and grouchy. I refuse to do that.”

Molina said her audience would get turned off “if they’d notice that the product placement is too hard sell. This becomes a distraction and does not help the brand at all.”

“My Ex and Whys,” which was partly shot in South Korea, is Molina’s first film featuring the popular LizQuen love team. She also worked with them in the drama series, “Forevermore,” in 2014.

The film follows the story of Cali Ferrer (Soberano), writer of a blog titled “The Bakit List,” and her ex-boyfriend Gio Martinez (Gil), the unwilling subject of most of her online entries.

“They had a hard time working on this project, especially Liza (Soberano), because the characters they played were very far from who they are in real life,” Molina shared with the Inquirer. “It was hard for them to empathize because they have not yet experienced the pain of a broken heart.”

Molina, who said the story was partly based on her own love experiences, added that the film “has no intention of criticizing men. It’s just that I have not met any guy who has never cheated on a girl—these include my father, brother and male friends.”