Nestlé shorts star some of Philippines’ best actors

The short film is something like the Everest of filmmaking: It’s daunting, but it’s there. Unitel commercial director Jun Reyes says it is the ultimate challenge in storytelling—especially in a new form like “branded content,” which must “spotlight a product without being hard-sell.”

Reyes, who directed the documentary, “The Last Journey of Ninoy,” explains: “The brand should be integral to the story, but in the end the film must also entertain.” He teamed up with scriptwriter Rody Vera for the project and joined eight other commercial and film directors to craft 10 shorts for Nestlé’s “Kasambuhay Habambuhay” series. They are A/F Benaza, Carlo Directo, Henry Frejas, Raul Jorolan, Sid Maderazo, Stephen Ngo, Chris Martinez and Jeorge Agcaoili. Martinez has two entries.

The series was inspired by BMW’s splashy shorts series, “The Hire,” which starred Clive Owen and made waves on the Internet from 2001 to 2002, says Reyes. “The Hire” tapped filmmakers Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie, John Woo and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu among others, and brought “branded content” to a new high, attracting an untapped demographic, “future buyers of the luxury car,” relates Reyes.

Reyes’ short film “Silup,” or pulis (cop) in reverse, has Sid Lucero in the title role. His visual trick, he notes, is juxtaposing a gun alongside milk cans (Bear Brand)—the threat of violence and the promise of health in one frame.

“We had total creative freedom,” Reyes says, recalling that “laughter and tears” greeted the films when the anthology was screened for Nestlé officers and employees recently. “There was drama, romance-comedy, musical, fantasy, suspense, adventure, mockumentary, even a Shakespearean parody.”

Nestlé has teamed up with Star Cinema to release the shorts, which will premiere at SM Megamall on June 10. Each short will also serve as curtain raiser when Star Cinema’s “Forever and a Day,” starring KC Concepcion and Sam Milby, opens in cinemas on June 15.

To mark Nestlé’s 100 years and as a special Independence Day treat, the shorts will be shown for free at selected SM Cinemas nationwide (Megamall, Southmall, Rosales, Davao, Cebu) on June 11 and 12. A TV airing is in the works.

The shorts series features the country’s top actors from rival stations ABS-CBN and GMA 7: John Lloyd Cruz, Solenn Heusaff, Eugene Domingo, Marvin Agustin, Eddie Garcia, Dominic Roco, Dennis Padilla, Kiray, Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Robert Seña, Isay Alvarez and Gloria Romero.