Striking while the iron is hot, DonBelle to headline ABS-CBN Films’ return to the big screen

Donny Pangilinan (left) and Belle Mariano in “He’s Into Her’

The popular tandem of Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano (DonBelle) will be bannering the return of ABS-CBN Film Productions Inc. to the big screen later this year, according to its new head, Kriz Anthony Gazmen.

“It’s only fitting that DonBelle will star in our first film (titled “An Inconvenient Love”) after the pandemic. We had wanted to experiment on a lot of stuff, and thankfully, ‘He’s Into Her’ became one of our hits back when it was so difficult to build stars. The company really grappled with what platforms to utilize. While this was happening, we were able to create another love team,” Gazmen told reporters in a recent virtual interview.

DonBelle appeared in two seasons of “He’s Into Her” and in the digital film “Love is Colorblind.” Last July, Star Cinema uploaded on social media a teaser poster featuring Pangilinan and Mariano, that included an inverted text that said, “Open 24Ever,” in the background.

“We have so much faith in DonBelle. We thought that we should strike while the iron is hot. We’re just so excited to see what they can offer for their supporters because, this time around, they will be dealing with a more difficult material,” Gazmen added.

More shows

Star Cinema, one of two film production arms of ABS-CBN Films, will also be releasing two full-length features in December: “Partners in Crime,” starring Vice Ganda and Ivana Alawi, and “Labyu With an Accent,” with Jodi Sta. Maria and Coco Martin. Both projects are entries to the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival.

Jodi Sta. Maria

During the interview, Gazmen also revealed a plan for Sta. Maria to conduct “mentoring sessions” with younger Kapamilya talents. He recalled how the idea came about: “When the MMFF film was first presented to Jodi, we also talked about what she wanted to do with the material. I was surprised when I observed that she was ‘super enlightened.’ It felt like I was really talking to a psychologist,” Gazmen recalled.

Mentoring

“I was so impressed that a senior actor like her would really take the time to study the material and do her homework; so I told Jodi that since ABS-CBN also handles Rise Artist Studio (talent management), maybe we can schedule a mentoring session with her. I really want our stable of artists to have the kind of discipline that she has even while they are still starting. She said ‘yes’ and I’m so grateful,” he said.

We then asked Gazmen to share his forecast in the coming months, to explain what good things he expects to happen in the future that encouraged him and his team to organize big screen releases later this year. To this, Gazmen said: “I can’t say much because I don’t want to preempt our plans. What I can share with you is this: We tried to release different materials during the pandemic, such as ‘He’s Into Her,’ ‘Hello Stranger,’ and the KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo-Daniel Padilla) sitcom, ‘The House Arrest of Us.’ Thank God they did quite well. This only shows that we still know how to communicate to our audiences. This was what gave us the confidence to push through.”

Kriz Gazmen

Gazmen continued: “I also observed that because of the pandemic, the audiences are really hungry for content. This was while we were studying different models on how we could sustain the health of the company. I consider it a blessing in disguise that we lost our franchise because we were forced to innovate. We discovered that there were a lot of companies willing to partner with us, to help us financially, because they believed in our content. We also learned so much in relation to partnerships, particularly with the streaming platforms because that’s where the audiences are now. That also encouraged us to go back to the theaters.”

Taking risks

Gazmen admitted to feeling nervous at the idea that ABS-CBN Films is “taking so many risks with its decision to do theatrical releases now, but at the end of the day, we really have no choice. Moviemaking is our business. We still believe in the power of movies being consumed in the theaters,” he explained.

They also found it encouraging that people are now lining up at the box-office to watch Marvel movies. Gazmen said they received updates as to how much these Hollywood films, particularly “Doctor Strange” and “Jurassic Park,” earned from ticket sales. “People are no longer afraid of COVID-19. They have adapted and are going back to the cinemas. We can’t compete with spectacle movies, but we believe we have a fighting chance as long as we have great content,” he pointed out. “Yes, we feel the pressure, but we also believe that everything with high risk, when managed carefully, will eventually deliver high rewards.” INQ