Bea Alonzo. Image: screengrab from Facebook/1521 The Movie
A representative of the “1521” producer addressed claims of Bea Alonzo’s disappointing experiences during the film shooting, and stressed that they have fulfilled what was stated in their contract with the actress.
In a statement sent to INQUIRER.net, film producer Francis Ho’s rep refuted and made clarifications on each of the claims by Alonzo’s staff.
The rep asserted that Ho paid for Alonzo and her team’s hotel accommodation during filming. However, the actress brought with her additional staff “which is not in the signed contract, so hindi sinagot ng producer ang (so the producer did not pay for the) additional room.”
The rep further noted that the movie actors stayed at high-end hotels in Palawan, hence their rooms included showers and even swimming pools.
Alonzo also allegedly did not show up during the fitting schedule for her film costume, then later “wanted to redesign the costume according to her style.”
“She refused to have [her costume] fixed by the production-design-contracted tailor. So she ended up paying for the repair herself since she refused the services of the production tailor,” the rep said.
The producer’s camp further belied claims that the talents and dancers were not compensated; that there were no transportation services for them; and that their snacks and drinks were provided by the actress. As per the former’s statement, there were instances when Alonzo offered to buy food for the talents but that it’s not true that she was the only one providing those.
“All talents were paid. We have payroll receipts from all talents,” the rep stressed. “Dancers volunteered their services (free talents) because they believed in the mission of ‘1521.’ They offered their services for free. There was no promise of compensation or picture taking with Bea.”
The rep also responded to several other claims by Alonzo’s staff and clarified that the producer had rented and bought filming equipment himself; that the air-conditioned tent at the filming was delayed only for the first three days of shooting; that the film director Michael Barder suffered an injury because of an accident during break time and not during the filming; and that real bolos were only used for still photos and not during fight scenes.
“Everything that the producer agreed to in contract with Bea, he fulfilled,” the producer’s camp stated. “Bea had unreasonable demands and expectations not stated in the contract that the producer did not accommodate because it was not agreed upon and/or they were unreasonable.”
They also noted that Alonzo’s “1521” co-star, Hollywood actor Danny Trejo, had no complaints regarding the film production and has remained “good friends” with producer Ho.
Alonzo has yet to publicly comment on the matter as of this writing.
Aside from Alonzo and Trejo, “1521” also stars Michael Copon, Hector David Jr., Costas Mandylor and Maricel Laxa. The film is set to hit US theaters on Oct. 2. /ra