Solar signs up Brillante Mendoza

Brillante Mendoza

Award-winning filmmaker Brillante “Dante” Mendoza has signed a five-picture deal with Solar Entertainment Corp., its president Wilson Tieng announced last week. Mendoza will also sit as creative director of Solar Films, the company’s film production arm, Tieng added.

First in line among the five films is the horror-thriller “Sapi,” starring Dennis Trillo.

“We felt flattered when Mendoza came to us,” Tieng said. “I’m sure there are other film companies interested in signing him up.”  Mendoza won best director at Cannes International Film Festival in 2009 for “Kinatay.”

“We wanted to go back to film production after ‘Wapakman’ in 2009,” said Tieng during the recent media launch of Solar News at the Hyatt Hotel Casino, Manila.

Same vision

Tieng said he had been impressed with Mendoza since the director made “Serbis,” which competed in Cannes in 2008. “We have the same vision,” he said of Mendoza.

Solar will also distribute Mendoza’s Venice entry “Thy Womb,” which will open in local theaters on Nov. 28.

Solar operates a number of cable channels such as ETC, Chase, 2nd Avenue (which airs on RJTV) and Talk TV, a joint venture with Southern Broadcasting Network. It launched its all-news channel last January.

The company is likewise into distribution of films by Paramount Pictures and Universal; the latest of these is “The Bourne Legacy.” Solar is bankrolling the “American Idols Live! Tour” on Sept. 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, through a partnership with Ovation Productions.