The Road to pave the way to Hollywood fame

We want to make it a special event. We want to make it special for everybody. Of course, we can’t watch live like the Oscars but it’s a step. We will make sure that we attend the red carpet event in our best,” said Direk Yam Laranas on the forthcoming premiere of the GMA Films movie “The Road.” The film has been picked up in a distribution deal by Freestyle Releasing and it will have its gala premiere on May 9 at the Mann Chinese Theater in Los Angeles , California.

Direk Yam said if they have the means, he would love to bring all of the stars of the movie led by Marvin Agustin, Alden Richards, Barbie Forteza and Renz Valerio who graced the presscon announcing the release of “The Road” in US and Canada.

“We want to have a very positive response and we hope many people would come and watch,” Direk Yam added further. “I am not speaking on being a blockbuster because we are only showing on limited cinemas in the US, but all around the US. But we are lucky because the revenue of the screenings is not only twenty percent but eighty percent of the revenue would come from videos on demand. We hope for that one whole week run of The Road, we can get as much audience as we can.”

The good thing with their partnership with Freestyle Releasing, according to Direk Yam, is that the company tapped a PR group which handled PR for “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Sideways” and they want GMA and Direk Yam on board every single step of the way.

“They would always consult us on how we would want the PR campaign to go. We want to show this film to as many Filipinos as possible but Freestyle wants to cross over, not just the Pinoy audience, because they feel and really believe that it can get a big market from the American market and not just Pinoys.”

In fact, Direk Yam is going to the US on March 6 to deliver the materials for the promo blitz. And he’s hoping that all the actors could come and grace the premiere. “The variables are the budget and the visas but if you ask me now and GMA says yes, we would want to bring all our stars with us,” said the director.

“I am very excited for GMA in this history-making and pioneering development for The Road. This opens tons of possibilities on the international arena not just for GMA Films or GMA Network but also for GMA Pinoy TV. This only proves the quality entertainment of international standards is highly important to the network,” added Direk Yam.

Freestyle is releasing “The Road” in commercial cinemas in the US to about 50 to 100 cinemas all over the US. These are non art houses but mainstream cinemas. The movie is set for release on May 11 and it will run for a week. On that same date, “The Road” will also be simultaneously released in digital home video format (DVD) and will be made available via subscription-based and online distribution platforms including Video-on-Demand (VoD), Amazon Prime, Netflix and iTunes.

Aside from this, “The Road” is joining in the official competition at the 30th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. The Belgian festival will be from April 5 to 17 and it is one of the biggest genre festivals in Europe.

“The Road” is also in competition at the 8th Fantaspoa-Int’l Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre, Brazil, the first fantastic film festival in Brazil and is recognized as the biggest genre festival in Latin America, which receives around 700 submissions to create a unique program with approximately 150 films (90 features and 60 shorts). This will be held from May 4 to May 20.

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