Warner Bros. acquires rights to Mga Munting Tinig!

As you must have noticed, there’s an exclamation point in today’s headline because the story I’m about to tell is something(!) exciting, something(!) we should all be proud of, something(!) worth celebrating.

Yes, Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired in-country theatrical and home video rights to Mga Munting Tinig (Small Voices), an Audience Favorite Award Winner at the recent Palm Springs International Film Festival. The acquisition makes it the first Filipino film ever to successfully close such a distribution deal with a big Hollywood studio.

The announcement was made yesterday by Francis Soliven, General Manager of Warner Bros. Pictures International Distribution (Philippines), and Rodolfo Confesor, Managing Director of Warner Home Video (Philippines).

"Mga Munting Tinig is a shining contribution to the Warner Bros. library of titles, and we are honored to distribute it locally. We’re proud of these Filipino artists whose talents and achievements are world-class," said Soliven.

"We are most privileged to release this critically acclaimed film on home video. We hope this marks the renaissance of locally crafted movies for the global market," said Confesor.

Directed, co-written and co-produced by acclaimed Filipino director Gil M. Portes, Mga Munting Tinig is a heartwarming and inspirational story of a young teacher, Melinda (Filipino star Alessandra de Rossi), who tries to make a difference when she is sent to teach elementary school in a poor remote village.

Gil said, "I am overwhelmed and honored by the commitment of Warner Bros. Pictures. I will give it my all to make sure that this historic first local distribution deal with a Hollywood studio will be the start of a new partnership, a new direction for Philippine cinema."

How did Mga Munting Tinig catch the attention of Warner Bros.?

The movie was shown in November last year as one of the 10 New Asian Classics at the American Film Institute’s Los Angeles International Film where it won praises from a mixed audience of Filipinos, Americans and other foreigners. During the post-screening photo session, with Gil and Alessandra being showered with congratulatory kisses by the impressed crowd, an American and a Filipina-looking companion handed Gil a calling card which Gil, unfortunately, misplaced.

"Back in the hotel," recalled Gil, "I was talking about the lost card when an executive from Recuerdo Films, co-distributor of the movie abroad, told me that he retrieved the card which turned out to be that of a Warner Bros. executive in-charge of film distribution."

To make a long story short, Gil got in touch with the Warner Bros. guy who, Gil would find out, was married to a Filipina.

"The wife told me that her husband liked the movie so much and he was deadset on working for the acquisition of its distribution rights."

This acquisition follows on the heels of the recent purchase of the film by Mongrel Media, the Toronto-based top Canadian specialty film distributor, for all distribution rights in Canada. Mga Munting Tinig has consistently played to sold-out international film festival audiences since its world premiere in Toronto, US premiere at the AFI in Los Angeles, and in Palm Springs, where two more screenings were added due to popular demand. This festival hit was in jury competition at the recent Bangkok International Film Festival in an elite group of 12 films, such as Talk To Her, The Man Without A Past, Frida and The Quiet American, and has been invited to upcoming international film festivals in Santa Barbara, Cleveland; Palm Beach; Paris; Edinburgh; Karlovy Vary, Copenhagen; Sydney and Melbourne.

Mga Munting Tinig is a joint venture between CAP Philippines, Inc. and Teamwork Productions film, produced by Gil Portes and Ray Cuerdo, written by Gil Portes, Adolf Alix and Senedy Que, and starring Alessandra de Rossi, Dexter Doria, Gina Alajar and Amy Austria.

Scheduled for theatrical release soon by Warner, Mga Munting Tinig furthers Warner Bros. Pictures’ long-term commitment to the production, acquisition and distribution of local-language films in their country of origin. This strategy allows the company to stay competitive in the market, especially with the rise in appetite for locally-produced products and the emergence of major local entertainment corporate players in the film production and distribution arena.

Flower Drum Song closes on March 16

If you want to catch Flower Drum Song on Broadway, better hurry up. I mean, be there before March 16 when the musical, topbilled by our very own Lea Salonga, will have its farewell show. This piece of sad news comes as a pleasant shock to many poeple, especially Lea’s kababayan back home, who expected the musical to run at least until October and go on a US tour.

Poor sales, according to a brief story in Playbill.

I’m printing verbatim the story written by Andrew Ku and Kenneth Jones in the Playbill Feb. 22, 2003 issue, entitled Bloom Off: Flower Drum Song to Close March 16:

After toughing out the bleak winter, the Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical starring Lea Salonga, will close on March 16.

The cast was notified just prior to the performance on Feb. 21. When the show closes on Sunday, March 16, it will have logged 26 previews and 172 regular performances.

Although Flower had seen upticks in grosses the past two weeks, it was headed towards a competitive spring, when media attention would shift towards two high-profile musical revivals, Gypsy and Nine.

The closing notice comes on the heels of news of an impending national tour, which will commence in Dallas on Sept. 16. A separate, international tour is set to begin in New Zealand early 2004.

Flower Drum Song features music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a new book by David Henry Hwang. The show is based on the original by Hammerstein and Joseph Fields, which was based on the novel by C.Y. Lee. The production is directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom.

After receiving positive reviews during an out-of-town engagement at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum, Flower Drum Song opened on Broadway on Oct. 17, 2002 to mixed reviews. In his Broadway.com Review of the show, a critic wrote: If the new version is intermittently effective, Hwang, Longbottom and company haven’t been able to solve the problems that such an undertaking inevitably presents. Not really comparable to any previous revival or ‘revisal,’ this Flower Drum Song is a worthy, intriguing experiment, and a disappointment. Musical theater fans will certainly want to collect and argue about it. Then they may wish to go home and watch the movie.

In addition to Salonga, Flower Drum Song stars Randall Duk Kim, Jose Llana, Jodi Long, Sandra Allen, Alvin Ing, Allen Liu and Hoon Lee. A national tour of the show is set to begin in Dallas in September, and an international tour is in the works.

How will MTB fare?

It’s much too early to tell how the reformatted ABS-CBN noontime show, now called Masayang Tanghali Bayan (still a.k.a. MTB), will fare against its formidable competition, GMA 7’s Eat, Bulaga! After all, MTB is only days old, now hosted by "old" and the "new" batches, with Willie Revillame, so to speak, back on the saddle with Randy Santiago and John Estrada; Ai-Ai delas Alas forming a trio with Bayani Agbayani and Dennis Padilla; and sexy beauties Cindy Kurleto, Aubrey Miles and Mikey Ferriols (formerly a Bulaga co-host). Bentong has also been retained, with a new comedian named Tado (could his first name be, ehem, Taran?) and twins Jaya and Boom-Boom completing the barkada.

If the new MTB family seems to be at ease with each other it’s because prior to the show’s grand launch last Saturday they had a two-week "warm-up" period and two days of "bonding."

"That’s why we’re familiar with each other already," said Dennis who’s a veteran of noontime shows, having come from GMA 7’s Lunchdate (from 1987 to 1990) and Salu-Salo Together (SST, 1990 to 1995). "It was during the warm-up period that we broke the ice and where we familiarized each other with the show’s games and features."

A former member of Randy Santiago’s Hawi Boys, Dennis has himself become a competent TV host, sometimes unwittingly eclipsing his "mentor."

"I’ve worked with Randy on Lunchdate and SST so we know each other inside-out," said Dennis, a Caloocan City Councilor. "Bayani is not a stranger to Randy and me because he was the scriptwriter for SST. And neither is Ai-Ai who was our co-host on the same shows. But it’s my first time to work with Willie, John and the rest of the MTB guys."

Dennis is present Monday through Saturday, but he has to excuse himself at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays so he can attend the council session at the Caloocan City Hall from 2 to 7 p.m.

He’s happily married to Marjorie Barretto who’s giving birth to their third child (a boy, to be named Leon Esteban) on March 10. Dennis has two children with his ex-wife (marriage annulled), Dianne (12) and Luis (11); while Marjorie has a love child (by Kier Legaspi), Daniella, 10. Between them, Dennis and Marjorie have two children, Julia Francesca (5) and Claudia Isabelle (3).

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