The women of Sugo

Curtain-Raisers:

• BREAKING NEWS: Unless a last-minute hitch happens, the heirs of the De Leon family which own LVN Studios will sign a definitive agreement with Butch Jimenez (left) and Tony Gloria (right) today transferring the printing and processing equipment of LVN to the two partners to the tune of...P25 million? Contacted for comment, Butch said, "Yes, it’s true." This means that the local movie industry will still have a processing and printing laboratory that can serve its needs. LVN shut down operations on June 30, leaving the film industry in limbo as to where producers would have their negatives processed and printed. With their acquisition of LVN, Butch and Tony consolidate the end-to-end process of movie commercial production whether it be in film, digital or high-definition format. Tony owns and operates Unitel Productions, the top commercial production house, while he and Butch own Optima Digital, the No. 1 post-production house in the country. Now, add LVN Studios which has a monopoly of the movie world’s printing and processing market and that, pardon the pun, completes the picture. Does this mean Butch’s exit from the corporate world of PLDT and his entry back into the movie world? "Not yet," said Butch, smiling.

• Happy trip to Cesar Montano (photo) who is leaving for the States to attend the premiere of his first Hollywood movie, The Great Raid, on July 28 in Washington DC. Topbilled by Benjamin Bratt, The Great Raid will open on Aug. 12 simultaneously in the Philippines and in 1,000 theaters across America. Contrary to rumors, the movie (which had invitational advance screenings here several weeks ago) didn’t go straight to video. The producers simply waited for the right time to release it in theaters.

• The Elbow Room (which used to be frequented by showbiz stars, sports celebrities and VIPs) has moved from Podium to Metrowalk, the new "in" place for beautiful people. Soon to open, Elbow Room will be located at the second floor of Metrowalk’s right wing. It will have 18 imported billiard tables (including Brunswick’s), a more spacious resto-bar (which can also be a venue for live concerts and big functions) and three VIP rooms. Elbow Room’s recreation center is familiar to the elite crowd. Celebrity watchers will surely enjoy the place, too. Watch for Elbow Room’s grand opening.

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At 8:30 tonight, the new GMA adventure-love story series Sugo (dubbed as "adventu-serye") will have its premiere, featuring an all-star cast led by Richard Gutierrez in a dual role as twin brothers, separated at birth, who lead two warring tribes (Richard Gutierrez the Good Guy vs. Richard Gutierrez the Bad Guy, how about that?). These days, Richard is sporting kung-fu-style long hair and it becomes him, doesn’t it? For the action scenes of Sugo (co-directed by Dominic Zapata and Lore Reyes of Mulawin fame), Richard and co-stars were trained and coached by no less than international choreographer Wong Wai Fai, a Hong Kong national who was the action instructor/director of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Anna and the King and Bulletproof Monk.

Richard has two love interests Isabel Oli and Taiwanese actress Joe Chen (Joe Chen Qiao En). Isabel is the girl the twins fall in love with while Joe Chen is the Taiwanese student here for an important mission, whose encounter with Richard sets him off on an adventure.

Isabel, 21, looks vaguely familiar, doesn’t she? Yes, she’s Piolo Pascual’s leading lady in that cute Max’s Chicken commercial where she sheds quiet tears watching Piolo with another girl. That commercial became Isabel’s launching pad to showbiz. She was introduced as Marco Alcaraz’s girlfriend in the ABS-CBN soap It Might Be You (starring Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz).

Her stepping stone to Sugo was her guesting on Extra Challenge where she was host Paolo Bediones’ date.

A native of Cebu, Isabel (real name: Olivia Daycia) finished Information Technology at the Colegio de San Jose Recoletos in Cebu.

"I’ve always wanted to be an actress," said Isabel sans a Cebuano accent.

On her first shooting day for Sugo, she engaged Giselle Sanchez in a hair-pulling spectacle. "It was fun," she said.

Isabel is the youngest among seven children. Her favorite actress is Meg Ryan. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her favorite local actress, Maricel Soriano.

Joe Chen, 25, is familiar to Filipino televiewers who followed her in such hit chinovelas as My MVP Valentine, Lavender, Twin Sisters and Señorita Mei Mei which is currently airing also on GMA. Joe Chen deliberately stayed away from the media during the shooting of her scenes in Sugo. However, Funfare was able to get a transcript of an exclusive interview she did with a GMA staffer. Here are excerpts (translated from Chinese to English):

What made you accept a role in Sugo?

"I was here to promote Twin Sisters and I was impressed by your country. When I read the script of Sugo, I thought that the role was similar to my personality so I accepted it. Like Mei Li, I’m very adventurous, too. I’m a lively person.The GMA artists and the directors are very good. I deliver my lines in Chinese and my co-stars deliver theirs in Tagalog. I play a typical foreigner who doesn’t understand what the people around her are saying. It came naturally for me because I didn’t understand a single word they were saying."

How do you find Richard?

"Nice and handsome. When I first met him, I thought he was really long-haired. Then I learned that he was wearing an ‘extension.’ I’m not fluent in English so we didn’t talk much. He would ask me if I was bothered by the heat and explain that it’s really hot in the Philippines."

Tell us about Señorita Mei-Mei.

"It’s sort of a comedy. It’s funny, very different from Sugo. I play a demure, wealthy señorita who easily gets annoyed, especially when I’m chased by paparazzi. My leading man is Jason Hsu. I’ve known him for a long time now; we’ve done four shows together. I’m comfortable working with him. Before, whenever we did romantic scenes, we would chew gums first so that our breaths would smell sweet and fresh. But now, sometimes I would kid Jason by eating garlic and he would say that he didn’t like me anymore."

Are you just friends or is there something romantic between the two of you?

"We’re just friends. It’s impossible for us to be romantically involved because I think he’s chubby and he thinks I’m noisy."

What’s your ideal man?

"I prefer a shy and quiet man because I’m an open and talkative person, and I want someone who is willing to listen. I have no boyfriend right now. But I hope to find one in the Philippines because guys here are cute – with big eyes. I like big eyes and strong muscles, too."

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