Viva commits to invest P1 billion in content, beefs up streaming platform
MANILA, Philippines — Viva Entertainment, Inc. has committed to invest P1 billion under the new normal, including beefing up content production for its streaming service Vivamax.
“Our commitment is to spend 20 million USD or P1 billion (in 2021) to produce content that’s outside the cost of running the business,” Vincent del Rosario, president and COO of Viva Communications, Inc., said in a recent virtual presscon.
He said that the entire entertainment company has been utilized for the growth of Vivamax.
“It’s the commitment of (Viva big) boss Vic (del Rosario) na i-flow back sa mga Pinoy ang pag-gawa ng content… All our business units are being harnessed for Vivamax, including our live division, our TV production unit are creating content for Vivamax, same with our artist management. That’s why you can see us actively launching and relaunching stars from the past. Marami ang na-i-involve sa Vivamax,” Vincent said.
Vivamax was just launched in January after seven months of planning. Viva hired industry veteran Ronan de Guzman to helm the subscription-based Over the Top (OTT) platform.
“We launched Vivamax last Jan. 29 basically to fulfill Boss Vic’s dream of bringing entertainment directly to Filipinos here and abroad, and the idea to bring entertainment that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. Of course, there are many global platforms present. There’s Netflix, Viu, HBO and other local companies and independent platforms, but it didn’t deter us from pursuing this dream of ours.”
“And then for the past few months,” Vincent noted, “We were surprised at the milestones achieved by the platform.”
To date, Vivamax has 600,000 subscribers and is the No. 1 entertainment app on Google Play, outperforming even international streaming brands.
Ronan de Guzman, Vivamax chief operating officer, said: “Really, the efforts of our production group, our talent management group, even our finance and technology groups have made this product a success in such a short amount of time. I have been with other OTT platforms, I thought the others were good. Vivamax broke the record in three months and in six months we’re here, with no major partners yet, as they’re still coming in.”
Vivamax started with 500 titles from its library and augmented with originals and foreign content such as Tagalized versions of Hollywood and Asian films.
“In fact, for the Asian (content), the backbone is the Korean movies. We have more than 500 in our library. We haven’t introduced everything yet, but it’s the biggest aggregated content in terms of Korean films. We’re slowly rolling them out,” said Vincent.
Ronan added, “Our hits have been the exclusives and very good movies. In terms of actual stats, in six months, we have 30 million views on the platform. At any one time, the average viewing time is 57 minutes, so at least they finished the whole movie.”
Vivamax has committed to adding 15 new titles a week or around 750 titles a year.
“Marami kasi in the past that I’m sure na-encounter n’yo na rin, may mga platform na nawala o kaya, hindi nag-work kasi after ng launch, wala nang introduction ng new titles,” Vincent explained.
Current pricing for Vivamax is P49 for a one-week plan and P149 for a month-long plan. Now available in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Middle East and Europe, Vivamax is expected to roll out in Australia, New Zealand and North America in the coming months.
During the presscon, they unveiled the upcoming original Filipino titles for the platform. So far, they said, Darryl Yap’s Paglaki Ko, Gusto Kong Maging #Pornstar and Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam are their best-performing titles, with the Sharon Cuneta starrer Revirginized, also directed by Darryl, plus Lawrence Fajardo’s sexy drama thriller Nerissa starring Cindy Miranda, and the Kim Molina and Jerald Napoles film Ikaw at Ako at Ang Ending, megged by Irene Emma Villamor, following suit as the most-watched on the platform.
Given the “sexy” themes in Vivamax’s best-performing titles and other releases, the Viva executives were asked if this was the pervading trend and a reflection of the Filipino content consumption habits during this pandemic.
Vincent countered, “Hindi naman. Ikaw at Ako at Ang Ending, it’s doing extremely well, nagulat kami. Revirginized film, it’s a sexy Sharon Cuneta but the movie itself, it’s not sexy. Ang Babaeng Walang Pakiramdam is a romance movie. Siguro mas napupuna lang ang medyo adult-themed (films) because walang ganun nakikita on network TV... But we self-regulate, we see to it the movies are marked (rated) properly.”
He pointed out that the upcoming lineup is more comedy and drama, coming-of-age, etc., to reflect “diversity.”
Here are the sure titles to expect this year: The Philippine adaptation of the Korean film More Than Blue, topbilled by Yassi Pressman, JC Santos, Marco Gumabao and Ariella Arida; a hugot film featuring real-life couple Diego Loyzaga and Barbie Imperial; Barumbadings starring Mark Anthony Fernandez, Baron Geisler, Jeric Raval and Joel Torre; comedian Lassy Marquez’s launching film Ang Sarap Mong Patayin; and Kim Molina and JM de Guzman’s first pairing in Adik Sa ’Yo.
Producers also teased films of Janno Gibbs in Mang Jose; Diego Loyzaga and Christian Bables in Bekis On The Run; Andrew E, Sunshine Guimary and AJ Raval in Shoot Shoot; Kim Molina, Jerald Napoles and Candy Pangilinan in Zombie Apocalypse; and Maui Taylor, Janno Gibbs and Rose Van Ginkel in 69+1.
Also in the lineup are the romantic drama, My Husband, My Lover starring Joem Bascon, Cindy Miranda, Kylie Verzosa and Marco Gumabao; and Deception, the much-awaited reunion project of Mark Anthony Fernandez and Claudine Barretto.
‘90s teen heartthrob Jao Mapa, on the other hand, makes his onscreen comeback in Paraluman with Rhen Escaño.
New Viva artist Aubrey Caraan will be introduced in Nahahati ang Puso, while Kylie Verzosa gets her biggest break yet in The Housemaid.
Vincent also disclosed that in a few weeks, they will be sitting down and presenting new possible projects to Nadine Lustre after their controversial contract management issue. He said they’re also open to work with Viva’s former contract stars like Nadine’s former love team partner James Reid.
“Boss Vic has asked us to come up with ideas, concepts that we can present to her. We’re very excited with the opportunity to work with her again, hopefully maybe soon. Also with James (Reid), whether through his music or sa pag-aartista. It’s a timing issue,” he said.
“On our end, I think Boss Vic has said it many times, especially in the case of Nadine that we have an active contract with her that we want to work with her, we want her to do projects for us,” he said, adding that it’s just a matter of finding the perfect material for the singer-actress.
“I’m sure within the year we’ll be announcing a project with her and hopefully beyond that, even James, whether as a couple or individually,” Vincent said.
The biggest stars in the Viva roster, Sarah Geronimo and Anne Curtis, are set to make an onscreen comeback next year.
“With Sarah, di lang nga siya feature, but she did Tala the concert (last year) that was her contribution to Vivamax. June Rufino (our production head) is consolidating materials to be pitched to Sarah. We’re hoping that by the first quarter (of 2022), she’ll start doing productions,” Vincent revealed.
As for Anne, she’s set to do a horror series for Erik Matti, who last directed her in the action movie BuyBust.
“Siempre natagalan ito because Anne has a new baby, but she has promised by January or February (to start filming).”
They’re also looking forward to doing an end-of-the-year concert-documentary with Anne.
Plus, he said, “We are seeking out artists from other artist managements. Hindi complete ang universe ng Vivamax if puro artists lang namin.”
Apart from artists, Vivamax has several production and licensing partnerships with other leading studios, such as Star Cinema, Regal, IdeaFirst, Project 8, Reality, Black Cap Pictures, BlackOps Asia, TBA, Cignal Entertainment, Brillante Mendoza’s Centerstage Productions, The Probe Team, etc., for diversified content beyond movies.
Ronan, on the other hand, said that Vivamax has plans to strength its presence in Visayas and Mindanao in terms of marketing and subscription distribution. They will also enlist the talents and services of regional artists and creative professionals for their content production.
Vincent said, “We are proud to say we’re still the busiest studio in the country.”
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