Cesar eyeing Hollywood actor for his directorial comeback

Cesar Montano returns to film directing via the movie “Sultan Kudarat.” A teaser of the upcoming movie by the award-winning actor was shown at a recent event at Diamond Hotel last week of the Tourism Promotions Board, of which Cesar is Chief Operating Officer.

The TPB COO said there is a plan to add a Hollywood actor to the cast of “Sultan Kudarat.” When asked who he has in mind, Cesar said he can’t give names yet but it depends if they can afford the budget of the Hollywood star.

He added that he plans to make one movie a year, the focus of which is to promote the beauty of the Philippines to other countries.

The Tourism Promotions Board, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism, calls for the passage of the pending Film Tourism Bill (SB 1330) sponsored by Senator Grace Poe and introduced by Sen. Sonny Angara.

The Film Tourism Bill recognizes the “potential of international and local motion picture production to create jobs, grow the economy and raise the country’s international profile” and seeks to offer incentives to production companies who choose to showcase Philippine destinations and the nation’s historical and cultural heritage, or champion Filipino film practitioners and artists in foreign productions.

Film tourism is a steadily growing industry. We’ve seen how wonderful portrayals of the Philippines in various films, local and international, have roused interest and boosted tourism in local tourist spots.

In the said event, the TPB gave recognition to 10 Filipino-made and two foreign movies that have showcased the beauty of the Philippines and have helped promote Philippine tourism through film, in a new campaign called Cine Turismo.

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The DerBie loveteam of Derrick Monasterio and Barbie Forteza had already worked together in several teleseryes like “Tween Hearts,” “Luna Blanca,” and “Half Sisters” which showcased the tandem’s unmistakable kilig factor. They will soon be seen in a new soap titled “Inday Will Always Love You” on GMA-7.

Since they have been working together in various soaps, it can’t be helped that they developed feelings for each other. Derrick courted Barbie who nearly said yes to the Kapuso hunk. Derrick said he was very close to getting Barbie’s coveted yes but some things didn’t work, so the romance was “Almost A Love Story,” to borrow the title of their newest movie.

“We were almost there and we would have been a couple but maybe it was not meant to be. Siguro it might happen sometime in the future,” said Derrick.

On her part, Barbie recalled with fondness the time that Derrick courted her.

“I felt that he was really serious in courting me but we were still too young then. What is important now is we have become close with one another and I am really comfortable with him.  If there’s a need for us to be sweet in a scene, we just do it. It is effortless on our part. There’s no need to act it out,” said Barbie.

“Almost A Love Story” was shot last December (sometime before Christmas) at Salento, in Tricase which is part of Southern Italy.

The production team behind “Almost A Love Story” made sure that the audience will feel the love and kilig, and will be touched by the story of Barbie and Derrick’s characters. It’s a plus factor that the beautiful place of Salento became the backdrop of the love story of the two lead stars. BG Productions International of Ms. Baby Go spent a fortune to make “Almost A Love Story” a perfect movie for Barbie and Derrick.

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Ms. Betchay Vidanes, the manager of Jasmine Curtis-Smith, sent us a message to react on the item we wrote about Jasmine in which we said the award-winning actress would not want to work and would rather go on vacation abroad with her boyfriend.

In the spirit of fair play, we are running here the side of Jasmine and her manager. Betchay said the rumor about Jasmine is not true.

She added that Jasmine just finished a movie with JC De Vera that was directed by Jeffrey Hidalgo and by May, she is starting a new movie under Unitel Productions to be directed by Mark Meily.

With regards to a network contact, she said they are still talking about the concept of the project but she did not say which network they are talking with.

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Sheena Halili and Mark Herras are the guest performers in “Bubble Gang” tonight. Among the featured segments are Kilaties sa Dyowa gags, Hapitot, Basa Basa Pik, Age Doesn’t Matter, Pre-Nup, Bungangera, Boy Nego, Mukhang Mahirap at Relax.