We had the pleasure of meeting with the executives of Steam Box Corporation, makers of popular HOTBOX, the new innovative way of serving fresh hot food in the country. Together with Romeo Joven, Eric Quizon and Piolo Pascual, they asked us to experience how having a meal with HOTBOX feels like.
Available in different sizes, it's a good solution for food items that you would want to keep hot especially in events. If you want the type of quality that comes out of your kitchen for hotels, corporate clientele or special people in your life, they've got you covered. They have some of Manila's 5 star hotels already using it, so why shouldn't you right? Plus, they thought about the environmental impact this thing does as the heating element can be used as fertilizer, and the boxes can be re-used as containers since it's a little fancy.
Piolo Pascual swears by it, and if you want to know more about how they can help you with the food you serve, check hotboxph.com because they can make your dining experience a lot better. They're ready to make #TheWorldYourDiningRoom
A film done as a tribute to the LGBT, "That Thing Called Tanga Na" is said to be Mother Lily Monteverde's gift to the community. She promises this to be an entertaining film full of all kinds of love as she believes it's going to be relateable for all kinds of genders. The film outfit has produced "Petrang Kabayo", "Kumander Gringa", "Bala at Lipstick", "Manat Po 1 & 2", "Happy Together" and a couple of other themed films, they have steadfastly made these funny ones to showcase how colorful their lives are. These are just a few box office hits and they want to tell the story that no matter what gender, they are still human too, they are still capable of love and they also makes mistakes.
Here's a short video of them telling us about their characters:
Eric Quizon portrays Papa Chui, a gay man from a very conservative Chinese family who's actually in a relationship with a younger guy, and sponsors him for all his needs. Martin Escudero on the other hand plays a transexual woman who wants to adopt a kid and have a family. Billy Crawford meanwhile plays a closeted gay who's got a relationship with a guy who's mother is going to cause problems for them. Kean Cipriano here has a really professional career as a fashion designer and gets who he wants because of it. Little did soon to be married Angeline Quinto in the film that the guy she's marrying also slept with Kian's character. This will be a riot, a test on how Eric, Billy, Kean, Martin and Angeline would still be able to maintain their friendship despite their circumstances.
"During the first few days I was really hesitant because it's hard to play the character in the film, it was a challenge for me. I'm a rocker but I find the extreme difference between my real personality, the tone of his voice and walking with heels. We had to make CC be experienced and the challenge was how to balance his vibe, how to dress up, how to wear a night gown and embrace how his journey as a gay person is. It's so fun to be gay and you'll see how their lives are eventful. It won't be experienced as straight people. My take is we all make stupid decisions falling in love no matter what gender, form or shape we are. It's one great equalizer. I grew up going to all boy schools and I admit I pass some subjects because of gays, homophobie is passe and odd living a life fearing a person with that gender, that's a problem. It's challenging to take out simple things as a man, and the tone of my voice, I enjoy saying words and converse with fellow actors like that, it's fun!" says Kean Cipriano.
Here's an interview we did a couple of months ago during a set visit
Similar to Kean I was hesitant and I don't want to offend anyone doing the role. We had negative impressions in the past with things we did in skits of Showtime. This is my comeback film in Regal so I was excited, a bit skeptical because it was Joel Lamangan. We wouldn't be able to do it withour him and we enjoyed how he shaped each individual character. Mine was easier because I need to also be a little strong, I didn't have any guides and Direk was really strict about that. There are gays that when you see them, you see them really fun, but you really have to know their story and the things that they are going through. You make mistakes but you move on." says Billy.
Lawrence Yap says "I'm the husband of Angeline in this film and I had to really convince myself sometimes that I have to play him funny. In terms of gender, love doesn't really choose who to do it with. No hate, just love."
"I brought Korean food and cooked in the set so we could get really bonded. It was fun and that's what I ultimately wanted to happen. A lot of people tell me I am "Babaeng Bakla" even when I was still living in Sampaloc and I think that title alone is fun. Everyone is capable of being an idiot especially when it comes to love, I learned a lot in this film because of what they go through in life. I know a lot of people who are in this industry, some even marry off and it's not a bad thing." adds Angeline
"I feel this movie would really help understand how to handle situations and gay relationships. I've met homophobic people but I tell them when I do hear things like that." says Paolo Gumabao.
"From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful that gays have built Regal what it is right now. This one is for you, I made this film for my friends and I have a lot of them in my circle. This is to thank you!" says Mother Lily.
The film also stars hunks Albie Casino, Ken Alfonso, Timothy Lawrence Yap, Paolo Gumabao, Luke Conde, Jerald Napoles, funny vixen Shine Kuk, Nikki Valdez, and a lot more. Again this film is directed by Joel Lamangan for Regal Films. Premier night will be on August 9 at SM Megamall's Cinema 7. It will be shown on theaters this coming August 10 nationwide!
Kapamilya star Janella Salvador will be starting in a new show called "Oh My G!" this January 19. This is all about her struggles in her teenage life, her school, her relationships, her friends and her faith. This all spurred as some several Carmelite nuns went to Charo Santos and requested a project as a homage to St. Teresa of Avila if I'm not mistaken. They say it's her 5th birth centenary this March.
Fresh from the success of their characters in Be Careful With My Heart, they are going to bring the lessons of humility, love for neighbor and detachment of material things. It's so funny to have seen the same thing could all still apply now after 500 years. With her is Marlo Mortel, Manolo Pedrosa, Sunshine Cruz, Dominic Ochoa, John Arcilla, Edgar Allan Guzman (who's officially a kapamilya), Eric Quizon, Maricar Reyes and Janice De Belen. Although some will die in the first few days, it will play a big part in the series. The question is, will she be questioning the existence of God later on?
Is Janella ready for a lead role? We don't know. She says the persona of her character here is a bit different since she had to be more independent unlike Nikki who had her folks there. Janelle wants to experience different things later on, perhaps to be in theater if her schedule permits. The Oh My G! cast wishes to follow the footsteps of BCWMH and hopes to at least get the same following with the first show. This will be shown before showtime and be in state at the same time slot, so the pressure is there!
We spent a quaint afternoon with the cast and crew of up coming film Saranghaeyo #EwanKoSau during their story conference at the Belleville Cafe in Scout Tobias in Quezon City. It's an independently produced film but will be released mainstream by Bagong Buwan Artist Collective (New Moon) and Directed by Roman Perez Jr. It's also written by Palanca Awardee En Villasis.
As you can see, this one's pretty mixed. Artists from different channels like ABSCBN, GMA and TV5 comprise the stars of this movie and it's not often that this happens. Imagine Jon Lucas, Barbie Forteza, Francis Magundayao and Elisse Joson in one project, that just won't happen in normal circumstances but the stations were nice enough to allow them to do this and Director Roman Perez Jr. is really happy about the outcome of their dialogue with the networks. It was hard but when they told them the story and what they wanted to achieve the network wars didn't seem to be an issue at all.
The producer herself says she is taking a gamble at this because she believes in the individual actors and the Director who has done projects for the different networks in the past. Aside from that, they are putting out a very current story and will delve more into the KPOP Fever that teens nowadays are crazy about and make the characters live in the moment but portray them differently so they can depart themselves with the goody two shoes role they used to see these stars on TV.
John Matthew Uy is also here. He's gone a long way from his Star Factor TV5 days and is juggling around appearances here and there. He was also in the highly successful She's Dating The Gangster movie with Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. Joshua Rafael Davis the Yoyotricker and Ultimate Talentadong Pinoy isn't dishing out toys anymore. He's doing good in shows of TV5 and now he's doing this too with compatriots from other networks. He looks good and it seems that he's going to be part of the crew of John Lucas' character in the movie. Obviously we don't have any shortage of talent with this boy and we can only expect he'll be making this an interesting mix of personalities in the movie as Caloy.
Jon Lucas
Jon Lucas who played Dominic in the highly successful series Got To Believe in Magic and Michael in the longest running show Be Careful With My Heart (lol) will play the role of River Mondragon, a highschool hearthrob who's also an achiever and a student leader. He might grow the irk of Barbie Forteza's character later on, I'm sure it won't be helped.
Barbie Forteza
I love Barbie Forteza in Half Sisters and I watch her everyday. I also have seen her best supporting actress performance in Mariquina that's been lauded by critics. Now that she's in this film, she's going to be very different from that kind cutesy role we often see her with because as she plays Calixta "Kai" Luna, an only daughter that's rich, but hungers for parental love. She's a hard core KPOP fan and falls for River (Jon Lucas' role). She's THE mean girl in school and she's going to make everyone's life miserable. She says this is going to be a challenge for her but says it's something that she wanted to do because she's always the good one on tv programs. She's welcoming the change and wants to see how they would be able to make the character as feared as she was reading it in the script. The character was that interesting so when her home station permitted her to play the character, she grabbed it. They were all hand picked by the way so just imagine this stellar cast on the silver screen soon.
Elisse Joson
I haven't seen her in person before before this event, but we've seen how she did "Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo" (Why aren't you the crush of your crush?) last year. I must say, she's really pretty. She also dresses well. Elisse is playing the role of Amanda "Mandy" Martinez. The character will be the best friend of Baste, but later on falls in love with him. We'll have to watch how her character gets beaten up by Kai (maybe) in the film. Will she also be the apple of the eye of Baste too? Well, we need to watch out for that.
Francis Magundayao
Francis Magundayao has worked for both GMA and ABSCBN. In the Kapamilya Network, he's doing several MMK episodes and Wansapanataym (read as Once Upon A Time) episodes. He's also in the hit series "Sana Bukas Pa ang Kahapon" (Wish Yesterday Was Tomorrow) as Sebastian Syquia. He's on that show with Bea Alonzo and Paulo Avelino. His successful projects makes him one of the most bankable young stars in the network and when the opportunity to work with different networks arrived, he said Yes right away.
It was a no brainer because he always wanted to work with great people from other networks and lauds Barbie Forteza since he watched her shows and movies prior to this. He's also done an excellent job on his current projects and has amassed a good following even on social networks. In this movie, he's playing Sebastian "Baste" Agoncillo. He comes from a very big and happy family. Even if he's poor, he's doing good in school and wants to be a local Shakespeare in the making.
Alwyn Uytingco, Nadine Samonte, Alice Dixson, Eric Quizon and a lot of other actors will also be in the film. These strong personalities and the different lives they make will surely be a great place to start telling the story. They also showed us a couple of locations that they will be shooting in. I sincerely hope they make more of these independently produced films and make the more commercial ones have a run for its money. It's also refreshing to see the combination of actors and actresses since they're not playing and operating in their own stables this time. Let's see how they play this modern day Romeo and Juliet in the Philippines. I'm sure with the tons of successful shows that they've had, it would be easy to make their fan base happy on this KPOP influenced film. Watch it on theaters soon!
