All Nurse Cast Intoduced: SIGLO NG KALINGA (The Life of Anastacia Giron Tupas)

Last month, a call for auditions was announced by the production and the Philippine Nurses Association for the film "SIGLO NG KALINGA". This is about the life of Anastacia Giron Tupas set in three acts. In an unconventional move, they wanted to have the cast to be all NURSES. This weekend, they just announced an ensemble cast who would tell the story of the honorable lady.

Dr. Carl Balita was right. If you think about it, casting nurses in the film would entail training them because not all are professional actors. He believes in them that much, with their talent, and proved he could find the right people for the project. With the help of Archie Del Mundo who wrote and is line producing this film, they presented these individuals to the press last week.

Now it can be told, the cast includes Abbey Romero, Denmark Mismanos, Jewell Alano, Lorrich Del Tantoco, Joel Rey Carcasano, Jerico Roque, Dre Canaria, Bambi Rojas, VJ Mendoza, Tads Obach, Ms. Irma Bustamante and Ms. Lydia Palaypay. The title role of Anna Formantes went to Joy Ras who also was extremely emotional that afternoon. She mentions "Nurses are like actors too, we do our jobs everyday and try not to show much emotions especially when we get affected when someone dies, we feel and remember patients when that happens. Our jobs as nurses in a way equate to acting experience."

VJ Mendoza will play Alfred in the film.

 

VJ Mendoza adds "When I saw how they worked in the workshops we had, I saw how intelligent they were picking up advanced acting methods being taught to us by Ms. Angeli Bayani. They follow instructions very well. Imagine, I have been doing acting projects for many years, and they are at par with what I could do!"

To tell you honestly, the line of questions asked by the press was a bit worrisome as it questioned the lack of experienced actors in the list. Dr. Carl Balita took time to explain their goal of giving the roles to equally talented Nurses that would fit what they need to do in the film and how they were able to see what huge potential lies with the new cast. All of them were also eager to showcase the lives of unsung heroes, who got recognized about their work especially during the pandemic. This is a dream for most of them, and being a part of a movement to tell the story of Anastacia Giron Tupas was truly an honor they wouldn't want to pass on.  As Dr. Carl says "They have what it takes to perform the role (the actors that we chose), this is for the love of the nurses whom I want to put on the spot!" and we certainly couldn't agree more.

 

Joy Ras and Tads Obach will play Anna Formantes and Tony, a couple

Aside from the cast, Dr. Carl Balita also told us that he's working on several nurse actors like Rocco Nacino, Kuh Ledesma, Princess Punzalan, Carol Banawa and other artists to become a part of this film (or cameo roles) once the ball starts rolling. The piece will be shown mid next year and they are still finalizing some of the details. I could feel they too were so excited about the possibility of the actors surprising us all with their performances in this project, which they would rather want to do once it shows on theaters.

A lot of people are already eager to see what Director Lemuel Lorca has up his sleeves as this will be part of the award winning work he's already done in the past few years. They have intentions of putting this into international film festivals, and I wouldn't be surprised if it picks up a laurel or more when showcased abroad. 

From what I see, Dr. Carl Balita and the Philippine Nurses Association already has a gem in their hand. If the accolades come and the viewing public gets to see this film, they deserve every bit of praise they would get from SIGLO NG KALINGA. 

Congratulations to everyone who's making this dream a reality!

The Ivana Chubbuck Masterclass in Manila

Gal Gadot, Sylvester Stallone, Brad Pitt, Jim Carrey, Beyonce, Jessica Biel, David Air, Halley Berry, Jarred Leto, Ian Somerhalder, tons of Hollywood Stars, they went through her. If you think about it, Ivanna Chubbuck has been doing a lot as an acting coach scribing also her best selling book The Power of the Actor. This is #TatakStarMagic #IvanaMasterclass2018. This is Ivana Chubbuck. She also has Direk Ryan Carlos as the Chubbuck technique certified instructor in the Philippines, helping people who would want to learn this though Star Magic’s efforts.

Ivana says “I usually come in and out of the country in schools all over the world but here, I will be spending 10 days. I was pleased to have taken the time going to the Star Magic Ball and saw some of the students of Direk Ryan Carlos, they have said it changed their lives because they understand the technique. It’s a statement that needs to be passed on from our artists, some of which didn’t have anything but after going through him now are starting their careers. They are doing really well and I wouldn’t have known they had that success without it. I will be walking away from this third workshop learning too, I will come back. I studies is more from the sciences, I studied behavioral science, there is a primal constance that is present in anyone and we are not just making best actors in the Philippines and it has to be brought to the world stage. No matter what language you speak, or culture you are in, people would be able to relate and find the human equation, solve and find their way as the journey of the actor. Chances are, people all over the world are doing the same thing. Be fearless in taking risks. Do hard work and don’t play it safe. If you people please, people are annoyed by that. Find how to personalize it to accomplish your goal in the environment of the script. Change the world with the arts!”

This time, a total of 16 artists has been chosen by ABSCBN Executives to undergo this training. They are Mica Javier, Diego Loyzaga, Jameson Blake, Leila Alcasid, Myrtle Sarroza, Vin Abrenica, Enzo Pineda, Joseph Marco, Nash Aguas, Loren Burgos, Elmo Magalona, Bela Padilla, Aljur Abrenica, Christian Bables and JC Santos. They will also have the executives, directors, business unit heads, film enthusiasts who will take part in this.

If you want to know more about acting classes, you may email starmagicworkshops@abs-cbn.com or visit their page Facebook.com/starmagicworkshops. You may also call them at 4152272 loc 5243, 5244 and 5142 from Mondays to Fridays 1-5PM.

KUMAGCOW

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Bova is Back on GMA

He’s Anthony Bova, acting guru to some of the best Hollywood stars, theater actors, coach to the world’s best corporate executives and GMA’s brightest stars. He’s back in Manila to work on GMA’s home grown talents, their curriculum and even those who are behind the camera. The noted expert from the US is planting seeds once again - to level up what he’s been doing in the past few years, and celebrities welcomed this with open arms, hearts and minds which is needed for his course.

Anthony Bova says “Before we start, I am a friend of Direk Maryo Delos Reyes. As we go forward in this training, the beautiful actors, this is a continuation of that spirit. This empowerment thing was a part of that talk with him and hopefully he is with us and continually be with us, this is for the love of that man.”

“In GMA, I did a lot of listening and tried to see where the actors are in their craft and their career. I hear what they need in their programs, I create a curriculum that fills a couple of holes. We show what we learn, not to do scenes, no plays, something different that they do what is demanded of them, to turn it on and off into their character which happens to a lot of actors without a lot of time.”

“We train them to have access to their parts that can be used as tools and do it very quickly. They need a strong foundation, then use the tools to deliver. In January, they need to do it twice in different executions, into different scenes. Completely different performance in the same scene, that’s an example. Actors here are very earthy, very connected emotionally, no ego like some hollywood actors I’ve had to work with so out job is easier. We don’t have to spend energy to get to their bodies.”

“Their weakness is being so humble, it makes them small, a very delicate line, but no, they have to get their space. That subtlety takes away from the actors part. One is to make them have awareness, it shouldn’t be subservient. In roleplay they need to know how they feel when they act, they learn how they feel and empower them to contradict that even if they feel the opposite. They don’t have to overact, they have to honor it and be grateful by educating them through that science. When we worked out my curriculum with GMA, there were a lot we had to put there with Ana Feleo filling in when I’m not here. I gotta go to work to know we make decisions that is systemized from a place without any deficit.”

“They must know it’s not an actor thing, the x factor of the human being. There is nothing better than the colors and layers in this room, to cultivate that talent, much more than an IT factor. It has to have bravery and discipline, I normally hate questions but these are great!”

He adds “I am not just learning from you, but learning from the talents of GMA because they have been so passionate they have been easy to work with. They come to class so awake, hungry to do their homework, and this makes our job easy because they don’t have their egos in the way.”

Mikoy says “I find workshops therapeutic, when he came in, he taught us a different attitude, you become empowered when you are on set, not just the attitude at work but life. You have you, you’re a giant, it changed how I see life. It’s really helpful but the homeworks are crazy, but if you do it, you see the effect at home, you see how you become a better person overall. You doubt yourself less.”

We asked him about his recent tweets too that had me worried a bit, he answered quite nice.

Andrea says “His homework includes reading, answering a set of questions like your goals, how to achieve that and see your blessings unfold. You want to explain yourself, on how you feel.”

Chynna says “I really took it on 100% and I was scared to show who I really was, I double guess myself but because of this and two years we’re doing this, it made me take on decisions that I jumped into, opportunities and roles that made me feel self psych talking to myself, now I have a family, a daughter, creative writing, even if I feel I don’t have time, we just be.”

Ben Alvez adds “He sees us as humans first and not just teach us how to be actors. We do 30-40 scenes a day, that’s a short time, but being more attuned with myself, he has brought that out. We can work from there. You are constantly discovering yourself in layers, you surprise yourself.”

Anthony also is known for furnishing some weird homeworks for the actors. Thea Tolentino says “I didn’t know how I improved as you continue to do the homework. You go up and down, you don’t know why but you observe where you are. It’s difficult to answer too because it’s all in English (she jokes). But now I can do my contrabida roles effectively, in different ways which I have learned in the past year, hopefully this year too.”

I also asked her about recent Twitter trolls that attacked her, she still was so nice and adamant about dealing with them. That takes class!

GMA Executive Ms. Gigi Santiago says “Anthony Vincent Bova is back in the Philippines and we love to have a caliber of people like him and Ana Feleo, training all our artists. We welcome you back to the Philippines. These guys are very into it, they know we have a special thing going on. We are planning to include production people, even our boss is going to be included, she’s asked us who will be there so she too can prepare, I couldn’t even believe that. We are slowly doing it and we have seen it bear fruit.”

It’s one of the reasons why the network is now saving money, time and effort on their actors. They have changed culture, it takes a lot to do that. It’s also the reason why you see huge improvements in the shows they are doing - and for the years to come. It currently is only available with GMA’s talent pool, they’re very lucky.

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