Through Funfare, may I thank Mother Lily and Manny Valera of Regal Films for casting me as Richard Yap’s mother in Mano Po 7: Tsinoy, an intended 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry. This would have been my fifth Mano Po and I am a fan of Richard’s, and I love Mother Lily dearly.
Sayang, I had to decline the invitation to avoid possible conflict of interest — and even just the perception of it — in view of my membership in the present MMFF Execom. Aah, the costly price of “delicadeza.” I also consulted with MMFF chairman Emerson Carlos and executive director Atty. Rochelle Ona and they were of the same opinion.
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Fourteen years after he starred in a movie (I Think I’m In Love with Joyce Jimenez who is semi-retired in California with her own family), Piolo Pascual returns to Regal Films not just as an actor but also as co-producer (with Star Cinema) of Once In A Lifetime, a romance-drama which will be shot in New Zealand, with Yen Santos (of the ABS-CBN soap All Of Me) as leading lady and Dondon Santos as director.
“It feels so surreal,” admitted Piolo last Sunday when he signed the contract with Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde.
“Welcome home,” Mother Lily told Piolo. “I’ve been praying that you come back to Regal.”
Actually, Piolo has starred in OTJ (On The Job), a dark crime thriller produced by Reality Entertainment, Regal’s sister company owned and managed by Mother Lily’s son Dondon Monteverde and director Erik Matti (who helmed OTJ, followed by Honor Thy Father).
Piolo plays a lovelorn man in Alaska where he meets Yen who is looking for her mother. When they meet, they see the light (helped by the Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis) and, as the title suggests, find a once-in-a-lifetime hope.
The story is set in winter, thus the choice of New Zealand as alternative setting for Alaska. It’s a practice followed by Hollywood filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola who shot Apocalypse Now, which is about the Vietnam War, in Laguna and Quezon.
The first team, composed of five, will leave on Aug. 13, including Piolo who wants to get the feel of the freezing-cold place as part of his internalization for his character. The next team will follow a week later for the shoot scheduled to last until Aug. 23.
Once In A Lifetime also stars Tirso Cruz III as Piolo’s father, Joel Torre as Yen’s father, Jerald Napoles as Piolo’s Alaska-based friend, Raikko Mateo as Piolo’s son (harboring a bitterness after Piolo left him), Maricar Reyes (as mother of Raikko) and Sandy Andolong.
Once In A Lifetime is in the bunch of Regal Films set for release before end of the year, with three of them intended for the 2016 Metro Filnmfest: Mano Po 7: Tsinoy, Our Mighty Yaya (with Ai-Ai delas Alas in the titular role) and Puwera Usog. The others: The Escort (with Christopher de Leon, Derek Ramsay and Lovi Poe), My Rebound Girl (Alex Gonzaga and Joseph Marco), Never Been Touched Never Been Kissed (Angeline Quinto and Jake Cuenca) and That Thing Called Tanga Na (a gay-themed spoof with an all-star cast) which opens nationwide on Aug. 10.