‘GG’: Donny Pangilinan film-starrer makes a case for esports

CEBU, Philippines — Before appearing at their mall show at SM City Cebu on January 14, Donny Pangilinan and his mother Maricel Laxa stopped by Barangay Mabolo in Cebu City to check out the internet cafes and take photos with several residents.

One neighborhood PisoNet – the Philippines’ budget-friendly version of a net café – had so many kids engrossed in their computer games that he indulged one of them to a quick one-on-one.

This is probably one of the few times that the Kapamilya star had a window of time to play. As it is, he is one of ABS-CBN’s busiest talents at the moment, thanks to his pairing with “Can’t Buy Me Love” co-star Belle Mariano. Together, they are affectionately dubbed as DonBelle.

“Sometimes during dinner time, I’d still play. A rule in our house is that we have to eat together. No phones, no gadgets. So what my mom did since I was playing on my phone, she would call me so the game would stop,” said Pangilinan, who, for a time, would stay up until 4 am because of gaming.

“As a kid, it was PlayStation and Nintendo. Just 30 minutes or an hour per day. My parents are quite strict. But I did play a lot of games, not to the point of hardcore where I wanted to be pro, but with siblings and friends. We would be around one computer and play games. It’s like teamwork, but one computer at home so we have to share.”

While he may not have spare time now for playing, the 25-year-old is still in the loop on gaming news. He’d love to play “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” and “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of a Kingdom”, and is looking forward to the release of “Grand Theft Auto VI.”

His gaming knowledge came in handy while making the film “GG” (short for “Good Game”), where he plays Seth, an avid gamer who navigates the highly competitive world of esports.

Mediaworks, owned by his father Anthony, and TV5’s MediaQuest Holdings, produced the film while Star Cinema is handling the distribution. It hits cinemas today, January 24.

“It’s a privilege to work in this because it’s so fresh. We have yet to see something like this on local screens,” said Pangilinan. “I think now is the time because we have so many good teams, streamers, cosplayers. To have a movie catered to them, and also to families and friends…that’s the reason why I wanted to do this project, and I get to work with my mom.”

Also in the cast are Baron Geisler, Boots Anson-Roa, Christian Vasquez, Johannes Isler, Iggy Boy Flores, Gold Aceron, and the late actor Ronaldo Valdez.

As a first-time producer, Pangilinan realized the effort it takes for a film to be made from scratch to release. “It’s different when you know what happens behind the scenes, from pre-production, post-production and promo. It takes a village and I have to bow down to who does the promo and the production that we don’t always see because what they’re doing is amazing. It’s a fun experience and we worked very hard,” he said.

It took two years for “GG” to be made, partly because a video game had to be specifically made for the movie.

“This game called Requiem was made from scratch by Pinoys. It’s not out for the public, but we can play the game and that’s what we used to shoot in the movie,” he said. “It’s a long process because we have to establish the rules and maps. It’s a futuristic Manila, neopunk style and it’s a first-person shooter, like Call of Duty but a Philippine version. We wanted to show that Filipinos can make games like this.”

Some in the film crew are gamers themselves, including director Prime Cruz (“Isa Pa with Feelings”).

“The reason why making the film as so fun was because he is an avid gamer himself. Everyone who worked on it are also gamers. So we all had the same goal to showcase gaming, but at the same time, show the heart of the film with the barkada and the family,” Pangilinan added.

The story and visuals of “GG” may appeal to a younger demographic, but cynical parents with gamer kids can also glean lessons after leaving the cinema.

“Even if you are not in a family where there are gamers, there are gadgets, so we cannot deny the generational gap factor. How we bridge this gap is through conversation. This movie is our way of bridging that gap and bringing that conversation,” said Laxa.

“We are not promoting for everyone to be an esports advocate or professional. We are just showing the fact in the Philippines that there are 1 in 3 families that has a gamer. That’s around 45 million gamers.”

For Pangilinan, “GG” aims to show how a lot of players are misunderstood.

“There’s a reason why they are always on their laptop. Maybe they cannot connect with other people, maybe they are socially better through a screen,” he said. “We have to understand both sides to lessen this gap.” — (FREEMAN)