Tag: Zsarlene B. Chua

A WEEK AFTER the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival announced its postponement due to the limitations brought by the community quarantine measures in Luzon to fight COVID-19, another independent film festival, Cinema One (C1) Originals, has announced the postponement of this year’s festival which is usually held in October.

Security Bank has partnered with Singapore-based e-learning platform 88Tuition to provide free access to its learning programs until June 30 for Filipino students who are not able to attend school due to the enhanced community quarantine.

THE EIGHT-PIECE reggae band We Got has released its first single from Sony Music Philippines, “Lihim na Pagtingin,” a song produced by singer Raymund Marasigan.

PHILIPPINE on-demand service company MyKuya reported a 300% increase in service demand last week as Luzon is under enhanced community quarantine, including getting more than 500 job applications because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the company’s founder.

FILIPINO rock band 6Cyclemind has partnered with Sony Music Philippines to create a cover project featuring the fans’ rendition of songs from the band’s discography.

INDIE folk pop band Ben&Ben is holding an online performance on March 27, 7 p.m., on its Facebook page to raise funds to assist the frontliners of the COVID-10 pandemic in the Philippines.

This year, streaming service Netflix announced that it is going hard on Korean content as the popularity of such content is going global on the back of titles such as Kingdom, according to a Netflix executive. Now, the company has revealed its slate of Korean shows with genres spanning crime and sci-fi, alongside romance and drama.

THE Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has created a program to assist audio-visual workers displaced by the suspension of work due to COVID-19.

THE 16^th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival scheduled for August has been postponed as the COVID-19 pandemic poses “safety and health hazards” to filmmakers trying to make their deadlines, the Cinemalaya Foundation Inc. said in a statement.

GMA Network announced that it has adjusted its programming starting March 21 due to the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine which was imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GREEN CROSS Inc. said the company is working “round the clock” to produce and distribute its alcohol and hand sanitizing products amid “heightened” demand due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

ONLINE shopping site Zalora has paused its warehouse operations starting today until the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine is lifted.

WITH THE whole of Luzon, including Metro Manila, under quarantine — the government is asking people to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — there’s not a lot to do while stuck at home aside from worrying. Fortunately, several studios and networks are either uploading full movies on YouTube for free or promoting their online portals to access full episodes of their series or films.

MUSIC streaming service Spotify has launched a dedicated Philippine playlist for emerging artists representing the service’s “commitment to emerging artists across all stages of their development, in order to help them deepen their connection to new and existing audiences around the world.”

AMERICAN crooner John Legend decided that the COVID-19 pandemic was not going to stop him from performing as he decided to hold an online concert via Instagram Live on March 18 at 4 a.m.

TV NETWORKS GMA and ABS-CBN have both halted production of their entertainment shows after the declaration of a community quarantine in Metro Manila.

SINGAPOREAN beauty brand Bio-Essence has launched in the Philippines under a new moniker, BioScience, but it is the same line of skincare products catering to different age groups and skin types.

SINGER Moira dela Torre has been chosen by Disney Philippines to sing the country’s version of the Mulan anthem, “Reflection,” for the reimagined version of Mulan screening on March 25.

FOR A woman who’s tired of being in relationships with the opposite sex, is the secret to happiness finding love with the same sex? In iWant’s new series, Fluid, that is exactly the situation Mitch (played by Roxanne Barcelo) finds herself in as she is caught between an ex-boyfriend (Joross Gamboa) and George (Ann Colis).

IN CELEBRATION of International Women’s Day, streaming service Netflix and UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) has created a special playlist of 55 titles curated by women “behind and in front of the camera” including Sophia Loren, Janet Mock, Salma Hayek, Yalitza Aparicio, Millie Bobby Brown, Laurie Nunn, Lana Condor, Petra Costa, and Ava DuVernay.

THE Israeli Embassy, in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, will be showing four Israeli films in the two-day Israeli Film Festival, to be held on March 13 and 14 at the Bonifacio High Street Cinemas in Taguig City. This is the 15^th year of the film festival.

THIS year’s Aliwan Fiesta, which was scheduled on April 23 to 25, has been canceled because of COVID-19, Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) said in a statement.

AFTER A successful run last year, Viva Live is bringing back Playlist: the Best of OPM on April 3 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The concert brings together “the famed soloists of the biggest bands in Philippine pop music history,” according to a press release.

HARD ROCK Cafe Manila has come home — sort of — as the second branch of the chain restaurant is back in Glorietta 3, Makati City. It now occupies a new space a floor below its longtime haunt on the third floor of the mall.

DATING CAN be a daunting proposition for many people but not for the people who are in Travel for Love, a reality lifestyle show from TLC Southeast Asia, featuring five “hopefuls” who will try and find love while travelling through the region.

IN AN AGE where online dating is de rigueur, the “paradox of choice” can create and ruin chances of having a romantic connection, thus there may be a need for more tailored and personal experiences like what Violet Lim and her company, Lunch Actually, offers.

LOCAL BAG brand Katre has unveiled its newest collection in collaboration with Sanrio’s mascot Hello Kitty, a launch that was more than a year in the making.

GOOGLE Philippines has launched a campaign creating a teaching module for high school students nationwide in order to “deepen its ongoing commitment to online safety and responsibility,” according to a press release.

AS the country continues to celebrate the 100 years of Philippine cinema, many might have forgotten that along with the country’s rich feature film history, the country has an equally rich history of producing documentaries. So for six days, from March 16 to 21, at the University of the Philippines Film Institute’s (UPFI) Cine Adarna, Filipino documentarists are paying homage to the art form that “continues to capture what is happening and document more than what news has the airtime for,” according to a festival organizer.

WITHIN SEVERAL floors and across several rooms in the former Philippine Stock Exchange building in Ortigas sits an animation studio that has done work for many series including all the seasons of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (and part of Hasbro’s 2017 film My Little Pony: The Movie) and the revamped Tom and Jerry series from season 2 onwards. Now that the company is celebrating its 20^th year in the business, Top Draw Animation is setting its sights towards bigger projects for bigger studios — and that means the US.

IN TIME for National Arts Month, the Makati Central Estate Association (MACEA) has unveiled a public art installation inside the Salcedo underpass featuring a mural of the Filipino journey from pre-colonial to the modern era created by street artist Archie Geotina.

IN A LOT of ways, To All the Boys 2: I Still Love You, is a set up before the big reveal that is the third movie in the series. The latest movie in the John Hughes-inspired romantic comedy series starring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo showed how the new couple navigates through their new relationship while semi-dealing with each of their issues.

CATS ARE the de facto mascots of the internet as cat photos and videos are some of the most consumed content on the internet: the BBC noted in 2015 that there were 2 million cat videos on YouTube. People take their cats seriously — sometimes too seriously — so much so that a hunt for an online cat killer turned into an international manhunt across Canada and Europe.

THE AMERICAN pop and rock band Boyce Avenue, known for its cover songs, is back in the Philippines for a series of shows with stops in Pangasinan, Cebu, Davao, and finally, Manila this Valentine’s weekend.

MINNESOTA midwest emo rock band Tiny Moving Parts performed in Manila for the second time on Feb. 9 at the SM North EDSA Skydome in Quezon City as part of its ongoing world tour, and it was a night of very passionate fans singing along to the self-described family band.

INDIE folk pop band Ben&Ben is set to drop two new music videos and a new single, “Sa Susunod na Habangbuhay,” within the month.

E-COMMERCE platform Lazada is holding a month-long sale this month to celebrate the “empowered Filipina” and to promote its unified beauty portal, Beauty by Lazmall.

A DOCUMENTARY film festival has successfully reached its fundraising goal to bring home some of the oldest existing documentaries on the Philippines which are stored in the British Film Institute.

NETFLIX has decided to cancel the Philippine stop of the ongoing promotional tour for To All The Boys: PS I Still Love You because of the coronavirus outbreak.

CEBUANA filmmaker Joanna Vasquez Arong’s short documentary film on the harrowing effects of the 2013 Supertyphoon Haiyan/Yolanda on the residents of Tacloban City in Leyte and Guian, Samar won the Grand Jury Prize for documentary short at the recently concluded Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

GRAMMY-WINNING singer Alanis Morissette is set to make a stop in the Philippines as part of her ongoing 2020 World Tour celebrating the 25 years of her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill.

AMERICAN pop group The Jacksons is coming back to Manila after more than four decades. The concert is part of their 60^th-anniversary celebrations and will be held on March 6 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

AS AN early Valentine’s treat singers Julie Anne San Jose and Christian Bautista are set to serenade Urdaneta City in Pangasinan on Feb. 8 with the concert Sweetheart and the Balladeer (Fun Night Only).

AFTER the success of its main The Retreat Spa, intergrated casino-resort Okada Manila has decided to create a spa concept for people who want to relax but have little time on their hands. The result is the Sole Retreat.

AMERICAN beauty brand Kiehl’s is encouraging people to start the new year right with better skincare as it promotes its Ultra Facial and Ultra Facial Oil-Free Moisturizers to keep skin hydrated and protected from the elements.