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<\/a><\/p>\nWhich goes to my question to Mark: how would you approach the film when it comes to the use of the special effects? What areas do you think you would mainly use it?<\/p>\n
Mark:\u00a0Absolutely. But before I do go into that, I do want to acknowledge something that Myhraliza said, which I think the audience, and you as well would definitely want to know. I think what\u2019s very empowering about this film is it\u2019s a women-driven film, both in front and behind the camera. And so, for me, I didn\u2019t want to be the one person that kind of took away that power. So instead of fully directing it, I thought I said, I think you should co-direct it. It\u2019s also your story. You can connect with the emotional beats, and I\u2019ll be there to support.<\/p>\n
But I really like the idea that it was a Filipino woman co-directing, writing, co-producing, DP-ing and an AAPI woman on the production design. But you get my point. It\u2019s just you don\u2019t really get to hear that. You hear about them being one part of it, but for all of them to be a part of the driving force of the production, I think is a very important time and a very important thing to foster, because I don\u2019t think there\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n
But to answer your question, in directing the fantasy elements, I would approach it like any show that I\u2019ve been a part of, whether that\u2019s Gotham Agents of Shield or Charmed or any of that sort. It\u2019s taking a grounded approach until it\u2019s necessary. Like as an example, my release, I think we\u2019re allowed to be able to talk about some of the elements, right? Like obviously one of the things that happens to you when you work in this industry is you become fans of the actual projects that you work on or things that are kind of related to it.<\/p>\n
So, when she was telling me about, as an example, the superhero element, the character that comes to mind is Darna, right? Because she\u2019s Filipino, she\u2019s a superhero. But also, we now live in a world where Wonder Woman exists. So how would I approach that?<\/p>\n
The answer is approaching it like the work that I\u2019ve done on some of the biggest TV shows, but at the same time putting characters that look like us but have the production value of the shows that you and I watch on a daily basis. That\u2019s like a general gist. All of those techniques are very commonplace, whether that\u2019s wire removals, flying, but really at the very core of it. I\u2019m actually excited to share this as well. I was able to bring in my fellow Emmy Award winner, Sheena San, who is a fantastic creative director.<\/p>\n
She and I have worked together on these projects that I mentioned for over five plus almost ten years. And I think it starts with creative direction. And so, I\u2019m really excited to be able to bring her along to help not just execute the vision, but also creatively decide and help figure out the look, the palette and just overall aesthetic of each scene.<\/p>\n
Myhraliza, have you started filming already? And how long do you think this filming was going to go on?<\/p>\n
Myhraliza:\u00a0So, we were heavily in pre-production this past summer. And we were set to film. But when we realized that we wanted to have our post-production funding, we thought it would be better to take a step back and really focus on getting the complete funding so that it would have the funding that it deserved.<\/p>\n
We are continuing right now to get funding for this project. We plan to film either later this fall or early spring. We are anticipating that it\u2019s going to be three days of filming. But we are excited because we will soon be announcing our ensemble cast. And so, thank you again for allowing us to share about this to bring momentum to this project and interest in this project.<\/p>\n
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So, Mark, what challenges do you see you encounter in making this film?<\/p>\n
Mark:\u00a0As always, when we\u2019re dealing with a cultural film, the challenges are to make a film that is distinctly Filipino American but yet is relatable enough for anybody to watch. That\u2019s going to be something that has to rely on comedic tropes that not just people within our culture can understand, but anyone from any culture can understand.<\/p>\n
So, while we\u2019re making this with us in mind and our community in mind, the idea is that anyone with a toxic family member or wanting to escape to another reality should be able to watch it and relate to it in so many ways. I feel like it\u2019s interesting because Myhraliza and I were actually often discussing the viability of the title, right? Because there\u2019s Gossip Queens, but then there\u2019s the word Tsismosa. And I\u2019ve often been on the cautious side of, is everybody going to understand that? Should we go with just a more generalized title? But I think as we mentioned it in many different circles, whether at San Diego Comic-Con or at an event at the DGA, people seem to gravitate to the quirkiness of the word, but yet understood the context based on the full title itself. But it really does come down to getting the comedy right, getting the relatability right for a general audience.<\/p>\n
I really like the title too. So, talk about the tsismosa part in your family or your friend circle; where did you get that inspiration for that tsismosa?<\/p>\n
Myhraliza:\u00a0So just to piggyback on what Mark said, anytime I\u2019ve shared the title, people laugh and are already automatically like, oh my gosh, I have to watch this. And to be honest, my mom will probably kill me. But I didn\u2019t have them in mind; maybe they were in the back. For a background in the back of my mind, I think it was more prevalent, unfortunately, when my godmother passed away and when we reflect on their lives, like my cousins and I would often joke about how my mom is. Oh, look at your mom and my mom going over there for Christmas.<\/p>\n
And so, it\u2019s funny, every time we were in the Philippines like last summer, I was laughing to myself because they would talk about so-and-so. It\u2019s from that that I got this idea of Tsismosas that I didn\u2019t realize until I was really listening to them because anytime they got together, they were always just gossiping.<\/p>\n
And so, I said, this would be funny because we would always laugh at them talking about so and so, even talking about us. So that\u2019s my inspiration for Tsismosas. My mom would kill me for saying that.<\/p>\n
Mark:\u00a0It\u2019s funny that you say that. I\u2019m realizing I can be very square. I can be a very serious person sometimes. Oftentimes, I think what really relates, like I said, what really relates to a lot of people, like in this movie, is that a lot of people in our culture would often say things that are almost rude and nonsensical, but somehow, they think it\u2019s in good faith, or sometimes they think it\u2019s what is the phrase that my mom would always use? She would say something like, I was just being honest or it\u2019s constructive criticism that is the part that I hate. I\u2019m just telling you the truth.<\/p>\n
But they think it\u2019s funny. I actually had to scold my mom as an example, because they were still living in the United Arab Emirates at the time where I grew up. She saw a classmate of mine who was a very pretty girl in high school. And she met her in college. And the first thing she said, and my sister actually scolded her, she goes, you were a lot prettier when you were in high school, when you were not fat.<\/p>\n
My sister and I were shocked. My sister just lost her mind. Like, why would you say that? But to her, I guess it was just normal because she thought she was helpful. But I\u2019m like, you do not say that. I\u2019m pretty sure they know. They know how they are. They know that they\u2019re not their best selves right now. But somehow our culture just has this very strange need and want to ask you the most inappropriate things in the most common ways and in the most random ways.<\/p>\n
Like for instance, I hadn\u2019t been to the Philippines and oh my God, almost 20 plus years up until 2024. Because my mom got sick. But when I got there, I got both compliments and insults. The first compliment was, oh, you\u2019re 38, you look like you\u2019re 20. And then I\u2019m like, okay, great. That\u2019s a compliment. And then the very next thing goes like, are you married? Do you have children? And then finally, I think like after being asked that for over a week, I actually just went divorced actually. And then they just didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n
We do have a very interesting culture, but at the same time, being American as well, we need to learn to navigate how that kind of factors in. Oftentimes, we learn to laugh with it because otherwise it gets fairly heavy.<\/p>\n
Myhraliza, what\u2019s your dream for this project?<\/p>\n
Myhraliza:\u00a0So, my dream, this is a proof of concept for a feature specially making it an all-Filipino cast. After we did the casting call for the ensemble cast, there\u2019s just so many talented actors out there that I would love to work with.<\/p>\n
It was proof of concept to be a feature film, but I just thought of bigger things for this because of the amazing talents. Let\u2019s be honest, we cast a lot of the same people who are Filipino. And there are so many talented Filipinos out there that we were happy with who we finally selected, but I ran into some of them who auditioned during the film festival, and I was like, God, I really wanted to cast you, but we only have one role, you know? And so, my dream is to make a feature film and to have it really showcase all the talented Filipinos out there.<\/p>\n
Mark, how do you plan to collaborate with Myhraliza on the direction for this?<\/p>\n
Mark:\u00a0For me, I often have two roles when I direct. My first rule is if I wrote it, I would prefer to direct it completely. But if I didn\u2019t write it and if somebody else directed it, I am fine co-directing because I want the voice to feel genuine. So, this being female-led, written by a woman, I wanted to make sure that that voice and that personality and also that authenticity persisted.<\/p>\n
So, I will definitely give my release of the latitude to be able to better define the emotional aspects of the film wherein we can certainly triage it by me being able to bring in a lot of the experience from the more fantastical elements of my work experience. And also, just the ability to be more over the top for them to be able to see beyond what\u2019s possible. Because oftentimes when actors perform on green screen, they don\u2019t necessarily have the full concept of what it is they\u2019re supposed to do within that given moment. Whereas for me, coming into being in this industry for as long as I have at this point, it\u2019s something that is second nature.<\/p>\n
I can visualize the exact moment, the exact thing that is supposed to be happening, even when they don\u2019t. So, that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to share the responsibility, and I want her to be wholeheartedly responsible for the emotional impact of the characters, wherein I\u2019ll take care of the fantastical elements, and also being able to really shepherd the actors into seeing and performing to how best they can determine, or rather imagine what\u2019s supposed to be around them or in front of them.<\/p>\n
For both of you, what do you hope audiences will get after watching this movie?<\/p>\n
Mark:\u00a0Honestly, I hope they get a lot of laughs. Because the way that I\u2019ve seen that I see this movie is it\u2019s like, imagine if you took a little bit of south, a little bit of everything everywhere all at once, a little bit of Easter Sunday maybe, and then add a little bit of, I don\u2019t know, a random Filipino movie. Like what was the one that I watched \u201cBecky & Badette,\u201d as an example? And then add a little bit of \u201cKung Fu Hustle.\u201d You know what I mean? It\u2019s a genre mix. We definitely want audiences to laugh, but we also want them to thoughtfully, maybe have some heartfelt moments, especially in the touching moments of the film.<\/p>\n
Myhraliza:\u00a0And I would agree with hoping that audiences laugh because I lean towards reading or writing in comedy because I found that laughter is healing. And so those who have experienced us, the similar tsismosa in our families, can feel seen and that they can laugh about it and take their power back. Because I think that is even just in the title; people were already laughing because they can already have that experience. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been anything made that has showcased a Filipino family, but also in a fantastical way to escape the tsismis and drama that\u2019s in their family.<\/p>\n
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Janet Susan R. Nepales is an award-winning journalist and the first Filipina voting member and Associate of the Golden Globe Awards. She has been a member since 2008 and is the first Filipina to be elected to the Advisory Board. She is the author of the coffee table book \u201cFASHION. Filipino. Hollywood. The World\u201d and the co-author of the first FWN book \u201cDISRUPT: Filipina Women: Proud. Loud. Leading Without A Doubt.\u201d A graduate of UST (AB Journalism, cum laude), she is based in Los Angeles and is a Hollywood entertainment journalist and TV correspondent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share Post Viber icon Viber Email By Janet Susan R. Nepales Every Filipino family seems to have a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-375465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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