Philippines: Last News

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNew president of the Philippines Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday swore in a swath of new officials at government agencies. Among them, veteran actor Tirso Cruz III, was appointed as chair and chief executive of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). He replaces Liza Dino Seguerra who has held the post for the past four years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWildBrain CPLG, a leading entertainment, sport and brand-licensing agency, has been appointed by Peanuts Worldwide as the exclusive licensing agent for the Peanuts brand in parts of Asia-Pacific.   The companies already have a licensing relationship in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and, more recently, India.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefRappler, the independent news organization that earned its co-founder Maria Ressa a Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, has been ordered to close down.The paper had been under siege for much of the past six years for its frequent criticism of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.The order to close came just two days before Duterte is due to end his term as president and hand over to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., heir to the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.It also came just days after the country’s National Security Council ordered the National Telecommunications Commission to block access to 28 news websites. They are accused of supporting terrorism through affiliation with the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

"The Masked Singer" judge Nicole Scherzinger is reflecting on some of her favorite collaborations, one in which includes working with music icon Prince. The singer-songwriter and dancer recently teamed up with deejays and music producers David Guetta, Dimiti Vegas and Azteck on the new house single, "The Drop".  "I’ve been a fan of all these guys for years," she shared with Fox News Digital.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefStars Piolo Pascual and Lovi Poe head the cast of the Philippines adaptation of Korean Series “Flower of Evil.” It begins airing across East Asia and parts of the Middle East. The romance-thriller series involves a female detective who suspects that her husband is a serial killer.The original show was produced by CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon and aired on tvN in 2020.

Billie Eilish has added another leg to her ‘Happier Than Ever’ world tour, announcing six tour dates in Asia this August.The shows, announced today (June 23), will mark Eilish’s first-ever headlining shows in the continent. The singer had previously performed in Singapore, Tokyo and Osaka in 2018 as part of the Laneway and Summer Sonic festivals respectively.The new dates will take Eilish to cities across the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Japan.

EXCLUSIVE: Industry tech provider Deluxe has appointed former Netflix Korea exec Samantha Kim to the role of Managing Director, Business Development, APAC.

Katherine Tulich Lukas Dhont’s “Close,” which won the Grand Prix in Cannes last month, picked up the Sydney Film Prize, the top prize at the Sydney Film Festival, on Sunday evening.Accepting the award via video message Dhont said: “It’s a film that comes from our hearts, that we worked on for a lot of years with many people.”The international jury consisted of Australian actor David Wenham, Australian director Jennifer Peedom, writer-director-producer Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bangladesh), Berlin Golden Bear winner Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey), and the executive director of the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute in Tokyo, Yuka Sakano (Japan). Twelve titles in the official competition included Carla Simon’s “Alcarras”, Hlynur Palmason’s “Godland”, Colm Bairead’s “The Quiet Girl” and Del Kathryn Barton’s “Blaze.” The winner is awarded AUD$60,000 ($41,600).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWattpad Webtoon Studios, the fan-driven global entertainment and publishing arm for Webtoon and Wattpad, and GMA-7, the Philippines’ leading linear television network, Thursday announced a series of upcoming television adaptations of popular Wattpad web novels.The first of these is “Luv Is: Caught In His Arms,” an adaptation of the hit Wattpad web novel “Caught In His Arms,” viewed more than 55 million times, from author Ventre Canard (@VentreCanard).The show will launch from October and air daily Monday through Friday on GMA-7. It os set to feature some of the Philippines’ hottest rising stars.

Eamonn Holmes should have been presenting coverage of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee on TV screens earlier this month, but found himself in a hospital bed being treated for a painful back instead.The experience gave the presenter, who has just begun a new column for Express.co.uk, a renewed understanding of the "underpaid and understaffed" NHS.The 63-year-old broadcaster woke up in agony at the time and, after being rushed to A&E and having an emergency MRI scan, it was revealed that he was suffering from two prolapsed discs in his back.He was impressed by the speedy and efficient treatment he received and the "education" he was given about his condition, alongside the options he was offered every step of the way - but he lamented the impact Brexit has been having on the NHS."The 20 or 30 [staff] I met during my stay repeatedly insisted they were 'just doing their jobs'," he recalled, after praising their efforts to keep patients comfortable throughout the night."My carers were from Northern Ireland, the Philippines and Africa.They were underpaid and understaffed," he continued."Brexit has robbed [the NHS] of many European folk who used to keep the health system going and on a daily basis."I was left asking myself how the hell do they keep saving lives under these conditions day- after-day? But they did."There was no let up and no respite," he exclaimed.He also stated that the complication of staff taking sick leave due to being diagnosed with Covid exacerbated their struggle.He urged the world not to "rely on the Westminster mouthpieces for the facts", and to speak to people within the industry instead.Eamonn felt deflated not to have been at the heart of the action when the Platinum Jubilee kicked off, as he was left

Simon Cowell is typically seen behind the “America’s Got Talent” judging table, not onstage as part of the acts.

EXCLUSIVE: Big Beach has announced that it will produce the upcoming feature Tropical Gothic from Lingua Franca‘s Isabel Sandoval.

Toro y Moi's album MAHAL dropped on April 29, and a couple of weeks before the psych-rock project dropped we got a trailer for a short film tie-in. Directed by longtime Toro y Moi collaborator Harry Israelson, Goes By So Fast: A Mahal Film costars Toro (a.k.a. Chaz Bear) and Eric André of the anarchic Adult Swim hit The Eric André Show.

Isabel Sandoval Days after my episode of “Under The Banner of Heaven” premiered, I received a private message on Twitter from a Mormon consultant on the show though we never managed to connect during the shoot. “I just wanted you to know how beautiful your episode turned out. The response here in Utah has been epic.

Activision Blizzard has released a “launch roadmap” for Diablo: Immortal in order to ensure a smooth launch for players.The mobile version will begin to appear on the Apple App Store and Play Store on the morning of June 1 ahead of the official launch on June 2. According to Blizzard, this is due to the “nature of how mobile games launch” and to ensure a “smooth full launch”.The MMORPG will be launching at 6pm on June 2 in the United Kingdom.

Read More: Huge 90s Allstars concert coming to Hull featuring 5ive and Atomic KittenAs the live starts, Calum appears shocked catching a glimpse of himself of the screen, he questioned "who's that?". He then quickly realises "that's me" as he laughs it off. He continues "I don't think I am [on live]" with the person helping Calum looks at her phone and exclaims "you are!""Are we live? Can someone confirm it to me?" he questions to the camera.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“Plan 75,” Hayakawa Chie’s Japanese dystopian drama which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, has been sold in a raft of territories by Urban Sales. The movie is set in Japan, in a near future where a government program called Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be voluntarily euthanized in order to remedy the aging society. The film weaves the stories of an elderly woman who isn’t able to live independently, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman and a young Filipino caregiver.

Eva Noblezada Mulan was my childhood icon. After seeing her face and recognizing something similar in mine, I decided that I also wanted to cut my hair off in an act of 5-year-old defiance.With my Papa’s nose hair trimmers, that was. And for a long time, Mulan was one of the very few characters I saw on TV and in magazines that looked like me.

Manori Ravindran International Editor[Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Triangle of Sadness”]Dolly de Leon doesn’t get very far in Cannes without being stopped in the street by enthusiastic supporters. The scene-stealing Filipina actor stars in Ruben Östlund’s festival sensation “Triangle of Sadness,” where her every line has so far prompted cheers in press and public screenings alike.De Leon plays Abigail, a toilet manager on a chaotic cruise ship who gets her own back on her bosses and guests when, well, shit hits the fan.

Film Development Council of the Philippines launched the FDCP Channel streaming platform at the Cannes Film Market on Tuesday.Available at launch will be 140 films, including 100 Filipino titles from the country’s masters including Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Kidlat Tahimik, Chito Rono, Brillante Mendoza and Dodo Dayao.In addition, there will be 41,000 film heritage elements available on the platform including news reels and documentaries.The platform has several tiers. The basic access service is free and has short films, panel discussions and special events.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPhilippines social media platform and online story company Wattpad have joined forces to adapt Jamille Fumah’s Wattpad hit “Kiss Master” as a 10-episode series for multi-platform distribution.The romantic fantasy currently has 7.7 million reads on Wattpad. It follows five years after Sussie’s heart was broken by bad boy billionaire Arkanghel Wolfgang.