Paul Soriano gets Hollywood producer’s support for ‘Transit’

Paul Soriano

Young filmmaker Paul Soriano’s indie fllm “Transit” gets a push in Hollywood by way of producer Dean Devlin, who also produced the blockbusters “Independence Day” and “Godzilla.”

“He’s representing the movie now in Hollywood. We’re in good hands. We have a Hollywood big time producer pushing for ‘Transit.’ I think it’s the first time,” he revealed during the NUCinema: NUVALI Outdoor Film Festival’s award’s night at Nuvali’s The Fields, where he sat as one of the jurors along with directors Jeffrey Jeturian and Jade Castro.

Paul noted it would be a “little easier because Hollywood knows Dean Devlin,” adding, “(He) can make phone calls and instantly pinapansin, ‘di ba?”

When asked for specifics as to how Dean will help in the movie’s bid for the Oscars, Paul said the former is “helping with the campaign in terms of funding… Sabi niya siya na ang bahala. He believes in the film.”

The two met a couple of months ago in Los Angeles. “I’m doing a film for next year and he wants to help me to produce it,” he related.

“In the middle of our meetings about my films for next year, I said, ‘Dean meron akong ‘Transit,’ baka you want to see it.’ We’ve been talking on Skype and on the phone. He wants to produce some of my films. I showed him ‘Transit.’ He told me he cried and fell in love with it kasi Dean is half-Jewish, half Filipino so he related to the film.”

No sooner, “He e-mailed me one time out of nowhere. ‘I love the movie. I am so impressed. Can I help you?’ ‘Of course.’ He didn’t charge me a single dollar.”

Chances Are

Paul is not at all pressured about the chances of the “Transit,” the Cinemalaya-winning indie written and directed by Hannah Espina, in next year’s Oscars where it is the country’s foreign language film entry.

Brimming with hope, he rattled off the Oscar worthiness of the movie he produced.

“I think the story is very unique… It’s about our fellow Filipinos, OFWs living in Israel. And these Filipinos speak Hebrew, speak English, speak Tagalog. They have children born in Israel who don’t know if they’re Israeli or Filipino. And then there’s deportation law that deports children,” he related.

“I think first time ko narinig ‘yan na may law (that) deports children. Usually deport ‘pag criminal ka or nag-break ka ng law pero ito children. Ano ang ginawa nila, innocent, ‘di ba? Pero may law na ganyan? People in the States or in the Academy will see na there’s this kind of story pala.”

Saying that the selection of “Transit” to be the country’s official entry in the forthcoming Oscar Awards is a “blessing”, Paul believes that “with or without the Oscars “Transit” has been successful already.”

“For me, right now, the focus is on…” “’Transit’ is more than a film. Ano ‘yan, eh, it’s for the Philippines na. If we win the Oscars… it’s for the country,” he intoned.

Film appreciation

Modern technology has made filmmaking a lot easier for aspiring filmmakers and with it, Paul has observed, appreciation for independent films has also greatly improved. That said, he noted, “the struggle of an independent filmmaker is getting the film seen, ‘di ba?”

He said, “We make indie films, it gets recognized abroad pero we have a hard time showing it here because the audience appreciates the mainstream films. I have nothing against that but I think as the younger people get older, they’re looking for this alternative type of cinema.”

Thankfully, there isn’t a dearth of filmmakers that are pushing the envelope when it comes to indie films. With support from NUVALI’s NUCinema, the playing field has indeed become bigger.

The winners of the first NUCinema Short Film competition are: “Bugtong” by Dorina Naraval with “Jose Pedal” by Athena Mendoza as runner-up for the Novice category; “Pare KOI” by Marco Subido with “HelloGoodbye” by Zoraya Lua as runner-up for the Professional Division.

The winner of the grand prize in each category gets a scholarship for advanced course in motion picture production while runner-up winner will get a scholarship for basic course in motion picture production.

Paul Soriano gets Hollywood producer’s support for ‘Transit’

Source: Mb.com.ph (October 29, 2013 at 01:31PM)

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