Breaking into and Making it to Hollywood: Creating own opportunities is key to representation

Panelists were engaged during the roundtable discussion on “Breaking Into The Hollywood Industry”. L-R: Chris Lee, Dingdong Dante’s, Joanna Bacalso, Reggie Lee, Mark Labella, Arjo Atayde and Giselle Toengi as Emcee. (Photo by Xenia Tupas)

       Filipino artists must create opportunities to showcase Filipino culture and be represented in film and other creative endeavors in Hollywood, this was the consensus at the roundtable discussion “Breaking Into the Hollywood Industry“ at the Manila International Film Festival last March 4.

Creating opportunities also meant creating a network of casting directors, producers and directors and content for Filipinos and Filipino American actors because they have the talent that can be showcased to the world, according to the trajectory of the discussion.

Winston Emano, a known movie publicist and one of the moderators of the forum said that there was a blueprint on how Asian actors broke into Hollywood about a quarter of a century ago.

“They did not wait for Hollywood to come to them in films that brought Filipino and Filipino-American cast together with three legends to of do that and independently-financed, Emano explained.

He revealed that they created a blueprint for modern Asian American cinema and how to market your film In the grassroots that has been replicated by every films such as “Better Luck  Tomorrow” to “Crazy Rich Asians” as good examples of creating your own opportunity.”

“We copied the same exact blue print pre-social media era when  creating your own opportunity was much harder,” Emano said as he called on to the challenge for writers or content creators that when content doesn’t sound Filipino,  make their character Filipino.

Dingdong Dantes, president of the League of Filipino Actors in the Philippines, said that by default actors become advocates of our culture and the stories of our nation.

Speaking before a crowd of actors and fans gathered at The Kookaburra Lounge, Dantes said: ’The only weight that actors should carry is how good we bring to life the characters we portray because our performance will suffer, but if we do your role properly and if you portray your character well, I do believe everything else with follow.

According to Chris Lee, “as one representing Filipino talent in general, a lot of it is educating casting directors, producers, studios because back in the days,  they don’t know where to place Filipino talent.’

“Now it is better because you have to be seen, with projects with Filipino leads in it and portraying themselves as Filipinos which I think is great,” he added saying that “a lot of it stems from behind the scenes, we need more people in the behind the scenes, the writers, the people who make decisions to green light those type projects.”

Lee assisted Inigo Pascual, a popular singer and actor in the Philippines, land a lead role in 2021 in “Monarch,” a  Fox musical drama series which marked his major Hollywood debut. Pascual is also in the post-apocalyptic film “Homestead" by Angel Studios with Mark Labella, who is also one of the panelists in the roundtable discussion.

“We are multi-talented, we can sing, dance and act and I think we need to seize the opportunity, “ Lee said when he used the experience of Pascual as an example. 

Meanwhile, Labella, said that from producer perspective we should make sure that we have a good story and script and share with as much people as we can from the network that has been established in order to be seen or heard to create the opportunity.

Filipino Canadian actress Joanna Bacalso expressed gratefulness that she am able to represent her culture and as a Filipino woman in the industry and making strides. Just recently, Bacalao produced and directed a film about mental illness based on a true story of her brother. She said this Filipino experience about mental illness is can opportunity to tell the story from my lens.

We are the least represented in the media because they do not know here to put us, whether we are Asians or Latinos, actor Reggie Lee said. It is known that he no longer used his real name Reggie Telmo Valdez because he had been identified as Latino.

Lee added that he has been very picky with scripts and sometimes turning them down that his agents and managers now know especially his preference as he mentioned about his experience in the Netflix series “The Lincoln Lawyer” where he asked to speak in Tagalog instead of English with an accent to which they agreed.

Lee, who earlier in his career was cast in the nationwide tour of Miss Saigon, said that when  he first joined there was a bunch of Filipinos and it was amazing because they just went out all the time.  He was just so proud  to become a part of the group saying that when you do a show with Filipinos, you just felt like home, a real thrill, its a real pride, going back to my roots and all of that was pure joy.

Also in the roundtable discussion was Quezon City Congressman Arjo Atayde, also a popular actor in the Philippines and o authored bills seeking to declare Quezon City as the film and television arts capital of the Philippines, and to provide for occupational safety and health standards for TV and movie workers.

In a separate roundtable discussion involving film producers, managers and casting directors, Anna Liza Recto, a film producer who has been in the business for decades said that “right now the  it is powerful, focusing on universal stories and because we are the people telling them, there is an element  of cultural influence based on the experience we are bringing and showing.”

She also said that  some stories told would be different from mine because of the nuances, because of the experience but the commonality is that we are all humans and these stories are accessible to the international audience.

“When you find these stories and the people you want to work, building the network is vital because of all the experiences we gained along the way from others. And that I think is so  important me, how we can make an impact, how we can really  shine in this world,” Recto added.