Yesterday, I decided to buy tickets to the indie film, Zombadings 1: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington hours before showtime. I knew it’d be hard to get in if I did any later. The ticket lady did confirm my hunch when I asked her if it was a hit. “Hay naku, Sir, sobra! Mas malakas pa sa Wedding Tayo, Wedding Hindi.” That film was produced by giant film company Star Cinema. It’s been relegated to a theatre smaller than Zombadings’.
There. Finally. We’re experiencing a cinema revolution in the Philippines. The unthinkable is happening. Moviegoers are going for original and intelligent fare, produced on a shoestring budget and not released by major distributors. This must be a wake-up call to the film industry.
Zombadings’ success also underscores a great advertising crossover. Its promotion was largely confined to the Web. It obviously didn’t have the money to do TV advertising, or the support of a large media network that trumpeted its Metro run on mainstream channels like TV, radio and print. The consumer is online, and spends more time there than on any other medium. If you Facebook, blog or Youtube it, he will come.
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