Bela Padilla is hopeful that the Philippine film industry will receive more support following her participation as a resource speaker in a recent hearing for a proposed bill that aims to support local filmmakers.
Screenshot from Congress TV Digital
On March 18, Bela shared her insights and suggestions on how to address the challenges in the film industry. She recalled a time when she was invited to speak at the World Systemi Forum and Venice’s Biennale.
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” The reaction was always the same. They’re amazed at our output when our budgets are so low,” she wrote.
“Honestly, I always get sad when I hear a Filipino put down a local film or review a local film harshly and compare our work to an international project that has a budget we can only dream of, because I see foreigners appreciate our work more than we do. And sadly, that lack of patriotism or pride in our work is apparent not only in the film industry but in every sector,” she continued.
The actress also mentioned Negros Occidental Congressman and Committee on Creative Industry and Performing Arts chairperson Javi Benitez, who discussed his ideas about creative industries and introduced the Local Film Industry Development Act to her.
After learning more about the proposed bill and what it covers, she cited how it positively impacted her film, A Special Memory, now showing in cinemas nationwide.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see the other day that the bill covers so much of what needs to be addressed like fair equity for creatives and producers. I was also happy to see representatives from CEAP who single-handedly helped my film A Special Memory sell out in so many cinemas nationwide, because they brought ticket prices down,” she said.
She also emphasized the need to improve safety and representation for women during sets: “Representation from @gabrielapartylist to insert extra protection for women on set. Other countries like the UK have the @femalefilmclub that uplift and highlight female filmmakers, tayo nasa protection palang.”
On helping the local film industry
Bela also voiced her concerns and proposed ways to improve the Philippine film industry.
@binibiningbelamy two cents
“I do think that it’s very important that we have a film commission already, a one-stop shop for foreigners who are coming in [and] filmmakers who are coming in who want to shoot and to film in the Philippines. Not only for them to be able to shoot more efficiently, but to protect Philippine filmmakers, to protect our natural resources, and to give them the best of what we have,” she affirmed.
The actress highlighted that the country has a lot of talented Filipino filmmakers, actors, and creatives, yet receives little to no support from the government.
“Right now, we are not seeing what the government can do for us. At [the] top of my mind, I’d love for—like you said earlier, if it’s true—that we can approve a 50-50 deal between filmmakers and producers in ownership of scripts and films,” she said, adding that she has written numerous scripts and directed films, yet she doesn’t own any of them.
She also cited how different it was when she was working on sets in different countries, particularly in Switzerland and South Korea: When working closely with the Swiss Film Council, one of the first things they asked us was for our budget, and the reason they checked it is because they wanted to see if we were paying our staff—a wage that is at least comparable to what they were paying the Swiss staff.”
She noted that despite having a smaller population and its audiences being divided into multiple languages, the Swiss film industry receives more support compared to the Philippines, which has a larger population.
“Here in the Philippines, we have a population of 115 million, and yet we don’t have the same provisions for our filmmakers here,” she said.
“So I hope the meeting goes well today, and we do see some changes in Philippine filmmaking,” she concluded.
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