CARD MRI’s production house goals for wider audience with movies which can be each entertaining and have deep messages
BENTE PRODUCTIONS, a movie production outfit that is an element of a bunch of firms that gives services to the poor, is about to complete its second film this yr.
Bente Productions is the multimedia arm of CARD MRI (CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions), a bunch of initiatives directed at providing key services to the poor, including those in distant areas. Founded by Jaime Aristotle Alip in 1986, its network of firms spans banking, finance, insurance, information technology, education, and culture.
“All the services and products of the various firms work toward the universal goal of the CARD MRI group, which is poverty eradication within the Philippines. Our entire network addresses the various facets of poverty,” said Marilyn Manila, president of Bente Productions, in an exclusive Zoom interview with BusinessWorld.
“We’re documenting all the pieces, telling the world about organizations like us and opportunities which Filipinos can use to raise their lives. We’re capturing that in movies, YouTube videos, and online content like talent shows and talk shows, where we attempt to package the message of hope in a preferred platform,” she explained.
ROMANCE IN BORACAY
Bente Productions’ first film was the romantic drama I Remember You, starring JC Santos and Valeen Montenegro. Released in 2025 and directed by Boboy Yonzon, it follows a bank manager sent to Boracay to assist a struggling community and eventually finding love as well.
The production company was formally founded in 2024, but CARD MRI had been producing movies and videos even before that, Ms. Manila said.
“Our full-length movies were preceded by our localized film festival for our clients and staff, which is now on our fifth yr, called SineMaya,” she said. By investing in groups of employees, clients, students, and others as a way to make short movies, SineMaya empowers grassroots filmmakers to focus on social development and community stories.
“After two years, naisip namin na ang mga festival movies, sa YouTube lang mapapanood (we realized that the festival movies can only be seen on YouTube),” she said. “Kapag full-length movies, mas makikita na sa sinehan. Maraming maaabot na tao (Whereas full-length movies will be seen more within the cinema. They are going to reach quite a lot of people).”
Bente Productions’ current film project is Kusinerang Bulag (The Blind Chef), which recently wrapped up filming in Iloilo. The drama, starring Arra San Agustin and Jean Garcia, goals to showcase culinary heritage with a story a couple of chef who goes blind but continues to run her family’s restaurant.
The production outfit can also be already developing the concept of its third film project, titled Sulat Para Kay Tatay (Letters for My Father), set to reflect the realities of OFWs (overseas Filipino employees) with an emotional father-daughter story.
GRASSROOTS APPROACH
Ms. Manila explained that Bente Productions is uniquely placed within the creative economy due to its ties to the CARD MRI network.
“Nation constructing and poverty eradication are our foremost goals, so we be certain that our movies are very inclusive of the communities we work in. We hire quite a lot of non-actors that we train for key supporting roles, alongside the commissioned known actors,” she said. “We hold auditions for clients, spend money on them, construct their capability to act in front of the camera, and pay them talent fees.”
This decision to work with people within the communities they’re depicting and filming in extends to everyone within the crew, all of the approach to the suppliers, caterers, and transport providers. The primary film involved people in Boracay and Panay Island, while the second film involved people in Iloilo and Batanes, where additionally they shot some scenes.
As for the creatives involved, Bente Productions only has a couple of in key positions, with major roles like directors, screenwriters, and cinematographers outsourced. The concepts are developed from pitches by CARD MRI staff and clients, who eventually shadow the professionals to learn the ropes of filmmaking themselves.
Sulat Para Kay Tatay, for instance, was submitted by a budding author, Eduardo Pacquiao, and chosen through CARD MRI’s scriptwriting competition held last yr. Since the group has 10 million clients all around the Philippines and an enormous network on the bottom, Bente Productions will proceed employing a mass-based approach, said Ms. Manila.
WIDENING THEIR REACH
She told BusinessWorld that they’re consistently studying their impact on the creative economy. For instance, they learned that their first film was seen more within the provinces moderately than the cities.
“We’re mass-based, so we have now a robust presence on the bottom. The campaign also needs to be like that, because that’s the structure of CARD MRI. Social media and mainstream media are still there, but we’ve proved that we work higher through the use of our grassroots network,” she said.
With the third film, Bente Productions hopes to interrupt into the film festival circuit, which might widen their reach — though they may still maintain their grassroots campaigns.
“After the theatrical release of I Remember You, marami kaming clients sa mga lugar na walang sinehan (we had quite a lot of clients in places without cinemas) like Masbate or Marinduque or Lanao del Sur, who said additionally they wanted to observe [the film],” Ms. Manila said. “What we did is we screened the film in venues like basketball courts. We’ll proceed that approach.”
Since the third film’s material shall be the fact of OFWs, additionally they aim to tap the Filipino diaspora as a marketplace for the film. Meanwhile, their long-term goal is to construct a status as a movie production company.
“Gusto namin gumawa ng mga pelikula na may saysay sa lipunang Pilipino, na entertaining and at the identical time malalim ang mensahe (We need to make movies which can be relevant to Philippine society, which can be each entertaining and with a deep message).” — Brontë H. Lacsamana