<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll 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,\u201d said Marilyn Manila, president of Bente Productions, in an exclusive Zoom interview with BusinessWorld.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWe’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,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
ROMANCE IN BORACAY
<\/b>Bente Productions\u2019 first film was the romantic drama I Remember You<\/i>, 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.<\/p>\n
The production company was formally founded in 2024, but CARD MRI had been producing movies and videos even before that, Ms. Manila said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur full-length movies were preceded by our localized film festival for our clients and staff, which is now on our fifth yr, called SineMaya,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter two years, naisip namin na ang mga <\/i>festival movies, sa <\/i>YouTube lang mapapanood <\/i>(we realized that the festival movies can only be seen on YouTube),<\/i>\u201d she said. \u201cKapag <\/i>full-length movies, mas makikita na sa sinehan. Maraming maaabot na tao<\/i> (Whereas full-length movies will be seen more within the cinema. They are going to reach quite a lot of people).\u201d<\/p>\n Bente Productions\u2019 current film project is Kusinerang Bulag <\/i>(The Blind Chef<\/i>), 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\u2019s restaurant.<\/p>\n The production outfit can also be already developing the concept of its third film project, titled Sulat Para Kay Tatay (Letters for My Father), <\/i>set to reflect the realities of OFWs (overseas Filipino employees) with an emotional father-daughter story.<\/p>\n GRASSROOTS APPROACH \u201cNation 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,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hold auditions for clients, spend money on them, construct their capability to act in front of the camera, and pay them talent fees.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/span><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Sulat Para Kay Tatay, <\/i>for instance, was submitted by a budding author, Eduardo Pacquiao, and chosen through CARD MRI\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n WIDENING THEIR REACH \u201cWe\u2019re mass-based, so we have now a robust presence on the bottom. The campaign also needs to be like that, because that\u2019s the structure of CARD MRI. Social media and mainstream media are still there, but we\u2019ve proved that we work higher through the use of our grassroots network,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n With the third film, Bente Productions hopes to interrupt into the film festival circuit, which might widen their reach \u2014 though they may still maintain their grassroots campaigns. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAfter the theatrical release of I Remember You<\/i>, marami kaming <\/i>clients sa mga lugar na walang sinehan <\/i>(we had quite a lot of clients in places without cinemas) <\/i>like <\/i>Masbate or Marinduque or Lanao del Sur, who said additionally they wanted to observe [the film],\u201d Ms. Manila said. \u201cWhat we did is we screened the film in venues like basketball courts. We’ll proceed that approach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Since the third film\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cGusto namin gumawa ng mga pelikula na may saysay sa lipunang Pilipino, na<\/i> entertaining and at the identical time malalim ang mensahe <\/i>(We need to make movies which can be relevant to Philippine society, which can be each entertaining and with a deep message).\u201d \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CARD MRI\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[793,8694,51560,7205,9163],"class_list":["post-332483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-builds","tag-films","tag-massbased","tag-organization","tag-slate"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332483"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332486,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332483\/revisions\/332486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/b>Ms. Manila explained that Bente Productions is uniquely placed within the creative economy due to its ties to the CARD MRI network.<\/p>\n
<\/b>She told BusinessWorld <\/i>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.<\/p>\n