ANIMA Studios produces 2 films for Cinemalaya 19

TikTok star Lottie Bie didn’t have to make major adjustments to essay her role in Cinemalaya 19’s entry, When This Is All Over, megged by Kevin Mayuga.

She plays one of the condominium staff members named after her, Lottie, in the full-length film, produced by ANIMA Studios.

The youth drama follows the story of “a disconnected desperate guy (played by Juan Karlos ‘JK’ Labajo) who forges a deal with a group of privileged misfits to plan a secret party at the height of a global pandemic, for a chance to escape his reality.” It also stars Ana Abad Santos, Chaye Mogg, Nour Hooshmand, Jico Umali, Aaron Maniego, Renee Dominique and Zara Loayan.

Known for her satirical humor on social media, Lottie’s character in the movie is similar to her online persona. “It’s funny how he (direk Kevin) cast me as Lottie in the film, not as a different actress. So, it’s not much a change for me. I just really had to be myself, acting alongside Aaron who’s also someone I’ve been working with prior,” she told this paper during the ANIMA Studios’ Anniversary Party: Future Horizons at the Ugly Duck Poblacion, Makati City.

Lottie and direk Kevin both worked as directors for commercials before filming When This Is All Over.

“So, it’s not totally different from what I usually do. The difference is the medium and where it’s gonna be shown. Pero everything else, it’s just really felt like I was having fun with family and act together and perform skits like what we usually do on TikTok naman,” she added.

“If you wanna see me, if you watch me on TikTok and you enjoy the familiarity of the skits, you’re gonna see it there. It’s funny how direk was able to create the skits and used the skits that I have on TikTok and put (them) in film.”

“So, I have similar TikTok skits that I did exactly in the film but the difference is I’m not talking to myself anymore. May mga kausap na talaga akong ibang tao. So that would be fun to watch,” shared the digital creator.

“I actually saw the difference between the relationships of the characters and how well everyone portrayed their characters,” she said about the things she learned from doing the film and added that she also formed a close bond with her co-actors. “We have this relationship na very Pinoy family type of relationship. We are like buddies and very close as well while in the other group of friends naman, we can also see a different dynamic in the relationship.”

“And I also saw how different yung privilege (like what) direk Kev is talking about (and how) those two different groups of people interact with each other. That’s something that we can look forward to when you watch the film.”

When This Is All Over director Kevin Mayuga.

Direk Kevin disclosed that they went to TikTok and Instagram to find the cast members for When This Is All Over and that’s how they got connected with Lottie. On the other hand, the filmmaker and his team discovered the lead actor in the film, JK, through last year’s Cinemalaya’s film Blue Room.

“We make sure that the characters that we cast were characters that they already portrayed so it was easy,”direk Kevin offered. He further described the Buwan singer JK as “very collaborative” and “such a great entertaining person and his character who brought so much energy while filming.”

Direk Kevin started to work on the script during the pandemic. He recalled, “I was dealing with something this called privilege guilt na parang when everybody is outside parang mahirap and everything. I thought I was comfortable, safe with my family.”

“I did feel lucky but I felt guilt na parang anong ginagawa natin para sa ibang tao. We are stuck in here. It (film) deals with that themes of privilege, trust but not in a very upfront way, and the consequences of the privilege and the class. And of course, the youth sector,” he added.

In 2021, there was a news about a Filipina who skipped quarantine protocols upon her arrival from the United States and partied with her friends in Barangay Poblacion. She later tested positive for COVID-19.

“I wouldn’t say it’s based on that,” direk Kevin clarified, rather the flick is “a general thing that was happening” during that time.

“I would say nangyari talaga siya with a lot of people. It’s not that they found one story and made something out of it,” he further told The STAR. “It was more like this is what is happening. We are in a limbo stage (like asking), ‘Is the pandemic over?’ The lockdown or hindi, pwede naman tayong mag-enjoy and then, why are we keeping the things hush-hush. We were in a limbo phase (at that time) and I feel like it’s relatable to that sense na madaming gustong mag-revenge party.”

Another semifinalist in Cinemalaya’s full-length category is Rookie, also produced by ANIMA Studios. It is directed by Samantha Lee (Billie and Emma, Sleep with Me) and Natts Jadaone.

As per synopsis, Rookie tells the story of a coming-of-age love story of an awkward six-foot teen who is forced to learn and play volleyball half-heartedly when the Catholic school she transferred to did not have a basketball team. Everything changed when she met their star player.

The LGBTQIA+-themed rom-com stars Pat Tingjuy, Aya Fernandez and Agot Isidro.

The annual film festival will run from Aug. 4 to 13 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The closing film is ANIMA Studio’s Marupok AF (Where Is the Lie?), directed by Quark Henares. The dark comedy stars EJ Jallorina, Royce Cabrera, and Maris Racal.