Original Sang’gres, bumuo ng sariling kumpanya

MAGSISILBING reunion project ng magkakaibigang Sunshine Dizon, Iza Calzado, Karylle at Diana Zubiri ang pelikulang Mystified. Bukod sa sila ang mga bida, they are also producing the project under their own company called Sang’gre Productions at ang co-producer nila ay ang kanilang Encantadia director na si Mark Reyes.

The name of the company was derived from the name of the royal characters that the four girls portrayed in the original Encantadia.

Sa naging panayam ng Pep kay Sunshine, hindi nito naiwasang maging emosyonal habang sila’y nagte-taping no’ng ipasuot sa kanila ang kanikanilang costumes para sa Mystified.

“Parang nasenti ako bigla na parang wow, ginagawa namin ito uli! At saka looking back, it has always been my dream na makagawa ng movie, pero parang umabot sa point na parang hindi na magma-materialize kasi nga nasa ibang channel na sina Iza at Kaye, tapos kami ni Joy, iba na rin, parang nag-kanya-kanya na kami.”

Kaye is Karylle’s nickname. Joy is Diana’s nickname whose real name is Rosemarie Joy.

At present, Iza and Karylle, (as co-host and one of the “TNT” judge ng It’s Showtime), are with ABS-CBN, while Sunshine is a contract artist of GMA-7.

Diana also stayed with ABS-CBN for while, but returned to GMA-7 in 2016 as a freelance actress.

Naikuwento ni Sunshine ang back story regarding their reunion project.

“So, three years ago, Christmas party sa bahay ni Direk Mark, ako ‘yung nag-open up noong idea. ‘Mag-produce na lang tayo kasi kung maghihintay lang tayo ng maghihintay ng project, I don’t think it will ever come’.

“Pero kung magpo-produce kami ng pelikula, walang sabit sa kontrata namin kasi pelikula. Anyway, Direk Mark picked up on the idea and he said, ‘serious ba kayo?’ ‘Oo, go, go.’

“Sabi niya kasi, there could be a possibility na parang a company, all of us can do it na hindi tatamaan ‘yung mga kontrata namin, so we waited. Parang after a year, it materialized.

“Direk Mark said, ‘Oy, ito totoo na, iFlix wants to work with us. So, what are we gonna do?’ Sabi ko, e, matagal ko na rin talagang pangarap na magkaroon kami ng sariling production house, so we pushed through. So, that’s how it started.”

Mystified, which will be shown as a full-length movie on iFlix this March, is Sang’gre Productions’s first project.

In this film, Sunshine, Iza, Karylle, and Diana play witches living a normal life in the mortal world.

Being an original concept of the team, they deliberately included some familiar elements from Encantadia.

“Siyempre, we also picked up on a little of the parang Sang’gre na history ng Encantadia. May konti siyempre, kasi ultimately, this is for the fans. Dahil ever since Encantadia, there has always been a clamor for, like a movie na kaming apat, pero hindi nga nangyari,” sabi pa ni Sunshine.

“So ngayong ito na, mayroong mga kumbaga, konting input pa rin naman, but it’s totally different from Encantadia.”

Sunshine then dropped some hints about the story of Mystified.

“Mga sorsera kami pero may kanya-kanya pa rin kaming different powers. Ako, I play the role of Althea, I’m the myga, ‘yung nagmimix ng mga potions.

“But in real life, kasi after 300 years, we have to blend in with the commoners so anong trabaho naman namin. Ako, naging doctor ako, Iza is a teacher, Diana is an events specialist, Kaye naman is a blogger.”

Ibinunyag na rin ni Sunshine na after Mystified, mayroon nang ilang projects in store for Sang’gre Productions.

“Yes, there are a couple of projects lined up already. Basta maganda. Hindi ko pa masasabi, pero nakipag-meeting na kami, ako, si Direk Mark, si Joy. There are these two projects na na-in love ‘yung isang company.”

Nauna nang sinabi ni Direk Mark sa PEP that there are plans of doing a reunion project for his other phenomenal project, TGIS, starring Angelu de Leon,

Bobby Andrews, among others.

Sey ng batikang direktor: “It’s... I don’t know if it’s gonna be a one-shot deal or a series for streaming.”

Since Sunshine was also a part of TGIS, is there a possibility for Sang’gre Productions to produce this project?

“Bakit hindi? If we have the money na,” sagot ni Sunshine.

Sunshine pointed out that Sang’gre Productions can produce projects for any platform, including ABS-CBN and GMA-7.

“Sang’gre naman kasi is a neutral ground, so we can sell anywhere. Puwede kaming mag-Dos, pwede kaming mag-Siyete, puwede kaming mag-iFlix, puwede kami mag-Netflix, lahat puwede, neutral ground. ‘Yun ang maganda,” sabi pa niya.