40th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF 2014) starts on December 25

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The 40th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF 2014) will be held from December 25, 2014 until the first week of January, 2015. During the festival, no foreign films are shown in Philippine theaters in order to showcase locally produced films.

The official eight entries of the films 40th Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF 2014):

• Bonifacio, Ang Unang Pangulo

Cast: Robin Padilla, Vina Morales, Daniel Padilla, Eddie Garcia, Jasmine Curtis-Smith

Film Company: Philippians Productions & Events, Inc.

Director: Enzo Williams

• English Only, Please

Cast: Jennylyn Mercado, Derek Ramsay

Film Company: Quantum Films, MJM Productions, Uno Productions

Director: Dab Villegas

• Feng Shui 2

Cast: Kris Aquino, Coco Martin, Cherry Pie Picache, Carmi Martin, Ian Veneracion

Film Company: Star Cinema, Kris Aquino Productions

Director: Chito Roño

• Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2

Cast: Dingdong Dantes, Isabelle Daza, Hannah Ledesma

Film Company: Reality Entertainment, GMA Films, Agostodos Pictures

Director: Erik Matti

• Magnum Muslim .357

Cast: ER Ejercito, Sam Pinto 

Film Company: Scenema Concept International, Viva Films

Director: Jun Posadas

• My Big Bossing

Cast: Ryzza Mae Dizon, Vic Sotto, Marian Rivera, Manilyn Reynes, Nikki Gil, Pauleen Luna, Wally Bayola, Jose Manalo, Paolo Ballesteros

Film Company: Octoarts, MZET, APT Ent.

Directors: Joyce Bernal, Marlon Rivera, Tony Reyes

• Praybeyt Benjamin 2

Cast: Vice Ganda, Richard Yap, Roderick Paulate, James "Bimby" Aquino-Yap, Alex Gonzaga, Karla Estrada, Negi

Film Company: Star Cinema, VIVA Films

Director: Wenn Deramas

• Shake, Rattle & Roll XV

Cast: Dennis Trillo, Carla Abellana, Matteo Guidicelli, JC De Vera, Erich Gonzales, Lovi Poe

Film Company: Regal Films

Directors: Jerrold Tarog, Dondon Santos, Perci Intalan

AC/DC tops charts around the Globe!

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AC/DC are back to topping charts around the globe with their 15th studio album ‘Rock or Bust.’ Released globally last week, ‘Rock or Bust,’ debuts at #1 on sales charts in 10 Countries so far including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, and Germany where it’s the fastest selling international album in nearly ten years and sold more in its first week than all other international albums on the chart combined.

In addition ‘Rock or Bust’ debuted in the top five in a total of 25 countries including the U.S., UK, Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Japan, Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, and Hungary. In the U.S the band debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Top 200 chart selling over 174,000 albums in its first week.

‘Rock or Bust,' produced by Brendan O'Brien and mixed by Mike Fraser features 11 new tracks and has critics declaring the album a highpoint of their 41-year history with Rolling Stone noting “AC/DC remain hard rock’s masters.” Entertainment Weekly calls the new album a “high-octane, party-hard collection of monster jams” while Boston Globe says it is the “most head-bangingly, fist-pumpingly enjoyable hard rock ever.” 

And NY Newsday says it “still sounds like rock and roll heaven.”

Million Views Club

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Gone are the days when word on what’s hot in entertainment springs only from what critics have to say. Bankability, after all, roots from the appreciation of the public, and the public has long blasted towards a world where a single “like”, “thumbs up” or “star” can tip the scale. 

With YouTube re-establishing the very purpose of music videos, the artists of Ivory Music & Video gain the champagne life by garnering millions of views, giving a bird’s eye perspective of OPM’s finest today. It’s a highly exquisite circle of new-breed talents.

Leading the pack is rapper Abra with a whopping 40 million+ views on official YouTube channels carrying his name. Possessing unparalleled lyrical flair in early years of age and career, the music video for “Gayuma”, featuring Thyro and Jeriko Aguilar, has steadily surpassed the 30-million mark. “Ilusyon” managed to front on critical and commercial reception as, apart from amassing more than 4 million views, the music video gained recognition at the 27th Awit Awards, winning Best Music Video on top of fully-established contenders such as Yeng Constantino, Sandwich and Gloc-9. And since in the camp of young tongue-twisters he’s tagged as “the wordsmith”, Abra’s lyric videos embraced its fandom views with 5 million for “Abrakadabra” and 3 million for the Chito Miranda-assisted “Diwata”. The rest from Abra’s video catalogue are looking at following suit, too, as only a few months upon YouTube publishing, videos for “Cerebrus”, “Deadma”, and “Midas” are still running on replay. 

Charisma also plays a big part in crunching up the numbers, proven by Maja Salvador on her first recording venture, “Believe”, pieced together by Ivory Music & Video. More than a triple threat (a signed actress, dubbed as the Dance Princess, and vaulted her image on magazine covers), Maja gained bigger following when she stepped into the music limelight: non-fans loved her and fans loved her even more, and when “going for gold” wasn’t enough, the album sky-rocketed to Platinum certification. Be that as it may, it wasn’t much of a surprise, really–to begin with, Maja’s pilot music video “Dahan-dahan” tallied 5,973,100 views as this is being written, and is currently the most popular video on Ivory Music’s channel. Quite impressive for a track that’s only getting its feet wet. Follow-up “Halika Na”, with Abra lending his rapping power, is already checking beyond half a million.

JM De Guzman

JM De Guzman, too, needs no introduction. A pre-established appeal is a card on his stack, but unknown to many is a real vocal talent behind the pretty-boy face which he chose to play. Music is career 2.0 for JM, faring well on YouTube introspection: his cover of John Legend’s “All Of Me” and Itchyworm’s “Akin Ka Na Lang” are beyond 2,000,000 views. The remainder in his video archive never have less than a hundred thousand hits.

Besides these soloists, Silent Sanctuary’s also been making the million cut. The rockestra’s premiere record deal with Ivory Music & Video pitched them to be front-liners for the label. The album “Monodramatic” enjoyed continuous success with a huge part of thanks goes to the reverberation of their online presence. The original version of the music video for “Sa’Yo” garnered more than 2,300,000 views, and “Meron Nang Iba” yielded more than 1,100,000. Even the lyric video for “Bumalik Ka Na Sa Akin” is Ivory Music & Video’s 5th most popular video at 1,134, 011 views and the official clip for the same song is following suit at a close 800,000.

The same goes for Moonstar88 who has perfected the slice-of-Pinoy-life songwriting method. Going for alternative tunes friendly to the airwaves, the band’s accompanying music videos have been easy on the eyes that it’s no different from sneaking a peek on someone’s diary. This vivid retelling of very specific life moments is, perhaps, the reason for “Gilid” and “Ligaw” earning not less than 1,100,000 music video views on YouTube.

If view count is the trend, then Ivory Music & Video’s doing a pretty good job creating trendsetters. Online content reveals real-time bearing on commercial relevance, and at a time when fanhood is crucially a musician’s wealth, it’s safe to lay claim that the label is benefitting from the rich rewards of its knack for developing talent on both sides of the camera, and meeting the wants of the audience, if not redefining it. With the goal of keeping every release perfectly in tune with our times, soul is practically breathed into production.

Critical accolades are still a driving force for success, yes, but the sweeter nod still rests on real audience feedback.

A click (or a tap) will, as they say, make or break.

See the numbers rise higher by subscribing to Ivory Music & Video’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/IvoryMusicVideoPH, and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ivorymusicandvideophilippines for updates on your favourite OPM and international artists!

By: Riley Bardos

Maja Salvador’s debut album “Believe” went for the Gold, then for the Platinum

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Maja Salvador’s debut album “Believe” signifies more than an exhibition of her singing abilities, one of her many talents. It has proven once again that this girl’s formula for success pans out the way she intends to: dream hard...then work hard for it to come true. “Napatunayan ko na hindi mahirap mangarap. Kapitan mo lang ang pangarap mo. Huwag mong pakawalan.”

It was an inspiring feat for Maja when “Believe” reached 7,500 in sales figures and had been certified Gold by the Philippine Association of the Recording Industry (PARI) last June 5th. It was quite an overwhelming triumph for a young woman testing the waters of a different industry. With her diligent willingness to leave a mark on music and a charismatic hold on a fanbase that never seem to thin out, things that took place after this Gold certification fell beyond the reach of the word “success”.

Numbering in the accolades of “Believe” is the Philippine Movie Press Club awarding the album as the Dance Album of the Year at the 6th PMPC Star Awards For Music, with another nomination for Maja for the New Female Recording Artist Of the Year award. It also pioneered the bar-raising “mastered for iTunes” hallmark for the entire OPM industry. “Dahan-dahan”, the flagship single for the album claimed the nod of OPM buffs as it charted atop national radio and music TV channel charts, and scored almost 6 million views for its music video on YouTube.

The end of the “Believe” era is still not in sight though.

IVORY MUSIC & VIDEO

(Exclusive licensee and distributor of Sony Music in the Philippines) 782 Aurora Blvd. corner Seattle Street, Cubao, Quezon City 1109 | Tel.: +632.722.9771 to 75 | Fax: +632.726.2156PRESS RELEASE

With a sprawling spread of recognition under her belt, “Believe” hits it even bigger with Maja tirelessly touring the country to promote the record and eventually, the countless hours of boosting the acquaintance of the public with the new sound that is Maja, paid off. Only 6 months after receiving

the Gold award from PARI, “Believe” called for a crown change to a Platinum certification, selling over massive 15,000 copies. The plaques were handed to a surprised and teary-eyed Maja on ABS-CBN’s ASAP show last Sunday, December 14.

OPM’s kudos to Maja’s musical work is truly significant, but the belief that she can take over this industry too as regarded by her fans, both newfound ones and those who have grown with her from the early beginnings of her career, is the highlight on Maja’s impressive resumé so

far. Though some “critics” bomb her vocal ability as half-baked at best, Maja knew better: she can sing, and right now that’s what she wants to do. Unlike most of her contemporaries, it wasn’t her intention to follow the regrettable practice of merely creating a 30-minute ad for a celebrity brand. In creating “Believe”, singing and creating a real record was her primary concern. At the very same time she can dance, she can act, she can model. She can relate to the audience. She knows how to envelop herself in the uniqueness of her skillset. From where we're all standing, Maja's got it pretty good at entertaining overall.

More than the efforts she has given to complete and promote the album, Maja only has one last advice: “Just BELIEVE!”

Follow Ivory Music & Video on Facebook for updates on your favorite OPM artists including Maja at https://www.facebook.com/ivorymusicandvideophilippines

ASUS Ranks Number 1 in the Prestigious 2014 Taiwan Global Brands Value Survey

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ASUS has been recognized as the number-one Taiwanese brand in the Best Taiwan Global Brands Awards 2014. This year marks the second consecutive year ASUS has won the award as well as the twelfth straight year the company has been in the top-three list of international brands from Taiwan. The brand value is now estimated at US$1.723 billion and has maintained steady growth despite a competitive market.

"We are honored to be recognized as the top brand in the Best Taiwan Global Brand Awards for the second year in a row. 2014 has been an especially remarkable year for ASUS with the launch of ZenFone. ZenFone brings empowering luxury to everyone, and consumers have responded by making it the number-one phone in Taiwan by market share in the third quarter of this year. We will continue with our In Search of Incredible brand promise as we strive to create an effortless and joyful digital life for everyone." - - - ASUS Corporate Vice President S.Y. Hsu.

During 2014, ASUS has continued its tradition of innovation with the launch of several flagship products, including ZenFone, ZenWatch, and EeeBook X205. The ZenFone smartphone series incorporates beautiful design, high-quality materials, and the seamless functionality of ASUS ZenUI to provide an unparalleled mobile experience to users. The new ZenWatch, the first wearable device from ASUS, is an exquisitely crafted watch that pairs seamlessly with ZenFone or other Android smartphones to provide relevant and useful information when it is needed most, and serve as a personal wellness manager. Continuing the concept of the iconic EeePC, EeeBook X205 is an affordable 11.6-inch Windows 8.1 notebook with a full-size keyboard that integrates the latest technology in a compact, lightweight design perfect for consumers who are always on the go.

The Best Taiwan Global Brands Awards is held by the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C and global branding consultancy Interbrand. The awards are seen as a key indicator of the position held by Taiwanese brands in the global market. The awards are given out based on brand value, which include the financial performance of the company, the role the brand plays in the consumer purchase decision, and the competitive strength of the brand.