Dumalo ang direktor na si Erik Matti sa 2024 Series Mania International Festival na ginanap sa Lille, France, mula Marso 15 hanggang Marso 22.
Kabilang siya sa tatlo at nag-iisang Asian na nagwagi sa second edition ng scripted incubator Seriesmakers.
Fifty thousand euros ang grant na ipinagkaloob kay Matti.
Top prize winner siya dahil nagustuhan ng mga hurado ang The Squatter, ang proyektong isinali nila ng kanyang kaibigan na si Dondon Monteverde.
Business partner din niya si Dondon sa Reality MM Studios, ang producer ng mga award-winning at critically-acclaimed movies na BuyBust at On the Job.
Read: On The Job: The Missing 8 is Erik Matti's "angriest" masterpiece
Bumalik si Matti sa Pilipinas mula sa France noong Martes, Marso 26, 2024.
Nitong Miyerkules, Marso 27, humarap siya sa entertainment media sa pamamagitan ng isang Zoom conference.
Ipinaliwanag niya kung ano ang Series Mania.
Saad ng Filipino director, “Series Mania is a festival in Lille, France, na nagpapalabas ng mga series, wala silang movies.
“Under that festival, they started yung Seriesmakers. They aim to get full-length filmmakers who were able to join the A-list festivals, meaning Cannes, Berlin, Venice, even Toronto, and then asked them to pitch a project for a series.
“Kami ni Dondon, siyempre we expressed excitement. Sige, i-try namin na sumali.
“We were subjected to a master class, talking about how to produce a series, what’s the difference between film and series.
“Iba-iba yung mga nag-talk. Yung iba, mga taga-Game of Thrones. Yung iba from Narcos.
"And while we’re doing that, we’re talking to mentors. They will guide you into coming out with a deck.
"Why was it important na i-guide kami sa deck? Kasi the final submission for you to be judged na tatlo lang yung mananalo is the deck.
"And we will not be there to explain the deck. The deck speaks for itself, kung anuman yung series, kung anuman yung kuwento.
“We submitted the deck early or late January 2023. Nagsimula kami last year pa. Wala na kaming nabalitaan until we got a call that we won.
“Of the bunch, tayo lang ang Asian. Halos lahat, North American, European, Latin American.”
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THE GOOD NEWS
Dahil noong nakaraang taon pa nila isinumite sa Series Mania ang The Squatter, nalimutan na ito ni Matti hanggang makatanggap siya ng tawag sa telepono mula sa isang kinatawan ng Series Mania na naghatid sa kanya ng magandang balita.
Lahad niya, “Ang tawag, dumating ng ala-una ng madaling-araw. Buti na lang, hindi ako natutulog nang maaga kasi late sleeper ako.
“Dumating yung tawag, ala-una, hindi ko nasagot, tapos tiningnan ko, 'Uy, foreign number ah.'
“Biglang may nag-text sa Whatsapp.Nagpakilala from Series Mania, ‘We’d like to ask you if you can take a call?’
“Pagtawag, sabi niya, ‘Erik, you are not still allowed to announce this. You and Dondon won one of the top prizes of the three awards we’re giving. We won’t tell you which one because we’d like to ask you if you could come to the awarding.’
“Siyempre, ang wish namin, makuha yung malaking grant, dalawang 50,000 euros at isang 20,000 euros.
“Pero ayaw namin mag-expect. Ayaw namin madismaya, I mean, a grant is a grant. Masaya naman kami, good thing nakuha namin ‘yung top prize.”
Read: Direk Erik Matti, umalma sa "pambabastos" ni John Arcilla at ng Star Magic
Hindi pa masabi ni Matti kung kailan nila mauumpisahan ni Dondon ang The Squatter dahil sa maraming prosesong kailangan.
“Medyo matagal itong proseso na ito. Kahit yung mga ginagawa namin ni Dondon ngayon, yung ni-reveal ni Dondon, ha? Hindi ako.
"Lagi ako yung kontrabida kapag nag-a-announce. Napapagalitan ako ng HBO, napapagalitan ako ng Netflix!” ang natatawang pahayag ni Matti.
Maingat na maingat si Matti sa pagsasalita tungkol sa mga international series na ginagawa ng Reality MM Studios, pero hindi sinasadyang nabanggit ni Dondon sa entertainment media na kausap nila.
“O eto, according to Dondon, di ba, gumagawa kami ng BuyBust at OTJ [On the Job].
"Yung BuyBust na yan, dalawang taon na kami diyan, script pa lang.
“On the Job, magdadalawang taon na rin kami, writing pa lang ng script na yan.
"So, in as much as gumugulong lagi yung mga project, hindi tayo sanay sa ganyan, di ba?
“Sa local, imi-meeting kami, gawa tayo ng movie. Next month, puwede nang mag-casting, mag-location hunt. Kasi one month later, magsu-shoot na.
“Dito [international series], kailangan mahaba ang pasensiya mo na hindi ka mawalan ng gana kasi dahan-dahan talaga ang proseso.
“Itong BuyBust, two years ago kami nag-start, ngayon pa lang kami magsu-shoot.
"Yung OTJ, matagal na rin kami. Ito rin kami, this coming somewhere, in the next few months magsu-shoot na kami.
“So, parang hindi mo ine-expect na sa ganoong haba, tuloy naman pala talaga.
“Sa The Squatter, ganoon din.
"Sabi ko sa Beta Films, 'It’s quite refreshing. Me and Dondon have been part of several pitches to other festivals. But then, afterwards, we don’t know what happens to the project because we don’t know where to sell it, if it’s going anywhere.'
“Kaya sabi ko, 'It’s refreshing to have you, guys, actually thinking that we’re giving you this prize because we really want to produce it.'
“May plano talaga sila. Sabi nila, ‘We really love the idea because the story is something that UK would be excited about and the take regarding the immigrant story is very relevant but we never heard such a story yet.'”
Read: Erik Matti to John Arcilla: "Please stop gaslighting me..."