On May 11, the Viva director Gianfranco Morciano affirmed that he wanted to create meaningful films for the Philippines.
At the media conference for his upcoming Vivamax film, Kabayo, which LionhearTV covered, Morciano professed his love of filmmaking with the goal of creating meaningful movies both for the Philippines and the world.
The director said he does not mind if people watch his film or not as long as he knows the films he makes are relevant and meaningful; something he could share with Philippine Cinema and World Cinema.
He also talked about how his film started with a concept and landed on Vivamax’s roster.
The director narrated that it all started in June after the feast in Tacloban. He said, “I had a friend– he’s a common friend. Wala bigla lang siya nag-ano, he just, nagkwento lang siya na, ‘I know someone from Viva. Baka daw may concept ka to pitch on or something like that.” He added, “So sabi ko, I have a concept, pero wala pa siyang script and everything kasi it’s actually, originally, ‘yung Kabayo is actually a short film. It’s supposed to be a short film. And then noong pinitch ko siya, to Lito De Guzman, together with my team and my producer, parang ‘yun, everything just came out and came true. Pero that was July.”
He admitted that he thought his film wouldn’t be released. Finally, production resumed, and filming began in November 2022.
Everything was shot in Tacloban, Leyte; the producer who is the director’s childhood friend also hails from Tacloban.
‘Kabayo’ stars Rico Barrera and Julia Victoria with Apple Castro, Mara Flores, Angelo Ilagan, and Ping Medina.
Morciano’s Kabayo streams on Vivamax starting May 26.
