About the Project
Mang Abe’s Ube is writer-director Paolo Bitanga’s debut film since graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts this past January.
The story recounts the legend of “The Farmer and The Green Glow”, a modern-day Philippine folktale of a provincial farmer who finds recent fortune in his ube (purple yam) jam business. The boom of Mang Abe’s enchanting product inevitably draws the attention of corporate tyrant Mr. Fernandez, President of Super Ube, who kidnaps the farmer’s son in an attempt to obtain Abe’s magical secret source of success. Now Abe must track Fernandez down to the depths and gorges of the Manila metropolis in order to save his only child.
Though only 20-minutes long, this is a big film full of magical adventure and jam-packed with action and heart, making most anyone, aged 1 to 101, potentially great fans of this fiercely kick-butt family-man farmer.
Costs
To bring out the vast colors of the Philippine culture, we knew we had to shoot in the Philippines. And thus being an international co-production, one could imagine the costs run pretty high. Though the film will benefit from relatively inexpensive local production costs and discounted rates from professional rental houses, the magical-realism aspect of the film boosts the budget, as this means we require a lot more specialized set-pieces/equipment and Visual Effects. An especially demanding scene is the big fluvial ube festival, where we will have to stage elaborate decorations and hire a whole parade of extras.
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Transportation to and within the Philippines
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Location fees for a rustic town, farmland, streets
- Equipment
- Cast+Extras
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Props, costumes, set-dressing for authenticity
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Food for our hardworking cast and crew
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Post-Production---music and special effects
- Festival submission fees
The Impact
This film is a take on Philippine independent cinema that hasn’t been seen before; it does not follow the visual stereotype. This is a brand of Philippine cinema that can only be through the fusion of Eastern and Western styles. "Mang Abe's Ube" will hopefully spark a movement.
This will also act as a launching point for the careers of our two leading stars.
- Leon Miguel (Mang Abe) is gaining popularity in the indie film scene yet has not had a leading role until now.
- Micko Laurente (Cornelius) is a promising 8-year-old actor. Playing the powerful role of Mang Abe's son will hopefully give him ample exposure and experience.
Our strong child lead is also meant to be an inspiration to future artists. In turn, we are also working with the Future Faces Manila Foundation, a non-profit organization aiming to offer tuition assistance to artistically talented, low-income youth in the Philippines. Once we’ve covered our production costs, every extra dollar raised past this goal will go directly to Future Faces and sending a child to school.
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What You Get in Return
- A warm fuzzy feeling from helping a young filmmaker's dreams come true
- Lifetime supply of super ube gratitude
- The perks listed to the side
- A unique experience by being part of this great adventure with us!
We are also "auctioning" off notable props from the film:
- Mang Abe's hat
- Newspaper clippings of Mang Abe's ube business
- Mang Abe's mini-spade
- The Shell
These special perks will go to the top four cumulative donators! We will keep a leaderboard updated on here and on our Facebook.
