EXCLUSIVE: Filipino producer-distributor CreaZion Studios is unveiling a slate of film and TV productions here in Cannes, including Severino: The First Serial Killer, which has Dolly De Leon joining Dennis Trillo in the cast.
Scheduled to start shooting in September, the series tells the true story of Catholic priest Severino Mallari, who predated Jack The Ripper by killing 57 people during the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines.
Trillo is playing Severino, while De Leon will play his mother, in what looks set to be one of her darkest roles yet. Severino believed his mother was bewitched and that he could cure her condition by killing people.
Yam Laranas, known for horror films The Echo and The Road, is directing the series, which has been scripted by Dodo Dayao (Cattleya Killer), Rona Co (Hello, Love, Goodbye) and Rody Vera (Die Beautiful).
De Leon has been working between the US and the Philippines since her Golden Globes and BAFTA-nominated role in Cannes Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness. She recently filmed with Nicole Kidman on the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers in Germany. Trillo and De Leon previously starred together in Erik Matti’s On The Job 2: The Missing Eight.
Trillo also stars in CreaZion Studios’ Everything About My Wife, a Filipino remake of Argentinian hit Un Novio Para Mi Mujer, which is in post-production for a late 2024 release.
Jennylyn Mercado (Rosario) and Sam Milby (No Other Woman) also star in the film about a man trapped in a loveless marriage who enlists the help of a local Lothario to seduce his wife. Remakes have also been produced in Spain, Chile, Mexico, Italy, India, Vietnam and Korea.
Launched in 2023 by chairman Rex Tiri, president RJ Agustin and chief creative officer Real Florido, CreaZion aims to produce Filipino content that is successful in its home market but also reaches international audiences. The company also acquires films and distributed Priscilla in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian territories.
“Our strategy is to enter co-productions from an early stage so our partners can share their vision on how to develop the material in terms of story, quality and technical aspects,” Agustin said. “We want to reach out to global audiences and believe collaboration helps to achieve this.”
The company’s slate also includes rotoscope animation movie The Fantabulous Badingger-Z, based on Florido’s LGBTQ+ superhero comic book, Badingger-Z And The Accla Assassin, which Florido will also direct. The film is being developed with Kristine De Leon, producer on Arvin Belarmino’s short film Radikals, which is screening here in Critics Week, while Carl Papa, who directed the Philippines’ 2024 Oscars submission, animated feature The Missing (Iti Mapukpukaw), is also on board to produce.
CreaZion is also teaming with Frank Priot of France’s Ghost City Films and Avid Liongoreng of the Philippines’ Rocket Sheep for animated movie Zsa Zsa Zaturnah Ze Movee, which also has a superhero and LGBTQ+ theme. The project has received support from the Philippines’ ICOF and Switzerland’s Vision Sud Est and was earlier pitched in Venice Production Bridge, Locarno, Korea’s BIFAN and Taiwan Creative Content Fest.
“We believe Zsa Zsa Zaturnah is strongly aligned with CreaZion Studios’ vision of empowering Filipino stories for the global audiences,” Florido said. “This animation feature shows the ingenuity of Filipino artistry in storytelling that can resonate anywhere else in the world.”
Creazion is also working with Filipino cinema master Chito Roño who will direct horror film Ghost Party, scripted by Enrico Santos, known for his work on the country’s highest grossing film of all time, Rewind, which took more than $20M (PHP1BN) earlier this year. Ghost Party is scheduled to start shooting in July.
