“Lam-ang” might be considered an indie film but its budget is certainly more of mainstream filmmaking. The beautiful tree house alone where lead stars Rocco Nacino and Rochelle Pangilinan were shooting a fight scene when we dropped by already cost P100,000. In the scene where Lam-ang is shown arriving at the village of Rochelle with his friends Alchris Galura (who can transform into a dog) and child actor Nathaniel Britt (who can be a chicken), they employed a hundred extras all wearing period costumes.
“This is the most ambitious project I’ve ever handled,” says veteran line producer Dennis Evangelista (“Dukot”, “Deadline”, “Patikul”). “Direk Ana’s vision for the movie is grand and spectacular. The CGI effects alone for the scenes where Lam-ang will be fighting some monsters already cost a fortune. This is just the first leg of our shoot. On April 30, we all return to Manila as both Rocco and Rochelle have to resume taping their respective soaps on GMA-7. We’ll resume the second leg on May 28 in the mountains of Bessang Pass and Sudipen where special sets are now being built.”
How does Rocco find the shoot? “It’s fun kahit na-allergy ako noong Friday. We all ate exotic foods like itlog ng langgam. I turned out to be allergic so my face got swollen at namantal ako ng husto. I ended up in the hospital. Buti’t naagapan and I was ready to shoot again the next day. Hindi na Lam-ang ang tawag nila sa’kin but Langgam. Nang matapilok naman ako and hurt my foot, hindi na rin Lam-ang ang tawag nila but Lampa.”
We told him Sheena Halili, who we met at the presscon of “Tweets for My Sweet” just the day before we went to Vigan, says hello. “Nami-miss ko na nga siya, kasi we work from 7 AM up to 12 midnight. But just last night, I was able to contact her sa skype at nagkausap kami.”
Just like Sheena, he says they don’t have an official commitment yet, but their action surely speaks louder than their words.
