GLOBE STUDIOS have co-produced local films before, like “Goyo, Batang Heneral”, “All of You”, “Hintayan ng Langit”, but now, they go solo in producing Mikhail Red’s latest opus, “Dead Kids”. They’ve teamed up before in “Birdshot”, co-produced with TBA Studios, the first local film shown on Netflix worldwide. Globe Studios head Quark Henares says they fell in love with “Dead Kids” after Mik pitched the project with his brother, Nikolas, which is loosely based on a true story of a kidnapping done by a group of students.
Mik says it’s a coming of age, youth or barkada movie. We tell him most barkada movies filmed lately were flops, like Viva’s “Squad Goal’s, Regal’s “Walwal” and a new company’s “Petmalu”. So how will his film be different from these failed barkada flicks?
Quark helps him answer it. “Actually, this is more than just being a youth movie. It’s difficult to label it kasi it starts as barkada movie but becomes a suspense-thriller about a kidnapping that went wrong. This has a millennial director directing millennial actors. Mik is only 27 and his age is not really far from the cast members.”
“It’s about the intricacies of the instagram generation,” adds Mik. “The first part is based on my own experiences in high school. The characters are very real, especially their banter. Very cool, very hip. This is about high school kids who kidnap one of their classmates, the son of a narco politician so they have vigilante justice in their minds. They get money from the parents but since they’re amateurs, they make mistakes and the movie becomes a thriller. This will be very different as I’m doing certain scenes and images na di pa nakikita sa local films. We intend to enter it in international film festivals and also export it.”
The seven young stars in the cast are Sue Ramirez as Janina, a good character who’s a perfect role model to other teeners; Vance Larena as Blanco, the silent, cool leader of the kidnappers; Markus Patterson as Chuck, the alpha jock kidnapped by his classmates; Khalil Ramos as Paulo, the horniest member of the group who provides comic relief; Kelvin Miranda as Sta. Maria, the love interest of Sue but who feels out of place even if his friends always ask for his help; Gabby Padilla as Yssa, the girflriend of Khalil; and Jan Silverio as Uy, a very serious and secretive character.
Among them, Khalil is the most senior as he’s a veteran of many movies and teleseryes. Vance is a seasoned theater actor and has appeared in the acclaimed “Bakwit Boys”. Sue and Markus were together in “Ang Babaeng Allergic sa Wifi”. Kelvin is with GMA and has appeared in bit roles in various movies, including “Walwal” and “Class of 2018”. Gabby has done “Goyo”, “Billie and Emma” and also appeared in Mik’s horror flick, “Eerie”, which is yet to be shown. Jan is a commercial model and this is his very first movie.
After this, Globe and Mik will collaborate again in “The Grandstand”, which has been chosen by Asian Film Announcing Forum to be part of its lineup for 2019. This is loosely based on the 2010 Quirino Grandstand hostage crisis where several tourists died. Wow, impressive!
Quark helps him answer it. “Actually, this is more than just being a youth movie. It’s difficult to label it kasi it starts as barkada movie but becomes a suspense-thriller about a kidnapping that went wrong. This has a millennial director directing millennial actors. Mik is only 27 and his age is not really far from the cast members.”
