Metro Manila Film Festival crosses the digital divide

Local movie industry prepares for total shift to new technology

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

RED’S Ryan Erwin (left) and Digital Magic’s Percy Fung field questions from students during a recent workshop on digital migration. Photo courtesy of Tony Y. Reyes

For the first time in its 39-year history, Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries will all be shown in digital cinemas.

By December, all cinema chains in the country would have converted from

35-mm film to digital projection, said Tony Y. Reyes, the director behind the lucrative “Enteng Kabisote” franchise.

So, is the movie industry ready to cross the digital divide?

Insiders believe there is still a lot of work to be done before the local film industry can totally adapt to the technological changes and challenges.

For precisely this reason, the Multimedia Entertainment Arts Foundation (MEA) held the three-day “Movie Production for Digital Migration” workshop at SM North Edsa recently.

The workshop panelists, both local and foreign, underscored the importance of standardizing practices and procedures to make the digital workflow more efficient and effective.

Metro Manila Film Festival crosses the digital divide