When the pandemic hit, one of the most affected industries is entertainment. With cinemas closed due to the threat of Covid-19 transmission in movie houses, producers are left with no choice but to innovate and think of ways on how to make their films and contents available to the public.
This is exactly the story of how UPSTREAM.ph came to fruition. The Filipino-made new streaming platform created by Erik Matti and Dondon Monteverde, partners of Reality Entertainment, Inc.
"It's made by Filipinos for the Filipinos, we wanted to give a platform to our Filipino content producers, filmmakers. What's better is it can be accessed by anyone around the world for as long there is an Internet, thus giving them wider coverage," Monteverde shared in a virtual press conference on December 19 via Zoom.
Matti explained UPSTREAM.ph, in a sense, brings the cinema experience virtually giving the audience convenience and safe movie experience given the pandemic situation.
The creators shared that viewers have full control when watching a certain film as they can pause streaming if they need to attend something in the middle of viewing.
The platform also has a piracy-proof mechanism safeguarding producers' content.
This Christmas, UPSTREAM.ph is partnering with Globe in streaming the 10 official entries of the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) which starts on Friday, December 25, and ends on January 7, 2021.
The entries are the Healing Priest (Viva Films and Saranggola Media Productions), The Missing (Regal Entertainment), Isa Pang Bahaghari (Heaven’s Best Entertainment), Magikland (Brighlight Leisure Productions, Inc.), Mang Kepweng: Ang Lihim ng Bandanang Itim (Star Cinema and Cineko Productions), Tagpuan (Alternative Vision Cinema), Coming Home (Maverick Films), Fan Girl (Project 8, Epic Media and Black Sheep), Suarez, The Boy Foretold by the Stars (Brainstomers Lab, Clever Minds, Inc. and The Dolly Collection) and Pakboys: Takusa (Viva Films).
"Tickets are also lower than the usual cinema rates. You can also save a lot as one ticket can be enough for one family if they decide to watch the film on a bigger television and enjoy the movie at the same time," Monteverde said.
How to book
Go to UPSTREAM.ph/mmff to see all the available films. Click "Reserve Now" under your chosen film.
Click "Play" to get your ticket through GMovies.ph, the partner ticketing site. If you have a voucher, type your voucher code on "Enter Promo/Claim Code" then click "Play."
Click "Create an Account" if you don't have a GMovies account yet, do not worry it's free.
Starting December 25, 2020, MMFF entries will be available, you can watch your chosen film on the "My Shows" tab of your GMovies account.
Matti explained that what's also good about showing the MMFF entries via UPSTREAM.ph is it provides producers of all entries equal footing and exposure.
"All the entries will run until the end of the MMFF leaving the producers not at the mercy of theater owners. Unlike before, major issues about MMFF is pinu-pull out kapag mahina ang movie and the allotted theaters were given sa movies na malalakas," Matti said.
This Christmas, support our local film industry by watching, if possible, all entries of MMFF via UPSTREAM.ph.