FilAm Creative (FAC) celebrates nine years of supporting the advancement of Filipino Americans in entertainment and media!
Created by event producer Edwin A. Santos, Saturday, June 9th will be our 4th Annual FilAm Creative Hollywood Actors Panel for Actors — a panel discussion and networking event featuring special guest panelists who represent the craft of acting across the board.
Hear the panelists discuss their explorations of the process and profession of acting; their reflections on personal experiences and artistic influences that informed and shaped their careers; their discussions of past and current projects and share valuable insights into the craft and the industry. Get a chance to ask the panelists questions, learn about open opportunities, and build your network.
This year’s FAC Actors Panel will be moderated by YouTube comedienne Mary Grant.
Saturday, June 9, 2018
From 2pm to 4pm
PILIPINO WORKERS CENTER
153 Glendale Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA. 90026* Located between Temple Street & Beverly Boulevard in the heart of Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles. Street parking is available (watch for signs).
MEET ONE OF THE EVENT’S SPECIAL GUEST PANELISTS:
JON JON BRIONES
~ actor / singer ~Jon Jon Briones was born in Quezon City, Philippines. He is an actor and singer who first left the Philippines at the age of 23 to venture to London and joined the original cast of Miss Saigon as ‘The Engineer’ in 1989. Since then, he garnered prestigious award nominations and honorable recognitions throughout his theater career in its US, London, Philippines and German stage productions of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical play.
In 2012, he was nominated for an Ovation Award and an LA Weekly Award for his portrayal of Magno in the show The Romance of Magno Rubio.
For the role of ‘Engineer’ in the 2014 London West End revival of Miss Saigon he won many awards for best actor in a musical such as 2015 What’s On Stage, Broadway World UK (twice, also for best actor in a long running show in 2016), and West End Wilma.
He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 2015 for playing ‘The Engineer’ in the London revival of Miss Saigon.
Since then he has traveled all over the world appearing on stage, television and in film.
He was last seen in a riveting performance as ‘Modesto Cunanan’ on the second season of FX’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
Tag: article
Issue no. 5 of Emmy magazine via @ItsLily on Twitter (part 1) | 21 May 2018
“The viewer has to make a decision about commitment”
“Sometimes you are sucked into something and you want to watch all of it. I just watched the first episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and I will certainly watch every episode of that. It was absolutely superb.”
The 12 Best Woke TV Shows Right Now
American Crime Story
Network: FX
Ryan Murphy and writer Tom Rob Smith had a tough act to follow with the second season of American Crime Story. Veteran biopic writers, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, had already delivered one of the best seasons of television of all time with their work on The People Vs. OJ Simpson which had been released during the run-up to the election, and when the realities of race and gender in America were a daily conversation.
While the second season of the show didn’t receive the same universal critical acclaim or ratings buzz that the show saw in season one, it was no less affecting as a cultural critique.
If season one, more or less, was about race and gender, season two, more or less, was about the LGBTQ experience and the different roads that Gianni Versace, Andrew Cunanan, Jeff Trail, and Lee Miglin were forced to take.
By telling all of these different stories, Murphy and Smith ask us to reflect on the gay experience in America, both in terms of how far we’ve come, and in terms of how far we still have to go.
What’s on TV: American Crime Story, Save Me and more
AMERICAN CRIME STORY: ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
(Showcase on Foxtel — Thursday, May 24 at 8.30pm; also on iTunes)
After the runaway success of People vs OJ Simpson, Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story series is back with an exceedingly watchable second instalment, this time tackling the murder of designer Gianni Versace.
Gunned down in front of his Miami mansion by a serial killer, the death shocked the world and celebrities including Elton John and Princess Diana attended his funeral in 1997.
But the story of his killer, Andrew Cunanan, is lesser known and that’s what this series is really about. While the marketing has been trumpeting its A-list cast — Penélope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Martin — most of the show’s nine episodes are focused on Cunanan, played here with incredible depth by Glee star and Murphy alum Darren Criss.
Cunanan, an openly gay man, had already murdered four people by the time he stood outside Versace’s home. A pathological liar with delusions of grandeur, Cunanan’s emotionally tortured soul was emblematic of the “national crime” Murphy captured in the DNA of this series: Shame.
Played out in reverse linearity, the show peels back the layers of Cunanan’s actions and twisted psychology before bringing it back to the climax — it’s an incredibly effective exercise in empathy. It also happens to be some of the most phenomenal TV you’ll see this year. Don’t miss it.
My Friend Dahmer: is it time to stop glamorising the serial killer?
My Friend Dahmer is about as unglamorous a serial-killer movie as you could hope for: it doesn’t even feature any murders (not of humans, at least). Instead, it lays out the warning signs that all was not right with the teenage Jeffrey Dahmer: his unstable parents, his repressed sexuality, his high-school victimisation, his unwholesome interest in anatomy.
And yet, by its very existence, the movie can’t help but glamorise its subject, who went on to variously rape, murder, dismember, violate and cannibalise his 17 male victims. It doesn’t matter if you portray them as damaged souls or psychopaths; you’re still adding to the legend. Faced with this realisation, much of our current serial-killer fare has cast realism aside to embrace the glamour. That was certainly true of Ryan Murphy’s miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace, whose glitzy Miami settings, A-list cast and 90s couture made for a more appealing watch than such grubby classics as, say, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Meanwhile, Zac Efron is set to play Ted Bundy in a big-screen thriller that suggests that, with the right breaks, Bundy could have had a fruitful career as a lifeguard. And who knows what Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming Manson flick has in store? He’s described it as “probably the closest to Pulp Fiction that I have done”.
Post-Hannibal Lecter, we prefer our killers cultured, intelligent and presentable, like Dexter, American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman or Kevin Spacey in Seven. That dangerous glamour also rubs off on the actors. It never looks bad to have a serial-killer role on your CV, especially if all that’s on it so far are wholesome teen roles. That was the case with Ross Lynch, AKA Young Jeffrey Dahmer, who’s been largely a Disney kid up to now. Versace’s murderer Andrew Cunanan was played by Darren Criss, previously best known for Glee, just as Efron was once indelibly associated with High School Musical.
Which brings us to the best current take on serial killers: David Fincher’s Netflix series Mindhunter, detailing the early history of FBI psychological profiling. Our wide-eyed fed hero, Holden (Jonathan Groff, another Glee graduate), is almost starstruck by the killers he interviews, including Ed Kemper and Richard Speck. He considers Manson the ultimate challenge. But unlike previous serial-killer thrillers, including Fincher’s own Seven and Zodiac, Mindhunter examines the troubling mix of awe and disgust with which we regard these murderers. In the final episode, Holden visits Kemper in hospital. “Why are you here, Holden?” Kemper asks. “I don’t know,” Holden replies. Kemper then hugs him, as he finally realises how totally messed up things have become. We’re right there with him.
My Friend Dahmer: is it time to stop glamorising the serial killer?
EXCLUSIVE: RICKY MARTIN
You recently teased your fans with a new single, “Fiebre”, when can we expect a new full length album?
I am thinking hopefully by the beginning of next year, but right now we have been pretty focused on the Vegas show and American Crime Story, which we were shooting for eight months. Today, the record company no longer needs the record out at a very specific time so the artists have more freedom, and if a song is ready then I can just release it. Obviously numbers are important in this industry, but it gives us an idea of what the audience likes or dislikes, and I have never felt more relaxed doing music.
Since you mentioned American Crime Story, how did you become involved and what made you say yes to the story?
A few years ago I had the opportunity to work with Ryan Murphy on an episode of Glee. We’ve kept in touch and he invited me to dinner to tell me that he thinks he has a role for me. Once I read the script I immediately said yes because it was personal. I knew I wanted to be a part of telling Versace’s story. I wanted to remind the viewers the injustice behind what happened. Because it’s not how Gianni Versace died, but how we allowed it to happen. What angers me most is that Cunanan was on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, living on Miami Beach which is a very small community, but the FBI turned the other way because he was a gay man killing gay men. There is no denying to me that this was really an issue of homophobia. I think we did a great job covering that aspect of the story.
I read that Ryan Murphy wants to give you your own show, any word on that project?
Well he told me about it and then made it public, and I got really excited! We haven’t spoken in detail about it because he is transitioning from one network to another and he told me that he will be busy until June, but I’m not in a rush. (laughs) I would love to do something behind the scenes as well. But no, we haven’t talked about it yet.
You brought up the issue of homophobia and it made me think of your new music video. “Fiebre” and of course American Crime Story both show you openly embracing your sexuality. After being forced into the closet for so long, how does it feel for you to finally be able to express being gay through your music videos and now your acting roles?
Amazing! If I could go back and come out in the late ‘90s or early 2000’s then I would, because it felt amazing to come out. When I talk to people who are struggling with their identity, I tell them that it may be bumpy for awhile but in the long run the love that I received from my friends, family, from social media…it was spectacular. I know this is not the case for everyone but at the end of the day it is about dignity and self love.
Critic’s Choice: TV picks for May 20-26
THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY
New series ***½
Thursday 8.30pm, ShowcaseRyan Murphy’s work always lists toward the camp but if it was ever appropriate it’s in the latest edition of American Crime Story, exploring the 1997 murder of Gianni Versace. Once again Murphy has attracted a stellar crew, from writer Tom Robb Smith to Edgar Ramirez as Gianni and Penelope Cruz as Donatella Versace. The production values are lush. And the plot, which focuses chiefly on the hunt for the killer, is as complex as it is suspenseful.
Emmy Predictions 2018: Forecasting Nominations for Limited Series, Reality & Variety Categories | Film Trophies
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
American Vandal
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Godless
Howards End
Twin PeaksIt’s a tough year to call for limited series, since nothing really took the nation by storm like Big Little Lies or The People v. O.J. Simpson in years past. Even if initial critics were divided on Gianni Versace I think the final product was immensely powerful and will probably be the frontrunner as such. I also expect something as high profile as Twin Peaks to be nominated despite its divisiveness. From there it’s anyone’s guess, so I’m betting on two Netflix series that have earned acclaim, American Vandal and Godless, since they have both done fairly well in precursor awards. I’m guessing Howards End will round out the five, as the TV Academy loves prestigious British dramas, especially those written by legendary writers like Kenneth Lonergan.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
Darren Criss – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Benedict Cumberbatch – Patrick Melrose
Michael B. Jordan – Fahrenheit 451
Kyle MacLachlan – Twin Peaks
Al Pacino – Paterno
Evan Peters – American Horror Story: CultDarren Criss should be the runaway frontrunner for his stellar performance as Andrew Cunanan in Gianni Versace, but Kyle MacLachlan will ideally be hot on his trail for playing three different characters in the Twin Peaks revival. Al Pacino will likely get in for yet another HBO TV movie where he plays a controversial public figure, while Benedict Cumberbatch gets in every year for whatever he does, so why not Patrick Melrose, too? After the great year Michael B. Jordan is having I’m guessing he can sneak into this category, even if Fahrenheit 451 doesn’t have the best reviews. For the last slot I’m going with a passion pick, but Evan Peters gave his best performance on American Horror Story yet this past season and I’m going out on a limb and saying the remaining AHS fans in the Academy will push him through.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
Jeff Daniels – Godless
Brandon Victor Dixon – Jesus Christ Superstar
Edgar Ramirez – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Jason Ritter – The Tale
Michael Shannon – Fahrenheit 451
Sam Waterston – GodlessNo idea. Seriously, this category is an absolute mess this year and the winner could be anyone. For now I’m going with people associated with what I expect to be the limited series and movies Emmy voters will watch, so Jeff Daniels, Edgar Ramirez, Michael Shannon, and Sam Waterston it is. Tentatively adding in Jason Ritter as well. Then there’s Brandon Victor Dixon, who had extremely strong reviews for Jesus Christ Superstar and could angle himself into becoming the first actor from one of these recent live musicals to get an acting nomination.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TELEVISION MOVIE
Ellen Burstyn – The Tale
Penélope Cruz – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Laura Dern – Twin Peaks
Nicole Kidman – Top of the Lake: China Girl
Angela Lansbury – Little Women
Judith Light – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime StoryHooray double nomination for Laura Dern! Like with Supporting Actor it’s hard to say exactly who will get in here, so it’s best to go with the seen contenders, like Ellen Burstyn in The Tale, Penélope Cruz and Judith Light in Gianni Versace, and probably Nicole Kidman for Top of the Lake. Then I expect there to be a big narrative for 18x Emmy loser Angela Lansbury to get a nomination that could even propel her to a win.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Rating: 4½ out of 5 stars
The opening sequence of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is exquisitely presented.
Adagio in G Minor strings accompany the striking visuals of 1997 Miami (as used so dramatically in works such as Platoon and The Elephant Man).
It is a summer’s morning and Italian fashion designer Gianni Versaci (Édgar Ramírez) is enjoying the luxury of his lavish beachfront villa. Brimming in ornate interiors, classic furniture, artworks, flowers, pool, staircase and staff, there is colour bursting at every turn. It’s as if Tuscany has been transported onto American soil.
Meanwhile 27 year old Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) wades out into the ocean and screams at the top of his lungs. Clearly overwrought with feelings of anxiety, he soon throws up in a public toilet before -or possibly after- a catastrophic event.
Not long after Versace’s partner Antonio (Ricky Martin) readies for a round of sport and Florida tourists request Gianni’s autograph during his daily walk, Cunanan comes face to face with the designer at the gates to his villa and shoots him dead. It’s like a moment of high opera, and sets the scene for Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology series.
But how did the players arrive at this crescendo? The opening chapter of this 9 part series flashes back to Cunanan’s meeting with Versace in a heady gay disco in San Francisco. Ambitious, deceptive, handsome, Cunanan is determined to befriend the designer via whatever elaborate ruse he can fabricate. One gets the impression that nothing he says is real, so it becomes a question of whether he believes his spin or is knowingly lying through his teeth.
But Versace is entranced and the two forge the start of a 7 year friendship.
In the present -the narrative is constantly juxtaposed with the past- Cunanan is delirious with glee at his assassination but on the run from local police. Antonio is heartbroken by the death of his partner whilst Donatella Versace (Penélope Cruz) arrives to take control. Rigid and seemingly unmoved by the loss of her brother, she seizes control of the company, even displaying little sympathy for Antonio.
Tom Rob Smith’s script (based on the book Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth) highlights crass pop culture crimes with one quick-thinking observer snapping a Polaroid of a near-dead Versace being loaded into the ambulance and soon demanding top dollar from arriving media; another moment from autograph-hunters has to be seen to be believed….
Whilst The People v. O.J. Simpson spent far more time on the courtroom and the Prosecution, Versace is heavily invested in why Cunanan took such fatal action, and what ithe saga says about American society.
Darren Criss, whose romantic work in Glee saw him become a Ryan Murphy favourite, takes a dark detour as the complex, malevolent Cunanan. He has the lion’s share of the narrative here, wooing and extinguishing the relaxed, gifted designer played gently by Édgar Ramírez.
Initially Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin are chess players in the bigger game, so the series will need to develop them beyond the opening chapter -thankfully there is much to work with.
Visually this is a splendid piece. Some of the scenes, such as Cunanan sitting on the beach, are so artfully captured they resemble paintings. The canvas for such a heightened piece, including the actual Versace residence, gives cinematographer Nelson Cragg plenty to work with.
ACS news 