THE MICRODRAMA TREND has finally reached the Philippines through Cignal Play. The app will host five new locally made microdramas, and a lot more foreign-made shows in the same short format from its partner, Dashflix.
Cignal Play announced this in a press conference at the TV5 offices in Mandaluyong on July 16. The press conference showed off the stars of its locally produced shows (which included seasoned actresses Dimples Romana and Pinky Amador).
These shows, cut up into two- to three-minute episodes, are: I See You (a thriller starring Ms. Romana), My Father’s Last Wish (a family drama with Dylan Menor, Johnny Revilla, Gerald Madrid, Alex Medina, and Dawn Chang), 3 Queens and a Baby (with Christian Bables, TJ Valderrama, Iyah Mina, Daniela Stranner, Donna Cariaga, Christian Vasquez, and Iven Lim), Baker’s Heart (whose trailer featured Ramon Christopher Gutierrez), and A Cure Called Love (a romance with Mr. Menor, Micah Santos, Gelli De Belen, Pinky Amador, and Jeff Tam).
“I’m very proud of these first five. We will be launching more actually in the next few months,” said Jane Basas, MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. and Cignal president and chief executive officer, in a speech.
SNIPPETSMicrodramas were adapted from Chinese duanju, a Chinese subscription-based short written fiction format popular in China in the early 2000s. Video-based adaptations of these became popular later in the decade (within China, then out in the rest of the world). Like their written predecessor, these serials are also short, with narratives divided in chunks of minutes-long episodes. The episodes usually end in a cliffhanger in order to entice a watcher into a subscription.
Ms. Basas said that she was introduced to the concept of microdramas last year at a conference in Bali.
“I saw the numbers, how it was growing in China; how the vertical format was growing in the US and Asia. Southeast Asia in particular,” she said. “When we studied it, I felt that it was such the perfect format for this product that we have,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Cignal Play used to just mirror the content on the Cignal TV box, as well as showing live content and video on demand; now it has its own content.
“We thought maybe we should carry shorts,” she said. “Even ako, nanonood ako. Nakaka-hook (Even I watch them. They can get you hooked).”
Meanwhile, MediaQuest Chair Manuel V. Pangilinan graced the event and blew the candles on what he joked were his 99th and 100th birthday cakes. “We’ve just finished our board meetings,” he said. “Now, they’re making money,” he joked.
Ms. Basas said, “This is more than short videos. We’re giving you meaningful narratives that we’ve crafted for the Filipino audiences.”
The first five episodes of every title are free to stream, with full access to the rest of the episodes available for P20 per day. The Cignal Play app is available on the App Store and Play Store.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Joseph L. Garcia
