A Very Good Girl has broken new ground for Philippine cinema in many different ways. For veteran actress Dolly De Leon, her character Molly Suzara — a retail mogul clothed in luxurious gowns — is a far cry from her role as Abigail in Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness. The 2022 film launched her into global stardom, picking up supporting actress nominations at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs along the way. For Kathryn Bernardo, who has largely built her career on romantic films, A Very Good Girl gave her the rare opportunity to play a darker, grittier character (Philo).
On the industry front, the film’s splashy American premiere and global release sent a strong signal of ABS-CBN’s new strategy to make films that not just target the local Filipino audience but also open to the global market — especially in countries with a large Filipino diaspora. This strategic direction is also one of survival and necessity for the Philippine national broadcaster.
“In 2020, for political reasons, we lost our license. For many decades, we saw ourselves primarily as the largest TV station in the country, so losing that license and the ability to transmit our television signal across the country really shattered us,” said Carlo Katigbak, CEO of ABS-CBN. “We had to figure out what we were going to do next as a company. TV is a big part of our history but that chapter is over. We have to push ourselves so that our storytelling will have appeal and resonance not just for the Filipino audience, but for a global audience.”
Besides the Philippines and the U.S., A Very Good Girl — which cost USD$2 million to make — has opened in Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.A.E., among others. Kriz Gazmen, head of ABS-CBN Films, also shared that an OTT platform has already bought the rights to the film, which will be available for streaming in the near future. The film is directed by Petersen Vargas.
After nearly 30 years as an actress and appearing in films like Verdict (2019) as well as Lav Diaz’s The Halt (2019) and History of Ha (2021), De Leon recognizes the importance of a film like A Very Good Girl in opening the door for more non-traditional stories to be told. “What I really hope is that it’s going to push the envelope in Philippine cinema like a renaissance. Something that can go down in history as a classic and will be discussed for generations to come,” De Leon shared. “That would be a dream come true and it would be such an honor to go down in history as an actor who was part of a production like A Very Good Girl.”
“I thought that playing a powerful woman with many layers and secrets was very exciting,” De Leon added. “Molly is not just your ordinary powerful woman. For all her darkness, she has some light in her that’s dying to come out and she wants to be a good girl but life happens and circumstances force her to make all the wrong choices and I thought that would be interesting to explore.”
Leading ABS-CBN into a new era, Katigbak emphasized the importance of un-learning some old ways of making films. “We’re unlearning many things in the script writing process,” says Katigbak, giving an example. “We used to write scripts with the actors already in mind. Now, one of the things we’re learning is that you never write a script, having casting done ahead of time. You write a great story and then you figure out who the best people are to portray the characters.” Gazmen added that the next film under ABS-CBN is already in the scripting phase, with production set to begin by the end of the year.
Both Katigbak and Gazmen have set their ambitions for ABS-CBN to partner major studios in the U.S. and are hopeful that A Very Good Girl has at least opened the door for these opportunities. “The most important thing for us to achieve with this movie is to attain a certain level of credibility in the kind of movies that we can create and stories we can tell,” Katigbak shared. “Ultimately, if we want to succeed in this business, it’s important to consider partnering with the major studios at some point for distribution, simply because they have far larger amount of resources to dedicate to distributing and promoting the movie. But for us to get there, we have to prove ourselves and to me, this movie is part of our proving ground.”
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