Press Bits

Kakao Friends are your mischievous and spirited messaging buddies that you can meet exclusively on KakaoTalk. With each character displaying distinct personalities and emotions,  they help users effectively convey a variety of exciting emotions, even those that are hard to express in text, to friends and loved ones.



Like any of us, each character has his or her own story to tell.

Groovy Jay-G is the mole with the sunglasses and the afro hair. He always makes it a point to get his afro done fresh and his suit crisp. He is a secret agent who finds inspiration from his largest idol, Jay-Z. Although Jay-G tries to portray an image of a calm, cool-headed and professional dude, he is actually as clumsy as a bear, has the heart of a pussycat, and is hungry for affection. Have you used Jay-G stickers to cry out for love?



Apeach, on the other hand, is a mischievous peach overflowing with energy and emotions! This adorable peach, always full of pranks, ran away from the orchard in search for something fun and exciting. Apeach’s sexy behind is its charm, while its violent temper is its harm. Are words not enough to express the strength of your emotions? Let Apeach help!



Frodo is a wealthy and spoiled city dog with a small inferiority complex about his mongrel background. He tries to put on a chillax attitude and enjoy everything life has to offer, including taking time to savor a cup of coffee every morning. Beside Frodo is Neo, the love of his life. A prim and self-oriented cat who cares for no one but herself, she is obsessed with her bob cut wig, which is the source of her confidence.



Frodo and bossy Neo despise yet love each other. You can always find them together but they are usually fighting- like your daily dose of cats and dogs! But at the end of the day, they always find ways to settle things, no matter what.

Are you in dispute with your best friends? Do you want to express your intimate affections? Worry no more and make peace with help from Frodo and Neo’s stickers.

Feeling weak hearted or a little cowardly? Tube, the warm-hearted duck, is the character for you. He may seem like your regular feathered friend from afar, but when faced with fear, his alter-ego, the monster duck takes over. He is embarrassed of his small feet and makes sure his flippers are on to cover his feet. Supposedly, the ugly duckling is his distant relative ;).


Always full of curiosity and fun ideas? Muzi loves dressing up in cute bunny costumes, but the truth is - he is actually just a yellow radish! His costume boosts his confidence. The playful veggie is as shy as a child without his costume on. Con, on the other hand, is the tiny and mysterious crocodile with an agenda of his own. He has created Muzi from a radish, and keep an eye on Muzi at all times. Guess your babies can really outgrow you.



Sometimes, simple text are simply not enough to show how you feel. Express yourself better through fun and animated emoticons, offered exclusively through KakaoTalk. If you can’t find the right words, there’s always a right character for what and how you feel. Share the love and laughter with these bubbly chums!


Who is your favorite Kakao Talk Friend?

The South by Southwest Film Festival and Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas recently announced that it will host the premiere of the Hollywood-produced “MANNY: THE MOVIE.”



The festival which runs from March 7 to 15 will mark the global debut of the highly anticipated documentary movie of the celebrated Filipino sports icon.

Narrated by Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson, “MANNY” chronicles  the untold story of Manny Pacquiao-- from his impoverished childhood years in war-torn Mindanao, his struggle to survive in Manila by working in construction sites and warehouses after running away from home at the age of 14-- to his dramatic  rise as a ten-time boxing world champion.

As the first boxing congressman in history, his Cinderella-man story has awed and inspired countless fans from all walks of life; and his continuing saga adds only to the checkered and amusing story of this remarkable global superstar.

The film is directed by Ryan Moore and Academy Award winner Leon Gast.

Gast had previously done the boxing documentary “When We Were Kings” which showcased the epic match between boxing legends Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.

For “MANNY: THE MOVIE” both directors had to go through thousands of hours of film and video footage to create a thorough documentation of Pacquiao’s storied career, beginning with his first few bouts in small venues to his most classic rivalries with some of the greatest fighters in boxing.

The film also includes interviews with actor Mark Wahlberg, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, Jeremy Piven and many other international celebrities and features original music from acclaimed Hollywood composer Lorne Balfe (Inception, Dark Night, Iron Man).

 The film’s SXSW debut holds some significance for Pacquiao as it was in Texas where he won his 8th world boxing title --- a feat yet unmatched in history. The subsequent Philippine commercial exhibition on March 12 also segues perfectly to his upcoming rematch with American boxer Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on April 12, 2014.

While trainer Freddie Roach had previously mentioned the need for Paquaio’s undivided attention to knock down Bradley, his fans remain hopeful that the People’s Champ would take some time off to join them in this momentous event.

MANNY: THE MOVIE opens in Philippine cinemas nationwide on March 12, 2014, and is distributed locally by Solar Entertainment Corporation.

Ariel Winter, one of Hollywood’s most promising young talents with notable roles both television and film who currently stars on ABC’s critically acclaimed and Emmy winning hit series, “Modern Family” stars in DreamWorks’ wild-action-family-adventure “Mr. Peabody & Sherman (3D).”

Mr. Peabody, the world’s most accomplished dog is parent to Sherman who uses his most ingenious invention, the WABAC machine, to hurtle back in time to experience world-changing events first-hand. But when Sherman breaks the rules of time travel along with his friend Penny (Ariel Winter), our two heroes find themselves in a race to repair history – and save the future.



 From the animation dream team of DreamWorks and the director of blockbusters “The Lion King” and “Stuart Little,” director Rob Minkoff puts together a talented voice cast in “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” including Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Stephen Colbet, Leslie Mann, Patrick Warburton and Allison Janney.   The movie’s time travel is a compelling notion that lends an intriguing dimension to an exciting, adventure-filled story.  The film’s contemporary characters interact with equally entertaining famous figures from history – a dynamic that provides surprising fish out of water moments and myriad culture clashes.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s entrée to the infinite folds of history is a wondrous contraption called the WABAC, which is the singular creation of the world’s greatest inventor, Mr. Peabody.  The perspicacious pooch built the device so Sherman could experience history up close and personal.   Soon thereafter, Peabody, Sherman and Penny pay a visit to Peabody’s old friend and the original Renaissance Man, Leonard Da Vinci, portrayed, hilariously, by Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci. Our trio finds the famed artist/scientist/engineer/inventor/scholar

 Next to Mr. Peabody, the person who becomes closest to Sherman is his classmate Penny Peterson.  Penny is a double threat – cute and smart. Penny rules her elementary school until she encounters Sherman, who is even more of a “brain” than Penny is.  But her natural charisma and daring nature, as well as her caring and loyalty, draw her into a friendship with Sherman that truly stands the test of time.

“Initially, Penny is at odds with Sherman,” producer Schwartz explains.  “But we soon realize there’s a lot more to her, and as soon as she’s able to put aside her initial jealousy of Sherman, she begins to see that he’s a pretty interesting kid.  The great thing about Penny is that we really see her grow over the course of the movie.”

The character’s dynamism, smarts and fearlessness made it a tough part to cast – until Ariel Winter, who plays the teenage daughter of Ty Burrell’s Phil Dunphy in “Modern Family,” auditioned.  Minkoff, who was initially unaware of Winter’s connection to Burrell, says it was “a great coincidence that they came to work together on MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN.  Ariel brings tremendous energy to Penny.  She is a witty and wry teenager, and though Penny is younger [than the actress], Ariel brings some natural sparks and understanding of the character.”

But even with that o f any period’s danger, action, adventure and a dash through the Paris sewer system, the duo’s (and Penny’s) biggest time traveling adventures lie ahead.  A Sherman-Penny time traveling joyride takes them to Ancient Egypt, where Penny finds herself betrothed to a nine-year-old King Tut.

Travel through time in a wild ride with the trio when “Mr. Peabody & Sherman (3D)” opens March 6 nationwide, a DreamWorks Animation presentation from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. (in Phils. Cinemas).

There’s the traditional route to a directorial debut; camcorder obsession, film school, an internship, personal assistant, directorial assistant, the keys to the store. And then there’s Radio Silence, a collective of four talented filmmakers who used YouTube to learn their craft, post their clips and advertise their wares with so much professional aplomb that Fox made all their dreams come true.

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez and Chad Villella grew from the ashes of the former group known as Chad, Matt & Rob, three friends who had an idea, a camera, some technical expertise – much of it gleaned from YouTube tutorials –and got to work. Their breakout was Alien Roommate Prank Goes Bad, a found-footage style short they posted in February 2008; as of today, it’s been viewed more than 32 million times.



When Rob Polonsky left the group, they were joined by Justin and Tyler, reformed as Radio Silence and continued their YouTube domination, moving into a series of ‘interactive adventures’, narrative shorts in which the viewer guided the plot. Ultimately, however, they had ambitions beyond on-line media.

“TV and film were always the end game for us,” says Chad. “When we were in the digital space we were always working with concepts that felt bigger than even we maybe knew how to wrangle at the time. We were always wanting to make cool, big, cinematic things.”

Thankfully, writer Brad Miska was putting together a movie of found footage-style segments, and asked the soon-to-be-famous four to contribute. They were given a 17-minute slot, a $10,000 budget, and got to work: the movie, called part of a series called V/H/S, was a Sundance hit, and executives at Fox took notice.
             
“Lindsay Devlin had written a script and we got a phone call from John Davies at Fox when he was on vacation,” remembers Tyler. “We were standing in the parking lot of Poquito Mas on Sunset, literally spending our last dollars on lunch. He called, said he loved it on V/H/S, how he was really excited about it, and said ‘I think we should make this movie’. Literally the next day we were working on it.”

The resulting collaboration is Devil’s Due, starring TV’s “Friday Night Lights” Zach Gifford and Allison Miller, best known for her work on NBC series Kings and Go On, and the Spielberg-produced Terra Nova for Fox. The movie is a fresh, contemporary take on the Rosemary’s Baby-style horror story: as newlyweds, their lives are turned upside down when an unexpected pregnancy may be the devil’s work, with each twist and turn captured on ‘home’ video.

“The point of view element is obviously it's a much-used technique nowadays and  Blair Witch Project was the first movie where the whole conceit of it was that it was real. It was really the first of its kind and felt so incredibly authentic,” says Tyler.

For “Devil’s Due,” tons of scenes and dialogue are improv’d according to the group.  “All of the scenes and how they were serving the larger story were pretty specifically dialed in, but how we approached them, how the camera existed in the scene... there were many scenes where Zach was shooting with Allison and we were just there to make sure everything was framed right. It was an incredibly grass roots approach to each scene, and the improv was a part of that.  Thankfully, Zach had been around cameras enough and is a photographer himself. I talked him through the camera for 15 minutes and there was a learning curve, and by the time we had shot a day and a half we knew exactly what we were doing, separating the scenes he was actually shooting from the ones we were shooting as him. It was a fun way to get him involved,” Matt shares.

Tyler concludes, “On YouTube the credit doesn't matter - they'll watch your stuff or not. That's just how it works. It was never about credit-hogging, it was always about making cool shit.  For the most part everyone's been incredibly open to the idea of this group of four guys who want to make cool shit.”

“Devil’s Due” will be out in cinemas on March 19 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Max Charles, a young actor with an impressive resume at just nine years of age, who played the young Peter Parker in the hit movie “Amazing Spiderman” stars and lends voice to a genius dog’s adopted boy named Sherman in DreamWorks’ upcoming adventure-packed 3D animation “Mr. Peabody & Sherman.”

“Mr. Peabody & Sherman” is an adventure-comedy featuring science fiction, time travel, outlandish characters and clever dialogue, all of which are bound together by the unexpected relationship between the titular heroes – a dog and his boy.

Peabody possesses the genius of Einstein, the wit of Oscar Wilde, the daring of Indiana Jones, the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes, the sartorial style of James Bond, and the culinary skills of Mario Batali.  The one thing that challenges Peabody is keeping up with his adopted boy Sherman. Peabody devotes himself to Sherman, from whom he learns the one thing even a genius has to figure out – parenthood.


             
Charles’ Sherman is open, enthusiastic and over-curious.  Growing up with his adoptive dad – the time-traveling super-genius Mr. Peabody – gives Sherman many opportunities for adventure.  Like most youngsters, Sherman has a penchant for trouble and sometimes finds himself in over his head, but Sherman always makes certain to fix even the most difficult problems he creates.  
             
 “Sherman is a genuine kid,” says Minkoff. “He’s quite naïve at times, but he’s actually a terrific student of Mr. Peabody’s because one of the special things they do together is travel through history. Peabody has taken the time to introduce Sherman to many of history’s greatest events.”        
             
As any parent knows, there are children’s “leaps” that can lead to breakage – and for Sherman, breaking the rules of time travel has extraordinary consequences.  Says Max Charles: Sherman is “a normal kid who gets to do some unusual stuff, like travel back in time.”    Sherman learns a lot about everything from Mr. Peabody, and as Charles sees it the reverse is also true.  “Peabody also learns a lot from Sherman, like how to be a little more laid back, and a little more trusting.”

As for Sherman’s animation design, Schleifer and his team ensured that he feels and looks like a child.  “I looked at my own kids to see how they respond to certain situations, and I discovered interesting kid-like things to make Sherman feel authentic and support the story of his adventures and transformation.”   A key challenge was dealing was animating Sherman’s oversized – Schleifer calls it “ginormous” – head, which adds to the character’s appeal and fun.  “The head is so big and it’s attached to a tiny neck, so we had to incorporate Sherman’s entire body into even a simple head turn,” he explains.  “Or it would look like it would just snap off!”

Prominent eyeglasses are a key feature shared by father and son.  The animators had to carefully maneuver the specs and the characters’ eyebrows to ensure that Peabody and Sherman were able to convey the necessary expressions and emotions.  “The glasses cover their eyebrows, so if we did nothing you’d never see their expressions change,” says Schleifer.  “So when Peabody and Sherman convey excitement, we had their eyebrows go way upon the tops of their heads. And when things get intense, the brows drop straight down and cover their eyes.”

 “Peabody realizes that Sherman’s imperfections are what make him so wonderful,” adds Ty Burrell who voices Mr. Peabody, “and that it’s really worth trying to make himself more vulnerable.”  Director Rob Minkoff adds: “Max performs with emotion, depth, heart and humor.  That’s not easy to find in a young actor.”

A DreamWorks  presentation, “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” (available in 3D and 2D) is a DreamWorks Animation SKG presentation and a PDI/DreamWorks production, opens March 6 in Philippine cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

 Check out the film’s localized site here http://www.peabodyandshermanthemovie-ph.com/ for more updates, videos, mobile apps and lots of games and downloadable fun stuff.

From the bestselling tearjerker tome by John Green of the same title, “The Fault in Our Stars” finds two beautiful teenagers falling in love as they race against time to live life at its fullest.   Starring this year’s CinemaCon’s Female Star of Tomorrow, Shailene Woodley, whose credits include “The Descendants,” “The Spectacular Now” and “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” takes on the role of Hazel Grace Lancaster diagnosed early with cancer opposite Ansel Elgort’s Augustus ‘Gus’Waters who has been in remission for quite some time since their first meeting in a local support group.

Hazel and Gus, typical teens as they may seem to be – friends, overbearing parents, crushes and all are not, however your average normal teens, both face each day courageously as they fight against time battling cancer.  Hazel has been diagnosed since age 13 with stage IV thyroid cancer and Gus in remission from his bone cancer.

Falling in love has never been this high – this year’s most awaited love story “The Fault In Our Stars” will open very soon in cinemas from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.