My hunch was right! Takipsilim is a hoax!

My hunch was right! Twilight Filipino version does not exist. Tssk tssk! I just cannot understand how some people can waste so much of their time and effort to create an imaginative work just to discredit one party, in this case ABS-CBN. I also cannot bear the idea why some Twilight fans would overreact to an unverified information. I hope next time these fanatics will learn. Haay, Twilight is such a lousy novel and movie for all this trouble! I bet Miss Meyer is very jubilant about all these publicity.

The succeeding lines were lifted from Inquirer.net in an article by Gerry Plaza posted last December 30, 2008 and included ABS-CBN's denial that they will produce a Twilight Filipino version entitled Takipsilim.

MANILA, Philippines—ABS-CBN has no plans of producing a Philippine adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling book “Twilight,” which has recently became an international hit movie, a network statement said.

The network denied a recent report published on the Hollywood gossip blogsite PerezHilton.com that the Kapamilya network was already preparing production for the local version.

“There is no truth to the web reports, particularly in the Perez Hilton blogsite that ABS-CBN is doing a local adaptation of ‘Twilight,” Bong Osorio, ABS-CBN Corporate Communications chief said in a text message to the Inquirer. “ABS-CBN will be the first one to announce if it is, in fact, doing so.”

PerezHilton.com splashed an alleged poster of the alleged Filipino adaptation, titled “Takipsilim,” which it said will star Rayver Cruz and Shaina Magdayao and directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. The blogsite said filming for “Takipsilim” will start in February 2009.

Visitors to the site had expressed outrage over the supposed plans.

TAKIPSILIM: Twilight Filipino Version

I have been surfing the internet this past few days since it was Christmas vacation and it has already become my way of reconnecting to the real world since I barely had the time to watch TV or surf the internet when I am having classes in med school. December 26, in one of my millions of site surfing activities, I bumped into PerezHilton.com and was surprised to see a post in that blog stating that ABS-CBN, a Filipino broadcasting network, will be doing a Filipino version of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

PerezHilton.com blogsite that published the supposed to be plan of ABS-CBN to do a
remake of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

Surprised and at the same time amazed about what I saw in PerezHilton.com, I searched for more articles or websites using the tag "Takipsilim", the rumored title of the Filipino remake. I found out that other entertainment sites like Yehey, Mukamo, Zimbio and Blogpipiatbingi among others also had the same posting about the Filipino version of Twilight. The articles in the said websites indicated that ABS-CBN has acquired the rights for US$1 Million to do a remake of Twilight and has even included a list of Kapamilya stars as the cast. The said websites also stated that Ignite Media will be the co-producer and even contained details like the names of the lead stars; Rayver Cruz as Edward Cullen and Shaina Magdayao as Bella Swan. They also included the name of the would-be director (Cathy Garcia-Molina), start of shoot dates and even the would-be locations. I was stunned in disbelief with my newfound information. I started doing some sleuthing to confirm my doubt regarding the ramake, that this story is not true. I went back to PerezHilton.com website to scrutinize the Takipsilim poster, saved it and looked for the original Twilight poster, saved it then compared the two.

the original commercial poster of twilight with MTV logo at the bottom as the producer of the poster

Takipsilim top-bills Rayver Cruz as Edward Cullen and Shaina Magdayao as Bella Swan;

Circulating copies of Twilight posters include the theatrical version with all the cinema credits at the bottom and a commercial version solely for the purpose of advertising, which I posted here, has no theatrical credits and instead indicated the participation of MTV in the production of the poster. This simpler version of the poster was, for me, the source of the "photo shopped" Takipsilim" poster. Comparing the two posters, you would easily find that Rob and Bella's coat, Bella's hair and position of hands and fingers are exactly the same in Twilight and Takipsilim posters. The only difference I saw are the title change, addition of a few lines and an ABS-CBN logo. The Takipsilim poster was obviously made to look faded and older in effects to hide the changes: that Takipsilim's poster is no different than Twilight and it is a product of photo shop technology.

I admit that upon seeing the Perez Hilton post regarding Takipsilim, I believed it at first especially after a news article of the remake from the ABS-CBN News website. But it was not long when I started to doubt basing on the obvious facts and inconsistensies especially when the same news article about Takipsilim cannot found in ABS-CBN's website anymore. With the following developments at stake, I started to entertain the idea that the ABS-CBN News website was either hacked by an intruder with an intention to taint ABS-CBN's name or an employee of ABS-CBN itself was responsible for such a demeaning and erroneous press release.

My hunch is that Takipsilim is a hoax and that the idea and the conceptualization of it came from the wild imagination of a desperate Filipino "genius". It became more eminent after I saw that the post about Takipsilim was made last December 23 and they were actually posted a few hours earlier in ABS-CBN News website and other Filipino blogs like Yehey than it appeared in PerezHilton.com which is mostly Hollywood based and American in nature.

Taking into consideration all viable information, I believe that Takipsilim is a hoax and a product of a lucid imagination of a person who would only like to discredit ABS-CBN. The following substantiates my claim:

1) Acquiring the exclusive rights to do a remake of a movie does not give the acquiring party the right to use original or existing materials and merchandise that were already used in the original version.

2) The selling of rights for a movie remake does not happen especially if the movie has sequels more so if they are not yet shown or produced.

3) An author (e.g. Lord of the Rings' JRR Tolkien and Harry Potter's JK Rowling) does not sell exclusive rights to different media outfits, what more for a remake. Exclusivity ensures quality and consistency in movie production results.

4) A media outfit, more so a local network, will not spend US$ 1 Million for an exclusive right to do only one movie remake. That is very expensive.

5) Takipsilim's poster is a photo-shopped version of Twilight. Examine both pictures and see the similarities.

6) ABS-CBN News website has already removed the article regarding Takipsilim's existence. That act clearly states that the company disowns the article. An erratum is usually made when there was an error in previous news articles made and the original is usually not removed from the archives ans instead retained for reference purposes.

7) In my view, the culprit hacked and penetrated ABS-CBN's website and posted the news article there to make his concept believable and convincing taking into account that ABS-CBN itself announced Takipsilim's existence.

8) The mere fact that the "news" about Takipsilim came out in Filipino websites first (hours earlier) before it appeared in foreign websites like PerezHilton.com, implies that the author of the scam is a Filipino with clear intentions to discredit ABS-CBN.

9) One line in the Takipsilim poster blew my mind off: Madilim 'pag Takipsilim; Ang galing ng Pinoy --> what on earth is this? Some corny joke?

With all these bruhaha, I firmly stand by my claim that ABS-CBN's stake to film a Twilight remake in the form of Takipsilim is a hoax, a fake news that is mainly geared towards discrediting ABS-CBN. Therefore, Twilight fans should stop making a big fuzz out of this controversy. Twilight, in the first place, is a simple novel that failed to incorporate exchanging conflicts in the content and obviously has no climactic plot. The story is simple, dragging and boring. The movie was as lousy as the book itself.

A snapshot of a search result showing Takipsilim news articles appearing in ABS-CBN News official website

A snapshot showing that the Takipsilim article is no longer accessiblein ABS-CBN News website after clicking the search result

Yehey website posted the article 9:31 AM of December 23, several hours earlier than a post in Perez Hilton at 10:45 AM

*Unfortunately, I cannot post a snap-shot of the date and time the article was posted in ABS-CBN News website as an evidence since the article was already removed by ABS-CBN from its archives. Nevertheless, for the sake of revealing the information, I can clearly remember that it was posted December 23, 2008, 8:25 AM.

GMA Network sets terms for return to KBP fold

(An article by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes Updated July 22, 2008 12:00 AM from the Business section of Philstar.com and annotations by lakingmcdo from ABS-CBN Forum)

Publicly-listed GMA Network will return to the fold of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) only if the latter stops regulating the broadcasting industry, emphasizing that KBP’s 18-minute per hour advertising load limit is unconstitutional.

GMA chairman, president and CEO Felipe Gozon said KBP’s regulatory function only duplicates the role of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) and the Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard).

GMA withdrew its KBP membership in 2003 after clashing with the body over certain policy matters, including KBP’s implementation of an 18-minute per hour limit on the advertisement load that KBP members can carry. “In fact, we became number one without KBP,” Gozon said.

While he confirmed that KBP has invited GMA to return to its fold, he said this will only happen if KBP gives up its regulatory function. “I told them that KBP should instead promote and advance the common interest of the members and should stop regulating. It is not their business to regulate. In fact, we have been more strict than their Code of Ethics. It’s different if its voluntary,” he stressed.

He emphasized that the 18-minute advertising load limit has no basis and other countries recognize higher limits. “I am more in favor of a self-imposed 20 to 21 minute load limit. The load does not affect the impact of advertising on the viewers.”

GMA’s top official also stressed that the limitation is unconstitutional as it promotes monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade.

He cited the case of the US National Association of Broadcasters which imposed an advertising load limit. The US Justice Department said the limit is in violation of the Sherman or Anti-Trust Law.

But according to KBP president Maloli Espinosa, the 18-minute rule will benefit not only the public but the advertisers as well since the strict implementation of the rule will prevent advertising clutter and promote lesser but better advertisements.

Annotations:

The statements indicated in the first (yellow) highlighted paragraph is erroneous especially with GMA's claim that the 18-minute advertising load limit per hour is unconstitutional. Indeed, the rule is not included in the Philippine Constitution but it is clearly stipulated in the by-laws and regulations of PANA, AdBoard and KBP.

The statement of GMA Network in the second highlighted paragraph stating that the 18-minute advertising load limit has no basis and other countries recognize higher limits is baseless. In fact, other countries imposes a shorter time for advertising. The whole of Europe and Australia imposes that there should only be 12 minutes of advertising for every hour of broad while the United States allows only 16 minutes and extends up to 21 minutes of advertising only in special events where sponsors are needed. The longest advertising load limit on record is that of the Philippines which allows 18 minutes of commercials per hour of broadcast.

In fact, according to content analysis of the two leading networks' programs conducted by students of De La Salle University, GMA & has an average commercial load of 30 minutes per hour.

According to Emily Abrera (regional chairman of the New York based advertising agency McCann World), the local advertising industry has prescribed a limit of 18 minutes of commercials per hour of broadcast, which is already the highest in the region. In other Asian countries, TV ads are limited to between 12 and 14 minutes per hour.

Sources:

>http://businessmirror.com.ph/07022008/opinion01.html

>http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=NL&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20071112IPR12883

>http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/1001/pc=PC-91796

>http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Television_in_The_United%20States

>http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=124381