ABS-CBN bade goodbye to 2020 on a high note with a string of victories in various award-giving bodies last December.
The company’s film production unit, Star Cinema, was the big winner at the 7th Urduja Heritage Film Awards with “Quezon’s Game” and “Hello, Love, Goodbye” taking home major awards including Best Heritage Film for the movie on the late former Philippine president Manuel Quezon, and a Jury Prize (Romance) for the country’s all-time highest grossing local movie.
“Quezon’s Game” cast members Raymond Bagatsing, Rachel Alejandro, Billy Ray Gallion, and Audie Gemora were also named Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Actor in a Cameo Role, respectively, while the film’s director Matthew Rosen won Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design. Dean Rosen also won Best Screenplay for the film.
Meanwhile, winning for their portrayals in “Hello, Love, Goodbye” are Alden Richards (Best Actor), Maricel Laxa Pangilinan (Best Actress in a Cameo Role), and William Lorenzo (Best Actor in a Cameo Role).
Other winners from ABS-CBN include Carlo Aquino, who won Best Actor in Comedy or Musical for “Isa Pa With Feelings” from ABS-CBN Films’ Black Sheep, and Fino Herrera and Raven Molina, who were both named Best New Performer for their roles in the iWantTFC and Dreamscape Entertainment original series “Mga Batang Poz.” The series also received the Jury Prize for Advocacy alongside “Metamorphosis,” one of the entries in the Cinema One Originals Film Festival.
Recently, “Fan Girl,” a collaboration between Black Sheep, Globe Studios, Project 8, Epicmedia, and Crossword Productions, also dominated the Metro Manila Film Festival, winning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay for Antoinette Jadaone, Best Actor for Paulo Avelino, and Best Actress for Charlie Dizon. The movie also won Best Editing (Benjamin Tolentino), Best Cinematography (Neil Daza), Best Sound (Vincent Villa), and finished third place in the Best Virtual Float.
ABS-CBN artists were also recognized in the Laguna Excellence Awards 2020. Boy Abunda received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hosting, Sylvia Sanchez won Outstanding TV Actress of the Year (Pamilya Ko), and Paulo Avelino was awarded Outstanding TV Actor of the Year (“The General’s Daughter”).
Joining them in the winners’ circle are Erik Santos (Outstanding Male Concert Performer of the Year), Darren Espanto (Outstanding Male Pop Artist of the Year), and Maris Racal (Outstanding New Female Recording Artist of the Year). MOR 101.9 DJs ChaCha and Onse were also named Outstanding Female DJ of the Year and Outstanding Male DJ of the Year.
In the 2020 FAMAS Awards, Angel Locsin received the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award, while Liza Soberano was conferred with the German Moreno Youth Achievement Award, and Boy Abunda was given the Dr. Jose Vera Perez Memorial Award. Marya Ignacio, meanwhile, won Best Editing for her work in “Hello, Love, Goodbye” at the 38th Luna Awards.
Among the winners in the 42nd Catholic Mass Media Awards were Star Music artist Jamie Rivera, who received a Hall of Fame Award in the Best Inspirational Song category and Star Music songwriter and executive Jonathan Manalo, whose song “Pinakamamahal Kong Bayan” won Best Secular Song. Star Music’s “Ililigtas Ka Niya” also won Best Music Video while ABS-CBN Books’ “Give Thanks and Praise,” authored by Fr. Tito Caluag, was recognized in the Special Feature category.
Other Kapamilya winners last December include ABS-CBN News journalists Jeff Canoy, Zhander Cayabyab, and Lyza Aquino, who each received the Hero Journalist of the Year award in the 15th Gawad Filipino.
