Cheyenne Suarez

Here in Hollywood: Inside 'Forgotten Island' screening, after-party

Article (news)

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788336150255Liza, Manny, Januel and Joel 2292519525.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">(L-R) Liza Soberano, Manny Jacinto, Januel Mercado and Joel Crawford speak onstage during DreamWorks Animation&#x27;s special screening of &quot;Forgotten Island&quot; at Pacific Design Center on August 28, 2026 in West Hollywood, California.<em> Photo by Unique Nicole/Getty Images for DreamWorks Animation</em></span></span></span></div><p>At a packed Los Angeles screening and lively after-party, Liza Soberano, Manny Jacinto, and filmmakers Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado gave a glimpse behind the making of DreamWorks Animation’s first Filipino-inspired fantasy adventure.</p><p>The theater inside the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood was filled to capacity, with some disappointed guests unable to get in. For a film centered on Filipino friendship, family, migration, and mythology, the turnout was itself something of a statement.</p><p>The Q&amp;A after the screening was capably moderated by Rotten Tomatoes editor Jacqueline Coley, with the stars and filmmakers onstage.</p><p>Crawford and Mercado are the filmmakers behind &quot;Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.&quot; That pedigree helps explain the movie’s distinctive blend of outrageous comedy, action, and emotional storytelling.</p><p>Crawford explained that they have a particularly collaborative writing process. They constantly try to push a scene further. Their rule is simple: if something makes them laugh, they trust that it can make other people laugh, too. But the filmmakers don’t stop with what’s on the page. They also encourage improvisation in the recording booth, where the actors can take scenes in unexpected directions.</p><p>“Let’s surprise ourselves,” Crawford said of their approach. That willingness to experiment is especially important in animation, where virtually everything the audience sees has to be intentionally created. Crawford said the filmmakers therefore rely heavily on the spontaneity that emerges when the cast gets together in the booth.</p><p>The chemistry between the actors and filmmakers helped create the feeling of a real conversation, even though the characters will ultimately exist as animated figures. </p><div><strong>FINDING HUMANITY</strong></div><p>Jacinto, who voices Bungi Tiyanak, talked about what attracted him to the character. One of the strengths of Crawford and Mercado’s approach, he said, is that their characters aren’t simply one-dimensional comic figures.</p><p>“You feel for Bungi,” Jacinto said. “You kind of feel sorry for him, too.” But don’t underestimate him. “You mess with him, and he can mess you up,” Jacinto added, laughing. “He can hold his own.”</p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788336168835Manny Jacinto 2292515198.jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><p>Coley also asked the filmmakers and cast about surprising discoveries during the casting process. Jacinto immediately had an answer. His favorite discovery, he said, was the person playing Raissa’s dad who sings karaoke. It’s Januel Mercado. Jacinto praised Mercado’s voice. Mercado responded with a laugh and a typically self-effacing observation: “I could list the many things I suck at.”</p><p>The film’s comedy may be broad, but its emotional center is deeply familiar to many Filipinos. Coley asked Soberano about the difficult emotional scenes in the latter half of the film: the fights, disappointments, and tears. Interestingly, Soberano said those moments were actually more comfortable for her than the comedic scenes. The reason was simple: she didn’t have to look very far for the emotions. She spoke about the experience of Overseas Filipino Workers, or OFWs, who leave the Philippines to earn money and provide for their families.</p><p>The resulting feelings of longing, uncertainty, and the fear of abandoning someone or being abandoned are familiar to countless Filipino families. Soberano has personal experience with that kind of separation. But throughout the movie, she said, she was also thinking about one person in particular: her younger sister.</p><p>Her sister was seven when Soberano left and is now nine years old. Soberano recalled being especially afraid of leaving her because she had always wanted to experience raising a little sister. She and her siblings, she explained, had grown up in different households. So when she performed Raissa’s most emotional scenes, she wasn’t simply imagining what separation might feel like.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/movies-series/2026/8/25/h-e-r-liza-soberano-celebrate-filipino-roots-in-forgotten-island-fan-meet-2355"><strong>READ: H.E.R., Liza Soberano celebrate Filipino roots in &#x27;Forgotten Island&#x27; fan meet<br/></strong></a></div><div><strong>FILIPINO CELEBRATION</strong></div><p>After the Q&amp;A, guests moved into the reception, which continued until around 10 p.m. There was an open bar and a DJ who played some Filipino songs that had the crowd singing along. Each attendee received a supot of Jollibee food containing a chicken sandwich, ube pie, and chicken nuggets. And then there was karaoke. </p><p>Fil-Am actor Timothy Granaderos and his nephew gamely took over the microphone, with Mercado, Crawford, and Fil-Am actor Vince Rodriguez III joining the fun later.</p><p>For a movie built around Filipino family stories and mythology, the sight of its Filipino filmmakers and guests singing karaoke together felt almost too perfectly on-brand. The principal cast didn’t stay long at the party, but I was able to chat briefly and informally with them before the Q&amp;A. </p><p>Soberano, whom I’ve known for 10 years now because of her Kapamilya roots, asked whether I had already seen the completed movie. Before I could answer, however, a handler eyed me and pulled the talents away. The look I received was one I know well as someone working in the non-mainstream press: a reminder that there are always tiers of access, even at an event celebrating a culture that is, in this case, very much part of the story. Still, the larger mood was unmistakably celebratory.</p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788336190975Liza 2292525553.jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><strong>QUESTION ON REPRESENTATION</strong></div><p>At least three attendees separately asked me — out of curiosity, I believe — why the Q&amp;A, which was largely attended by Filipinos, wasn’t moderated by someone who could have led the conversation into a discussion about the cultural references in the film and maybe even pronounce the Tagalog terms properly. It was the same case with the film’s celebration at San Diego Comic-Con last July.</p><p>I didn’t know the official answer, so I offered my own interpretation: perhaps to the studio, this is a way for &quot;Forgotten Island&quot; to reach the widest possible audience and succeed beyond the Filipino community. That is, after all, something that people who care about meaningful Filipino representation should want.</p><p>The question did leave a faint sting. There is a difference between bringing Filipino stories to the world and suggesting, implicitly or otherwise, that those stories need to be made less Pinoy to succeed, and that those who grew up immersed in the things portrayed in the film cannot lead conversations about it. At a different film screening a couple of days after the event, another Fil-Am colleague posed the same question.</p><p>But &quot;Forgotten Island&quot; doesn’t strike me as a film embarrassed by its Filipino identity. Quite the opposite, actually. Its mythology, family dynamics, cultural references and emotional themes are woven into the story rather than pasted onto it, thanks to genuine efforts by its filmmakers and creatives. The hope, then, is that mainstream success and unmistakably Filipino representation and inclusion in all aspects can coexist. Judging by the community’s response, there is certainly an audience for both.</p><div><strong>EASTER EGGS</strong></div><p>The filmmakers also revealed that &quot;Forgotten Island&quot; contains Easter eggs drawn from other DreamWorks films, including &quot;How to Train Your Dragon.&quot; And fans of &quot;Puss in Boots: The Last Wish&quot; have another reason to listen closely: Harvey Guillén, who voiced Perrito in that film, makes a cameo. Those connections are fitting, considering the directors’ history with &quot;Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.&quot; But &quot;Forgotten Island&quot; ultimately wants to stand on its own.</p><p>Its fantasy world is inspired by Filipino mythology, while its emotional stakes are universal: What happens when the people who helped shape who you are begin to disappear from your life? That question is wrapped in jokes, monsters, karaoke, and a very Filipino sense of family. And that night, the enthusiasm of the audience suggested that the film had already found something precious: people eager to see a Filipino story take up space on a very large screen.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gDM9KZs9cj8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>At a packed Los Angeles screening and lively after-party, Liza Soberano, Manny Jacinto, and filmmakers Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado gave a glimpse behind the making of DreamWorks Animation’s first Filipino-inspired fantasy adventure.</p>

At a packed Los Angeles screening and lively after-party, Liza Soberano, Manny Jacinto, and filmmakers Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado gave a glimpse behind the making of DreamWorks Animation’s first Filipino-inspired fantasy adventure.