IN a few weeks, the local television landscape will be slightly altered with the emergence of an all-Mexican drama channel.

The executives behind Beginnings at Twenty Plus Inc.—Antonio Flores, and the husband and wife tandem of Stanley and Perlita Uy—are bringing in the Telenovela Channel, the first 24/7 soap opera channel in Asia. The company forged a deal with Mexico’s Televisa International, one of the largest distributors of drama shows in Mexico and Latin America.

Mario Castro, Televisa’s director of new business for Asia, was in town recently for the contract signing with Beginnings at Twenty Plus. We spoke briefly to Castro and learned that he was very impressed with the track record of his new partners in Manila.  “Beginnings at Twenty Plus is a relatively new company but I saw how dedicated the group is in helping your very talented and creative people. The way they do voice dubbing over the years is very professional, always delivering high quality in foreign language voice dubbing.”

He continued, “I am amazed with the talents you have in this country, they are world-class. If the guys here can do an excellent job in translating and dubbing the Mexican Spanish telenovela to the English language, what more if the job entails them to use their local language?” The company has been involved in dubbing telenovelas since 2005 and some of these programs include the critically acclaimed Secreto de Amor, Mi Pecado, Tormenta En Al Paraiso and Rebecca, all translated from Spanish to English.

For the new channel’s initial offering, it will be an all-Mexican telenovela lineup including Pasion (Passion), Verano de Amor (Summer of Love), En Nombre de Amor (In the Name of Love) and Las dos Caras de Ana (The Two Faces of Ana).

Stanley told us that the shows will be dubbed in Tagalog, and that the dubbing process will involve only state-of-the-art technology in delivering outstanding results that is at par with world-class standards.

“We aim to bring in more titles as the months go by, giving the Filipino TV viewers a lot more choices as far as entertainment programs are concerned.”

For her part, Stanley’s wife Perlita said that the new channel would open more jobs to Filipinos. “We really like to extend our hand to help the very talented dubbing talents, most of whom come from theater. We know that their work in theater pays them really low talent fees but they never compromise quality and world-class output. In a way, we want to help elevate language dubbing into an esteemed and high-precision art form.”

The 24/7 Telenovela Channel will feature an eclectic mix that is bound to entertain audiences of all ages—from the timeless love stories that spans generations, both contemporary and epic, to suspense thrillers, youth-oriented melodramas and children’s adventure stories, all proven to be blockbuster hits when they were first shown in their country of origin and even in other countries.

And with the initial 300 cable operators who signed up together with Direct To Home Satellite TV, the Telenovela Channel brand of entertainment can reach even those who are in areas that cable TV companies do not service.

Maria is in town again

The hit Mexican soap opera Maria La del Barrio (Maria of the Neighborhood) was first aired in 1996 on RPN, when the Thalia craze was at its peak. The show, which ran for 75 episodes, was dubbed in Filipino and was touted as one of the better-written telenovelas from Mexico. Now after fifteen years, ABS-CBN is producing a local version of the soap opera, top-billed by Erich Gonzales, Angel Aquino, Ian Veneracion and Enchong Dee.

The drama series is being helmed by Rory Quintos, her return to television after a scary bout with dengue that sidelined her for a few months. It also marks the return of Aquino on television after her much praised outing in the high fashion drama series Magkaribal.

After years of working with GMA, Veneracion is back with ABS-CBN with a very important role. We heard that Veneracion was handpicked by Quintos to play the role of the wealthy father of Dee.

The cameras started grinding as early as February but revisions were done and some cast members were replaced, either because of creative or management decisions or simply network politics. Inno Martin, one of the more promising young actors, was the original choice for the role of Vladimir de la Vega, but after working on the soap for a few weeks he was axed for unexplained reasons. Hurt and dismayed, we heard that Martin decided not to renew his contract with Star Magic and he has changed his screen name to Ino Iñigo. His role went to Aaron Villaflor.

China Crisis coming to Manila

China Crisis is coming to town. This highly regarded group from Liverpool, England, which made its mark in the live performance and recording scene in the ’80s, is flying in for a special performance at the SMX Convention Center on September 9 courtesy of Steve O’Neal productions.

Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon formed China Crisis in 1979 after finishing college. Their first two singles, “African and White” and “Scream Down at Me,” made the English independent music lovers take immediate notice.

Virgin Records signed the group up and China Crisis released its debut album, Difficult Shapes and Passive Rhythms, which spawned two more hit singles—“No More Blue Horizons” and “Christian.”

In 1983 China Crisis came out with their second album, Working with Fire and Steel, Possible Pop Songs Volume Two, which was preceded by two singles, “Tragedy and Mystery” and “Working with Fire and Steel.” “Wishful Thinking,” the third single from the album, became China Crisis’ biggest hit, charting all over Europe.

Those who grew up in the ’80s might still remember their songs.