When I visited Manila in 2013 to launch The Mango Bride, Roselle Monteverde, head of Regal Entertainment, the oldest surviving film studio in the Philippines, reached out to me about adapting my novel to film. Talks continued sporadically over the years, but this past June they sealed the deal with a contract for the Filipino film version of my novel.  I give credit to the indefatigable producer/talent manager Girlie Rodis  for keeping the negotiations going and seeing them to fruition.

The Monday  after Thanksgiving, a lovely script written by the award-winning screenwriter Rody Vera  arrived via email, so fresh that a tiny typo was left on the title page.  I read it in under 24 hours loved it and am  now in conversation with Rody, Girlie  and Director Loy Arcenas and Girlie.  The next step will be a table reading of this first draft by professional actors, to see how the dialogue works. I’m hoping they’ll let me listen in on the reading via Skype.

Loy Arcenas and Girlie Rodis where the director/producer team behind the critically acclaimed musical film, Ang Larawan (The Portrait)  based on National Artist Nick Joaquin’s play Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. I have no doubt they will do a wonderful job adapting my novel to film.

The film is scheduled for location shooting in Manila and San Francisco in April  and May next year.  If all goes well, they hope to release it at  2019 Metro Manila Film Festival.   You can bet I’ll be flying up to Oakland to watch the filming in the Bay Area and I’m looking forward to attending the premiere next Christmas!

Check back here for news on who’ll be starring in The Mango Bride film!