Listen to the audio plug : Beautiful Jesus Music Video Launch

Feb. 25 8pm EST

Feb. 26 9am Philippines

Beautiful Thursday Feb. 25 7pm No Cover

About the Director of Beautiful Jesus
Janice Y. Perez holds a Bachelors degree in Accountancy from University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines. She has worked in Accounting in the private and non-profit sectors for the last seven years in New York. In 2006, she bought a consumer-ready DV camera and shot a short documentary in Cebu without any prior knowhow of filmmaking. Later that year, she completed a 16mm Filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy. She has worked with the Tribeca Int’l Film Festival, the NY Latino Film Festival, the South Bronx Film Festival, and many others, and at the IFP Film Week Programs from 2006-2009. Along with 3 good friends, she founded the IndioBravo Film Foundation, the pioneering Filipino film festival in New York.

In November 2008, she completed shooting a short film project she co-wrote with her partner in New York, and in February of 2009, she shot in Cebu her first directorial short film project, “Sabongero (Cockfighter),” which became an official entry to the Short Film Corner of the Festival de Cannes 2009. In December 2009, she directed her first official music video, “With Whom,” Kitchie Nadal’s soulful, unreleased track. It was their first time to collaborate.

Janice’s most compelling vision is to create a feature-length narrative based on the conquest of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines in 1521, her screenplay of which was a finalist in the Independent Feature Project’s Emerging Narrative program for 2008.

Janice and Kitchie

Kitchie Nadal is admired by music lovers not only for her beautiful singing voice, but also for her flair in writing meaningful lyrics. She was tapped by ABS-CBN to create “Bagong Simula,” the theme for the network’s Bayanijuan campaign, which also featured other artists. Her composition “Isang Araw” was also used as theme music in the local coverage of the Olympics.

Such nationalistic endeavors have actually made her more vigilant about what’s happening in our country. “Kaya ako nagkaro’n ng passion for our country kasi nagresearch-research ako for the Bayanijuan collaboration. Weird nga eh. Pero that’s why I really believe that I’m meant to do music kasi it’s helping me grow as a person. If they didn’t ask me to write a song about that I wouldn’t really find out about our country,” she enthusiastically admitted.

Her great recall among Filipinos has in fact made her one of the sought-after performers of teleserye theme songs. In the Kapamilya network alone, she is the voice behind the themes for Lovers in Paris, Rounin, and the upcoming nurserye, Humingi Ako Sa Langit. For this soap, ABS-CBN is coming up with two versions of “Himala” (a Rivermaya original) to be rendered solo by Kitchie as a duet with Marc Abaya of Kjwan.

Kitchie explained that she didn’t mind singing a revival since “Himala” is one of the greatest all-time OPM hits. “I always see myself as a songwriter. And when I watch a movie, I’m so particular with the soundtrack. I enjoy making songs out of a story. I can devote my time and effort to that. But for this one, I like ‘Himala.’ It’s one of the songs where I’d say, ‘How I wish I wrote that song.’ Sobrang great ng message and magaling naman si Rico (Blanco) eh. I think he’s one of the best song writers here in the Philippines,” she stressed.

When asked if joining showbiz has ever crossed her mind—just like Marc who has crossed over from the music scene into acting—Kitchie stressed that she wants to focus on creating more songs for now. But this doesn’t mean she’s not open to the idea of being a singer-turned-actress. “Actually there were a lot of offers na rin even before pa. ‘Di ko kaya talaga eh. For me acting is really a gift eh (and) I don’t think I have that gift,” she claimed.

Though her plans of doing a musical-indie film to support her current album Love Letter is already in the works, going into mainstream television, however, is a different ballgame altogether. “I can say right now parang I don’t have any inclination. But eventually siyempre I’ll try it naman. Ayoko rin naman maging close-minded about it. As much as possible I wanna try new things. But as of now, I know what I want and I know what I don’t want,” she simply stated.

Kitchie Nadal will be one of the artists featured in Tinolapalooza on March 20, 2010 at Poor Alex Theater Toronto Canada.

Tinolapalooza is a semi-annual music event catered to local Filipino-Canadian talents in the GTA and other surrounding cities. It was founded in 2006 by Minerva Records, which has since evolved into what is now known as the Minerva Group of Companies. 2010 marks the third Tinolapalooza in history, the second being in 2008. The event is intended to bring people in the Filipino community (and other cultures as well) together through music and, at the same time, showcase the many different talents that the city has to offer. This music festival of sorts has featured bands such as Vultocazhe, Noizytoyz, and Out of Luck – all of whom are veterans of the indie music scene whose music have been used in television commercials and have had radio airplay both here in Toronto and in the Philippines. This year’s Tinolapalooza will be a monumental one. Its headlining act will be none other than Kitchie Nadal – one of the most critically acclaimed artists in Philippine music. With Ms. Nadal as the main attraction, along with our talented stock of local talents, Tinolapalooza will further uplift the presence of OPM in the music scene. So be a part of the emergence of Filipino music in North America. Be a part of our scene. This is the new OPM.

http://www.pooralex.com

http://minervarecords.ca/Minerva_Studio/Events/Entries/2010/3/20_Tinolapalooza.html