CAAMFest: Dante Basco 'The Fabulous Filipino Brothers'

CAAMFest: Dante Basco ‘The Fabulous Filipino Brothers’

14 May, 2021

Dante Basco, a name that may sound familiar as he’s been a staple of the Hollywood film community and industry for over 35 years with his breakout role as Rufio in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 blockbuster Hook. But this year, he is making a huge splash with his directorial debut The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, which stars members of his family, the Basco Brothers. All working actors, they collaborated and wrote the film together. The movie, which had its world premiere at SXSW 2021, is having its CAAMFest 2021 Bay Area premiere tonight at Fort Mason Center, May 14 at 6:30 p.m.

CAAMFest Fort Mason Drive-In | Dante Basco The Fabulous Filipino Brothers
CAAMFest Fort Mason Drive-In | Dante Basco The Fabulous Filipino Brothers

Watch our exclusive interview with Dante Basco on Dig IN Magazine Celebrity Interviews hosted by Editor-in-Chief Cindy Maram:

Listen to our interview with Dante Basco on Scooped Podcast produced by Dig IN Magazine on Spotify (also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and other major podcast platforms):

A hilarious dark comedy, with touching dramatic themes and filled with Filipino and Filipino-American cultural references that spark a smile, through his film, Basco hopes to bring Filipino and Asian-American stories to light.

“We’re definitely in a golden era, so to speak, of Asians in pop culture media, [which] definitely popped up with Crazy Rich Asians and a lot of our careers, including mine, kind of led up to that…The world has changed, our industry has changed. The roles I’ve played throughout my career, I’d say over 90% of the roles that all of us have played have been from a white male’s perspective. Which doesn’t make it racist necessarily, it’s just how the business was built, but the business is changing,” said Basco.

CAAMFest - Dante Basco The Fabulous Filipino Brothers
CAAMFest: Dante Basco & The Basco Brothers in The Fabulous Filipino Brothers

Expanding on the movement toward more representation in the Hollywood film industry, the talented actor and filmmaker went onto say, “And so in this new era of media, our voices, for the sake of authenticity, [are] being valued more, and it’s about people like myself telling our stories, knowing Asian, Latino, African American, women, different sexualities for identities. I’m really excited to see people being able to tell their stories from their own perspective.”

With much of the story inspired by true events and important people in his life, the brilliant director, actor, producer incorporated characters that served as a tribute to important family and friends that he grew up with. Discussing actor, comedian Joey Guila’s role in the film as an animated and humorous character based off of Basco’s late godbrother Tito, whom Guila knew from his early days in Vallejo, California, he said, “That character was based off my godbrother, Alberto Gerardo, Tito. And actually, Joey knew him also because they’re both from Vallejo. And so it’s just a no brainer…as soon as we got the movie green lighted, I was like, “Joey, can you come here and play Tito?” and he was really honored about that.”

Actor, comedian Joey Guila (JoKoy’s Netflix Comedy Special In His Elements, Lumpia with a Vengeance), who will star in Easter Sunday, the upcoming comedy, which also stars Lou Diamond Phillips, is currently in production from Amblin Partners. The movie is based on his longtime collaborator JoKoy’s life experiences and stand-up comedy.

Comedian Joey Guila Bringing It Back hosted and produced by Jon Nielsen, Aquaries Entertainment at the Brea Improv
Comedian Joey Guila “Bringing It Back” hosted and produced by Jon Nielsen of Aquaries Entertainment at the Brea Improv
Actor Comedian Joey Guila with Actor, Former NFL Player Jon Nielsen and Karim Singleton of The Phoenix Group
Actor, Comedian Joey Guila with Actor, Former NFL Player Jon Nielsen of Aquaries Entertainment and Karim Singleton of The Phoenix Group

We met Guila back in 2013 when he was hosting MYX-Rated Showtime Special and have supported him at his various stand-up comedy shows ever since. One memorable show, Bringing It Back, which took place at the Brea Improv, in which Guila headlined, was hosted and produced by a longtime friend of Guila’s, actor and former NFL football player Jon Nielsen.

Dig IN Magazine Editor-in-Chief Cindy Maram and Actor, Comedian Joey Guila in San Francisco, California
Dig IN Magazine Editor-in-Chief Cindy Maram and Actor, Comedian Joey Guila in San Francisco, California

Cindy Maram, Dig IN Magazine Host and Editor-in-Chief exclaimed, “Its been great to see Joey’s career evolve over the years and to see old friends, who are a part of the Asian-American community, collaborate on projects that are gaining so much visibility. Connecting with Dante recently was the icing on the cake. Dante and I grew up in the same hometown of Cerritos, California in Los Angeles County and share a lot of the same friends in the Asian-American community from junior high and high school.”

The Fabulous Filipino Brothers premieres in the Bay Area for a drive-in at Fort Mason Center this evening, Friday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. CAAMFest.

About the author

Cindy Maram

Cindy Maram is a Dancer, Public Speaker and our Founder & Editor-in-Chief of the entertainment, fashion and arts publication, Dig IN Magazine. She is an accredited film critic for Cannes Film Festival in the South of France, Venice International Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, SFFilm Festival and CAAMFest, as well as a runway fashion photographer and editor for London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. She also serves as a professional sports photographer and writer. She is a prolific art critic providing media coverage for Art Basel Miami Beach and surrounding Miami Art Week fairs. As a creator, Cindy is a writer, vlogger, podcaster, social media strategist and manager possessing a Bachelor's Degree from UC Davis and Master's Degree completing graduate work in Mass Communications + Popular Culture Studies with an emphasis in Film/Marketing/Writing from Cal State Fullerton. Further, she is producer of independent feature length and short films, and is committed to supporting the visibility of underrepresented groups in the media and film industry.

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