WESLEY JOHNSON OF THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS TO ATTEND NBA 3X PHILIPPINES 2014 PRESENTED BY SPRITE

Wesley Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers will join NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors at NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall from July 4-6, National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sprite announced today. The 6’ 7” guard/forward will make appearances and interact with fans through clinics and community events. Among the most passionate in the

Johnson was drafted fourth overall in the 2010 NBA Draft and was named to the All-Rookies Second Team in 2011.

“I can’t wait to get to Manila next week to meet all the NBA fans in the Philippines, who are among the most passionate in the,” said Johnson. “I understand the L.A. Lakers are one of the most popular teams in the country and I’m excited to represent the team at this year’s NBA 3X.”

NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite celebrates basketball and the NBA with free fan activities including a slam dunk contest, basketball clinics, 3-point shootouts, skills challenges, autograph sessions, and more. To entertain fans, there will also be performances by live bands and DJs, as well as NBA merchandise giveaways. Local celebrities will also join players from local professional and college leagues at the event. In addition, the Raptors Dance Pak will be at the NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite to entertain fans with performances.

The Competitive 3x3 tournament basis, and run until June 27 or until all slots are full. NBA 3X Philippines 2013 saw record levels features divisions for boys under-18, under-16, and under-13, and for girls under-18 and uner-16. The event will also include open categories for both men and women along with an invitation only Celebrity Division featuring popular local TV and music personalities. Registration for NBA 3X Philippines 2014 is now open on a first-come-first-serve of demand with more than 170 teams on the waitlist vying to get a spot in the tournament. As a result, the Philippines International Convention Center will once again be utilized as a secondary venue to accommodate the teams.

All participants in NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite will receive a jersey and NBA sling bag. There will also be prizes for the winner of each division. Registration fees for the age divisions run at Php 1,000 per team, and for open divisions at Php 1,600 per team.

Along with presenting partner Sprite, official partners of NBA 3X Philippines 2014 including Adidas, Smart Communication and PLDT, KFC and Phoenix Petroleum, with Acer and Spalding serving as supporting partners. Officials NBA broadcasters are ABS-CBN Sports + Action and Basketball TV

NBA 3X PHILIPPINES 2014 PRESENTED BY SPRITE RETURNS TO SM MALL OF ASIA

NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite returns to Manila at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall from July 4-6, National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sprite announced today. Now in its fourth year, the event combines exciting 3x3 on-court competitions with free authentic NBA entertainments and experiences for fans of all ages.

NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite celebrates basketball and NBA culture with free fan activities including a slam dunk contest, basketball clinics, 3-point shootouts, skills challenges, autograph sessions, and more. To keep fans entertained, there will also be performances by an NBA dance team an NBA mascot, live bands and DJs, as well as NBA merchandise giveaways.

2014 NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors will headline this year’s event and be on hand to help run clinics and interact with fans.

DeRozan guided the Raptors to a 48-win season – the team’s most successful regular seasons campaign ever – and helped steerthem back into the Playoffs for the first time since 2007-08 NBA Season. DeRozan led the team in scoring (23.9 ppg) and minutes played (40.3 min) during their postseason run.

“I’m excited for my first visit to the Philippines to experience the country’s unique culture and to be a part of NBA 3X,” said DeRozan. “Filipinos are world-renowned for their passion for the NBA and I can’t wait for this exciting showcase of their basketball skills.”

The competitive 3x3 tournament features divisions for boys under-18, under-16, and under-13, and for girls under-18 and uner-16. The event will also include open categories for both men and women along with an invitation only Celebrity Division featuring popular local TV and music personalities. Registration for NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite begins June 6, on a first-come-first-serve basis and run until June 27 or until all slots are full. NBA 3X Philippines 2013 saw record levels of demand with more than 170 teams on the waitlist vying to get a spot in the tournament. As a result, the Philippines International Convention Center will once again be utilized as a secondary venue to accommodate the teams.

“NBA fans in the Philippines have been treated to a historic year of activities with the staging of the first-ever NBA pre-season game in Southeast Asia in Manila, followed by the opening of NBA Café Manila – a first of its kind NBA destination,” said Carlo Singson, Philippines Country Manager, NBA Asia. “With the return of NBA 3X Philippines presented by Sprite, we continue our goal of providing our loyal supporters with authentic ways to engage with the NBA, be it through events, television programming, NBA.com or social media.”

Leading the Coca-Cola Company’s brand association with the NBA is Sprite, the world’s leading lemon-lime sparkling beverage and the Philippines no. 1 flavored soft drink. Sprite has been the Official Soft Drink of the NBA in the U.S. since 1994.

“In a country where both Sprite and street basketball are tremendously popular, we are glad to be able to support programs that encourage people to play basketball, stay physically active, improve strength and endurance, achieve energy balance, and drink Sprite,” said Teejae Sonza, Marketing Manager for Sparkliing of Coca-cola Philippines. “Sprite has been the presenting partners for NBA 3X Philippines since its launch in 2011 and we look forward to another great event for the entire family to enjoy.

Along with presenting partner Sprite, official partners of NBA 3X Philippines 2014 including Adidas, Smart Communication and PLDT, KFC and Phoenix Petroleum, with Acer and Spalding serving as supporting partners. Officials NBA broadcasters are ABS-CBN Sports + Action and Basketball TV

All participants in NBA 3X Philippines 2014 presented by Sprite will receive a jersey and NBA sling bag. There will also be prizes for the winner of each division. Registration fees for the age divisions run at Php 1,000 per team, and for open divisions at Php 1,600 per team.

PLAYING MASTER AND SERVANT IN “BLACK BUTLER”

Hiro Mizushima stars in the titular role of “Black Butler” produced by Shinzo Matsuhashi about an orphaned aristocrat exacting revenge who hires the services of a black butler at her aid costing her soul.

Ayame Goriki and Hiro Mizushima in BLACK BUTLER

Ayame Gőriki plays the aristocrat young lady named Shiori Genpo who masquerades as a male in order to get even to those responsible for her family’s death. She eventually summons a black butler named Sebastian Michaelis, on the condition that her soul is already for the taking after the revenge has been fulfilled. Sebastian Michaelis, a demonic butler with impeccable knowledge, manners, grace, cooking skills, martial arts and charming looks.

Adapting the highly successful Manga series into a movie, directors Kentaro Ohtani and Kei’ichi Sato with writer Yana Taboso decided to change the setting of the movie to a very near future fusing the East and West culture, creating a whole new distinctive era. Eventually, most of the characters have also been rewritten to suit the new setting. The all-original story of the film is set 130 years after the manga. Hiro who plays the demonic butler Sebastian returns to the movies for the first time in three years. The actor faced up to the challenge in preparing for the role that he even shed 50 kg off his weight to achieve the closest of resemblance with the character.

Hiro Mizushima & Ayame Goriki in BLACK BUTLER

The manga debuted in Square Enix's Monthly G Fantasy magazine in 2006, and its 15 volumes thus far have 14 million copies in print, including those published in 42 countries and territories. The manga already inspired a television anime series in 2008 and a stage play in 2009. It received the top prize in the shōnen manga category of France's Japan Expo Awards in 2010 and the Best International Manga Award in Germany's Animagic in 2011.

“Black Butler” will open exclusively in SM Cinemas nationwide

on July 23 from Axinite Digicinema.

DAWN OF AN UNLIKELY HERO IN “DRAGON NEST: WARRRIOR’S DAWN”

The phenomenal MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) “Dragon Nest” is now a movie – Axinite Digicinema has recently released its English-dubbed trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEXs-7tS_ng

“Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn” is an upcoming Chinese-American animated adventure fantasy romance film directed by Song Yuefeng and based on the Dragon Nest video game. At the center of the movie is a young warrior named Lambert. His family and home town was destroyed by the Black Dragon when he was younger. He set out to seek revenge and vowed to slay the Black Dragon.

A sword yielding warrior and unlikely hero, Lambert eventually becomes a student of Barnac, one of the 6 legendary hero who took notice of his skills and talents in warfare. The movie brings us to the land of Altera that has observed an uneasy peace for years among Humans, Elves and Evil beasts who are loyal to the legendary Black Dragon. But the Black Dragon begins to stir from its hibernation, sending the Beasts marching across Altera.

With a beast conquest perilously close, a small group of Humans and Elves unite to try to find a secret hidden road to the Black Dragon's cave and destroy it. But the fate of all of them may be in the hands of the young warrior Lambert, who must summon the confidence and skill to face the Black Dragon himself just when all may be lost.

“Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn” plays very soon in theatres nationwide from Axinite Digicinema.

WORLD’S VIDEOGAME PHENOMENON DRAGON NEST NOW A MOVIE - “DRAGON NEST: WARRIOR’S DAWN”

The global videogame phenomenon “Dragon Nest” comes to the big screen with its first of a trilogy – “Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn” where an unlikely human hero is centric in uniting a divided enchanted land to fight against the evil force that seeks to destroy all humans and elves.

Directed by Yuefeng Song, the movie covers the events that took place during the Black Dragon Raid when a Black Dragon appeared in the once peaceful land enchanted land of Altea. With the Black Dragon’s attack, the King ordered then the young warriors Geraint, Argenta, Velskud and other legendary heroes to form the Dragon Slaying Alliance. The incident years after was widely known to be the First Dragon Invasion for the younger generations. We now find Lambert, a young restless wannabe warrior who lost his homeland and family when he was young, causing him to have the dream of vanquishing the Black Dragon. His limited but impressive fighting skills caught the attention of Barnac, the legendary mercenary who trains Lambert to use his fighting skills wisely and opportunely.

Produced by giant game prime mover Shanda Games, Eyedentity Games and Mili Pictures, “Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn” will open very soon in cinemas nationwide to be distributed by Axinite Digicinema in the Philippines.

Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart now Showing. Nationwide!!!

Romance, adventure, comedy, a cast of colourful characters and fantastic graphic design, Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is a magnificently original love story set in an exciting period full of fabulous inventions, spooky characters and fantastic adventures.

Edinburgh, late 19th century. Little Jack is born on a day so cold that his heart remains frozen. In her house on top of a big hill, Madeleine the midwife replaces the defective organ with a cuckoo clock. It will work, she warns him, as long as Jack doesn't touch the hands of the clock, doesn't lose his temper and, above all, doesn't fall in love.

But Jack's encounter with a fiery-eyed little girl singing on a street corner and his decision to chase after her across Europe to Andalusia test the resistance of his makeshift heart to breaking point...
Adapted by Mathias Malzieu from his own bestselling novel - translated into over fifteen languages - and the gold-selling album by his band Dionysos, this superbly animated movie about passion and the acceptance of others will appeal to adults and children of all ages.

“Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart” is released and distributed

by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

Move Over E.T., a new Cute Alien steals Hearts in Earth To Echo.

An inspiring science-fiction adventure, Earth to Echo captures all the mystery, excitement and wonder of an extraterrestrial occurrence in a small Nevada suburb. But at its heart, the movie is about friendship. Our three young heroes – Tuck, Munch and Alex – are a closely bonded trio of outcasts, whose time together is coming to an end. Their neighborhood is being destroyed by a highway construction project; forcing their families to move away. Only the promise of one last thrill together – a journey into the desert to search for the source of strange and mysterious messages that have appeared on their cell phones –can distract them from their impending move. “The movie is really about this group of kids and how they have to say goodbye to each other,” says director Dave Green. “There’s something bittersweet about the fact they’re spending their last night together. But is goodbye really goodbye? In our movie, it’s not. It’s a beginning.”

Earth to Echo all began with the seed of an idea from producer Andrew Panay. Panay wanted to recapture the spirit of seminal family movies from the 1980s that he loved as a child – E.T., The Goonies, Stand By Me – movies that managed to conjure the wonder and heartbreak of early adolescence and infuse it with an intoxicating sense of adventure. If the story of E.T. were to happen today, he asked himself, how would it be told?

With video recording technology becoming increasingly accessible to all ages, especially kids, the movie’s concept seemed to fit perfectly into today’s world. “Kids today are doing a lot of their own filming and they're videotaping and Vine-ing. There are all these different social media outlets and ways of communicating which comes down to turning the camera around and shooting yourself and sending it off. It just makes sense,” says Panay. Today, kids want to share their experiences with people. Fortunately enough, this group of friends brings viewers into their story with the click of the “Record” button. With its roots in the found footage genre, Earth to Echo is the next step in storytelling.

Instead of approaching seasoned feature directors to help develop the project, Panay decided to go in another direction. The heart of the movie lies in the way the characters piece together the story themselves using their own cameras, editing, and insight. This was exactly what Panay wanted from a director. “I wanted to find a young filmmaker from the generation that sits and edits their films themselves,” says Panay.

He found what he was looking for in Dave Green, an enterprising filmmaker with a unique vision and strong résumé. Aside from having been a producer’s assistant on the set of the Spiderman trilogy, films acclaimed for their stunning visual effects, Dave also had a series of polished short films and music videos under his belt. When Panay watched one of Green’s shorts, he was immediately convinced. “It was practically a trailer for Earth to Echo,” he says. “After seeing that, I had no doubts at all.”

Green met with Panay to discuss his idea and the two immediately hit it off, saying that “[Panay]’s idea just sparked my excitement.”

According to Green, Panay’s idea was already in the family of concepts Green had been discussing with his writing partner, Henry Gayden; but Gayden wasn’t convinced. “At first, I didn’t know what to do,” Gayden admits. “It was too broad a container. But then I got this idea and started writing and by two in the morning, I had a rough story.” Gayden called up Green the next morning and said he had landed on something interesting.

As the next step, Green shot a one-minute clip to help sell the fun, the mystery, and the suspense of what Earth to Echo would ultimately become. When Panay saw it, he was immediately convinced. “It was practically a trailer for Earth to Echo,” he says. “After seeing that, I had no doubts at all.

From the beginning, Green wanted to approach things differently with Earth to Echo. In this case, the material isn’t simply raw footage, it’s a finished video created by Tuck (played by Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley), an avid, DIY filmmaker who regularly posts his videos on YouTube. “We wanted to lean into the idea that Tuck not only shot the whole thing, he’s also cut the whole thing, and he’s put music to it when he feels like it’s necessary, and he’s put titles in there, and he can pause the movie, and he can interject,” says Green.

If an extraterrestrial occurrence actually happened today, almost anyone would be able to capture it with the amount of video recording technology at people’s fingertips. Green also found a compelling advantage to creating a story that hewed solely to his main characters’ point of view, an attribute of many of his favorite movies from the likes of Spielberg and Hitchcock. “You build suspense out of what the characters don’t see and don’t know,” he explains. “And that’s the most exciting part. It’s fun to parse out information, just one seed at a time.”

‘Earth To Echo’ is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

SHOWING JULY 9. NATIONWIDE!

Spotlight on delightfully gorgeous animated adventure ‘Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart’ from Captive Cinema with voices of ‘Les Miserables’ Samantha Barks and of ‘Games of Thrones’ Michelles Fairley.

Here's something delightful for the whole family - a spotlight on lovely and deeply creative new animated adventure JACK AND THE CUCKOO CLOCK HEART . The movie comes from Dionysos' singer Mathias Malzieu and music video director Stéphane Berla and is produced by Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp.

This magical animated adventure is actually a big screen adaptation of Malzieu's novel and concept album of the same name, talking about passion and acceptance of others. LES MISERABLES' Samantha Barks and GAME OF THRONES' Michelle Fairley, and Sophia Ellis lead the English version voice cast!

The magnificent love story of JACK AND THE CUCKOO CLOCK HEART CGI animated fairy tale is set in an exciting period full of fabulous inventions, eccentric characters and fantastic adventures taking place in late-19th century Edinburgh in Scotland where Little Jack is born on a day so cold that his heart remains frozen.

His life is saved by inserting a cuckoo clock in its place, but it will work only if he observes three golden rules: He must never touch the hands of the clock, he must control his anger and he must never fall in love.

When Jack sets eyes on a young girl singing on a street corner, the hands of his clock-heart begin to race: Jack is prepared to do anything to find her again and so, like a Don Quichotte, he sets out on a quest for love that will take him from the Scottish lochs to Paris, and from there to Andalusia.

“Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart” is released and distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA.

NOW SHOWING . NATIONWIDE!