Puregold CinePanalo Student Filmmakers Get Extra Boost with P100K Grant from MFP Rentals

Puregold CinePanalo teams up with MFP Rentals to grant student filmmakers PhP 100,000 worth of free audiovisual equipment rentals. (L-R Puregold CinePanalo Festival Director Chris Cahilig, Puregold Senior Marketing Manager Ivy Hayagan Piedad, MFP Rentals Tech Director Tristan Cua, MFP Rentals Co-Producer Zsara Laxamana) MFP Rentals’ partnership enables CinePanalo student directors to focus their P150,000 grant on perfecting their cinematic vision.The CinePanalo Film Festival empowers 25 student filmmakers from universities nationwide with equipment and production support, with the help of MFP Rentals.

The Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival just announced another groundbreaking partnership set to support its student filmmakers participating in the Festival’s Student Shorts category.

MFP Rentals, an upstart local audiovisual equipment rental services company, has generously thrown its support behind the CinePanalo Film Festival, pledging to sponsor equipment rental services worth a total minimum value of PhP 100,000 free to use for all 25 student short film entries.

The partnership is a first for the CinePanalo Film Festival, as the inaugural event did not feature any equipment subsidy for the participants in the student shorts category. Now, through the partnership between Puregold and MFP Rentals, the 25 student filmmakers no longer need to shell out a part of their P150,000 grant on equipment, and can, instead allocate their funding towards perfecting their cinematic vision.

On this collaboration, Puregold Senior Marketing Manager Ivy Hayagan-Piedad shared the company’s gratitude for allowing student filmmakers to give their all without worrying about equipment funding. 

“The student shorts category of the Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival was designed to give an opportunity to passionate young directors itching for a chance to show the world their panalo stories. Thanks to MFP Rentals, our student filmmakers now have significantly more resources to make that happen,” she said. 

Meanwhile, for MFP Rentals owner Mark Tristan Cua, the lease of the audiovisual equipment was a no-brainer given the advocacy of the Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival in supporting the dreams of student filmmakers.

“After seeing the success of last year’s Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival, we knew that MFP Rentals needed to be a part of the next one, and we believed that supporting the entrants of the students’ shorts category was the best way we could lend a hand,” said Cua.

For Cua, the opportunity to help aspiring filmmakers has always been his personal goal. Outside of MFP Rentals, Cua is the proud founder of the Mobile Filmmaking Philippines online community, where filmmakers can learn from each othe, allowing young and aspiring filmmakers to find affordable equipment services.

“It’s difficult to be a student filmmaker in the Philippines, and having more space in one’s budget can go a long way” added Cua. “We hope that through MFP Rentals’ assistance, these talented young artists can focus their budget on making the film of their dreams, instead of spending a lot of money just on equipment.”

In addition to the equipment rentals, MFP Rentals will also engage in a technical discussion with the Director of Photography of each student short film prior to the submission of any technical equipment requests. This serves the purpose of allowing MFP Rentals to tailor its assistance to the unique creative vision of each student short film project.

Puregold recently announced the list of 25 student filmmakers who will be receiving the P150,000 production grant, as well as the assistance by MFP Rentals and all of Puregold’s other official production partners for the CinePanalo Film Festival. The upcoming film festival will feature student filmmakers from universities across the country including the University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, University of Caloocan City, and even universities from outside Metro Manila like Central Philippine University, Dalubhasaan ng Lungsod ng San Pablo, the University of San Carlos, and Faith Colleges, and National University Laguna.

The Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival is set to begin in March of 2025, with the Awards Night set for March 19, 2025. Each of the student short filmmakers will have a chance to compete for the festival’s top awards including the awards for best film and best director.