You can be an extra in ‘Zsazsa Zaturnnah’ movie
When Avid Liongoren read Carlo Vergara’s graphic novel, “Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah,” in 2002, he instantly knew he wanted to make a film version of it. “‘A gay man swallows a magical rock that transforms him into a female superhero’ is such a precious and hilarious premise. The story has alien fashionistas, a giant frog and zombies, it’s just itching to be animated.”
But, he said, “I neither had the resources or experience to do it.”
Fast-forward to 2017, Liongoren’s live-action animated film “Saving Sally” starring Rhian Ramos had just come out and a major mainstream studio wanted to work with the filmmaker.
“They asked what project I wanted to do. I had spent over a decade mostly self-funding ‘Saving Sally’ so I was very happy at the thought of not having to shell out money for a new film. I picked this other graphic novel by Carlo and he was hired to write the screenplay, too.”
But, as many film projects do, that would end up in development limbo and so, in 2018, Liongoren went back to his original dream. “I asked Carlo if I can adapt ‘Zsazsa Zaturnnah’ instead since our mainstream studio project was not moving.”
Liongoren, the film’s director-producer, acquired the rights for it. “I knew it was going to be slow but at least it would always keep moving.”
After Liongoren’s animation studio Rocketsheep Studio completed “Hayop Ka!,” the 2020 animated film which features the voices of Angelica Panganiban, Sam Milby and Robin Padilla, the “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” animated film has been their main project.
“Our studio went into full production in 2020. Carlo wrote the screenplay. Everything else is handled by Rocketsheep. Cool theater folks voiced our characters and we recorded at Wapak Sound Studios,” said Liongoren.
Four years
Liongoren and his team have spent the past four years participating in international film markets around the world but getting funding has been tricky. “We managed to get some funding here and there but majority of producers we met said the film’s queerness is too niche for the mainstream market.”
He added, “Our studio ended up mostly self-funding by doing advertisements and selling our internal organs. When we were running low on organs, we launched the Kickstarter.”
The people behind “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” have turned to crowdfunding in hopes of completing their film.
Their Kickstarter page reads: “Our tiny team has been working on this for the past four years with most of the funding coming out of our own pockets. We have gone to several international film markets and peddled to so many business people who all say the same thing: the project is really cool but the market for it is too niche. LGBTQ culture is still censored in many places in the world. In some countries, it’s even literally illegal to be gay. Traditional film investors are scared of backing ‘Zsazsa,’ so we are turning to you: You are our only hope!”
The team is offering rewards for the people who will support the project. “We wanted to create great value for the backers,” said Liongoren.
Those who give $1 will receive a library of “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” digital wallpapers and the team’s eternal gratitude. Give $5 and you get a copy of the digital screenplay plus the $1 reward. $15 gets you a digital art book (150 pages of preproduction art including character and environment design), HD copies of six animated shorts by Rocketsheep plus the previous rewards.
Give $25 and your name will be in the credits and you’ll get a digital copy of the original graphic novel the film is based on plus the previous rewards. If you give $50, your name will be drawn into a scene either as a sticker or graffiti (they’ll give you a high-res still image of it when the film is completed) and you’ll get access to the film’s animatic, which means you’ll get a first look at the film’s rough form, plus the other rewards.
Now for our favorite rewards: if you back the film with $100, you get to be part of it as one of the townsfolk. Yes, you can be a cartoon extra in the “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” movie! You’ll get digital sheets of your character, a high resolution still of the scene you’re in plus the other rewards.
Zombie
Want to take it up a notch? For $250, you can also appear in the film as a zombie—you’ll get digital character sheets, a high resolution still of your scene, five postcards plus all the previous rewards.
If you want to go big in supporting the film, $1,000 will get you all the rewards plus your own customized limited-edition Blu-ray of the film after it has been distributed. The jacket will bear your name, you’ll get a video greeting and also a video call with the team behind the film. You and your plus-one will also be invited to an internal screening of the film with the team in the Philippines.
The goal is to raise $40,000 and the team is well on its way. As of press time, 300 backers have supported the campaign with a total of $31,873.
You still have time to support the film (and cement your status as extra or zombie or both). The Kickstarter will run until Sept. 5. Those who don’t have funds to spare can still help by spreading word.
According to the team, “While our main goal is to tell a funny and heartwarming LGBTQ story, our secondary advocacy is to showcase Filipino animation talent to the world. The Philippines is a go-to nation for animation service work, but sadly, we are not known for ideating and producing animated films. There have been less than a dozen animated feature films in the entire hundred-year history of Philippine cinema. Our team hopes to continue adding to our nation’s animation filmography and, little by little, establish us Filipino animators as not just service providers, but creators, as well.”
It is their goal to finish the “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” film by the third quarter of 2026. “We will do the festival circuit first with the main English version of the film. Then we will do a theatrical run in the Philippines with a Tagalog version. Hopefully we get to do MMFF (Metro Manila Film Festival) again? Then we do streaming,” said Liongoren.
Filipinos have enjoyed the story of “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” in different forms. We’re ready for this animated version and we hope they see it to completion.
Liongoren said, “Please support ‘Zsazsa Zaturnnah’ and help us keep our internal organs.”
Find the “Zsazsa Zaturnnah” Kickstarter page on bit.ly/zaturnnah.
