Hollywood producer Charles Wessler was captivated by the beauty of the Philippines as he scouted for the perfect location for an upcoming movie.

"I love the Philippines. I was trying to figure out how to sleep the first few days. As soon as I woke up, I was introduced to fascinating people. And I love it here. It's beautiful. It's gorgeous here, and I love it. I know everybody thinks the same," said Charles during an interview after the masterclass held at the Mowelfund Institute in Quezon City recently.

While Charles remained tight-lipped about the specifics, his eyes sparkled with excitement as he revealed that the movie revolves around two adventurers disoriented in the dense Philippine jungle. 'They became lost due to terrible circumstances, but it's meant to be funny.'

Charles last produced a movie, "Palmer," in 2021, starring Justin Timberlake. However, he rose to fame producing the film series "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary." In 2018, "The Green Book" won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Manet A. Dayrit, President of the QCinema Film Foundation, fondly recounted Charles's arrival in the Philippines.

"I met him over Zoom during the tail-end of the pandemic. He was trying to produce something which would be shot somewhere in Europe. They were looking for funding.

"So our friend checked it. Maganda naman ang script pero may pandemic at may strike pa ang Screen Actors Guild sa US. Our friend decided to pass up the opportunity.

"So I told him (Charles) if you're looking for funding here, it has to do something about the Philippines. Then he said I have a script called The Jungle that could easily be set in the Philippines. So they reworked that script. He said that he wanted to talk to investors and get this movie made. So he's here now, hoping the movie will be shot early next year," said Manet. "He's meeting possible investors for the movie, and he's hoping to scout for locations."

The masterclass happened when Charles proposed delivering talks during his travels to various locations. Initially arranged for just a week, the organizers were astonished to find that all slots had been swiftly filled. 

Directors, producers, and celebrities listened intently as Charles discussed his journey to becoming a successful producer. He relished sharing stories about Tinseltown celebrities.

Charles remembered the campaign season for the Oscars, during which he had a great time meeting celebrities. Amazed by the Oscars, he offered advice to Filipino producers serious about winning the prestigious Oscar trophy. Incidentally, despite numerous attempts, the Philippines had not received any nominations at the Academy.

"I have to be honest. The truth is I have yet to see that many Philippine-made films. But to answer your question, a great movie probably missed it in the last 10 years, and nobody promoted it properly," Charles initially said when asked for advice on winning an Oscar or at least getting a nomination.

"So the real thing is even if you don't get amazing distribution, somebody like a billionaire has to pay for it to be seen. Some people specialize in bringing members of the academy who vote like me to see movies.

"To answer your question would be to continue to make great movies. That's the trick. There's no formula, no criteria for me. However, if there is a formula, I recommend that you look at the last five years of the nominated and studied movies," he said.

Charles highlighted the lackluster ticket sales for Hollywood's summer movies, which have yet to produce blockbuster hits. He firmly believes that the pandemic is solely responsible for the challenges the entertainment industry has faced recently.

"It's weird. I wish I were super knowledgeable about this because no one knows. No one knows. But I promise you it has something to do with this: Covid changed everything. It changed how we think about going to see a movie. 

"And we know it became easy to come home. Make dinner, watch a movie, watch a TV show or binge. You sit there and watch a TV series for three or four hours because you have nothing else to do.

"You can go to the theater. So I think what's happened is, quite frankly, that people became used to not going to the theater, and they thought, wait a minute. It doesn't cost me any extra or less to watch on streamer. I don't have to go. If you're a couple, you must get a babysitter, and you have to get popcorn. You have to get dinner, and it's like $60 to see a movie.

"It's like, yeah, but I can stay home and watch Netflix and see something. And I think that's what happened; it's not complicated. It's just become easier. If it's not something I like, I grew up watching movies in theaters, and there was no such thing as, you know, streaming there was no such thing. 

"I remember we're going to watch The Wizard of Oz, and we got so excited about it. But those days are gone. And so where we are now, and I learned this on Palmer, is we're in the age of streaming, and that's the entrance. 

"I think eventually there'll be specialty houses and cinemas. Instead of having 5000 cinemas, you're going to open in 500, but all kinds of seats go back, and you pay $12 for a ticket and their specialty, and the movie costs $180 million," said Charles.

At the end of the masterclass, Mary B. Liza Dino, Executive Director, Quezon City Film Commission, encouraged filmmakers to work together in achieving goals for the industry.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the Quezon City Film Commission to hold and organize this masterclass with you. It just elevated us with so many notches up. This is the kind of class we aspire to bring to the Quezon City Film Commission

"We're currently building the Quezon City Screen Academy program. Our goal is to find ways to continue upskilling our film workers.

"On behalf of our visionary Mayor Joy Belmonte, we hope to continue to support our filmmakers. I saw them when they started as young producers. Now, they are making these amazing films on streaming platforms.

"I would like to take this opportunity to continue working together. Our industry is in transition, and we are trying to understand how to stay afloat in this changing landscape, how we keep on making movies, or how we can evolve and start making other things outside of making films.

"We're a small industry and we know each other. The only thing for us to do now is understand how we can make it work and how we can be seen by industries like Hollywood as a market. Right now that's the goal. Let's take those small steps to reach and have those achievements," Liza added.