Two years since its inception, HOOQ continues to deliver the best of both Asian and Hollywood entertainment to homes across Asia. With subscribers in the millions, the largest Video on Demand service in South East Asia provides over 30,000 hours of quality entertainment that will be increased with new partnerships from Paramount Pictures, BBC Worldwide, and Endamol Shine.

In addition, HOOQ has just announced a new service that delivers movies fresh from the cinema to your home. Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) allows blockbuster movies to hit the service within three months of their theatrical release. To top it off, customers who currently subscribe to the Subscription VOD (SVOD) service will be able to enjoy one movie from the TVOD library each month as part of their subscription at no additional cost!

"Securing new partners such as Paramount Pictures, BBC, and Endemol Shine are a testament to the fact that HOOQ has the right formula to deliver quality entertainment to Asian homes, with a balance of the best Asian films and dramas alongside solid Hollywood blockbusters and series," described Peter Bithos, HOOQ Chief Executive Officer. "We have never been more elated and will continue to push boundaries to evolve and stay committed to delivering the best entertainment to our customers with new services such as TVOD that bring movies to your homes quicker than ever before -- even as part of your SVOD subscription."

Build in Asia for Asia, HOOQ continuously innovates and delivers the best quality entertainment through the world's first download capability for Hollywood, its weekly pricing, or its ad-free freemium model. This successful formula comes from HOOQ's strategy of combining the best Asian and Hollywood content with a solid distribution partner network of the top telcos and broadband providers in the region including AIS, Airtel, Globe Telecom, Telkom, and Telkomsel, just to name a few.    

"In the Philippines, we made sure to put together the best Filipino content for our subscribers with a combination of the top local studios and independent filmmakers. This, combined with HOOQ's strategy of serving premium Hollywood content, as well as our key distribution partnership with Globe, has contributed to making HOOQ the regional leader," pointed out Jane Cruz-Walker, HOOQ Philippines Country Manager.

As mentioned above, HOOQ subscribers will get access to watch one TVOD movie a month for free while additional movies can be rented for just P125.00 each. Every month, new movies will be uploaded from studios such as Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, Dreamworks, and Pixar with titles such as Arrival, Underworld: Blood Wars, Fantastic Beasts and How to Find Them, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, just to name a few. With this new feature, HOOQ customers can now enjoy the largest library of Hollywood and Asian hits, TV series same day as the US, as well as the latest movies fresh off the cinemas!

Filipino movie fans would likewise be glad to know that HOOQ has inked exclusive deals with Regal Entertainment and Viva Communications for digital rights to their new movies within three months of theatrical release. Recent hits such as Camp Sawi, Bakit Lahat ng Guapo May Boyfriend, and I Love You to Death have already debuted on HOOQ and are consistently in the top 10 list of most watched content by subscribers. Next to be released within the next quarter are Mano Po 7, Die Beautiful, The Escort, and My Rebound Girl with newly released movies to follow throughout the year.

HOOQ is moreover bostering its line-up of Hollywood studio partnerships consisting of Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, Dreamworks, Lionsgate, Miramax, Starz, and over a hundred Asian studios. New hit series are also now available from Endamol Shine and BBC including Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Mistresses, and Wolf Hall. Furthermore, the full catalog of DC shows are now also on HOOQ: Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow, and Gotham. Meanwhile, Supergirl, Lucifer, and Powerless are available to stream within 24 hours of US airing.

Get HOOQ'd by downloading the HOOQ app from the Apple Store or Google Play, sign up or log in to access its library of top Hollywood and Asian hits anytime, anywhere and on any device including computers, smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, smart TVs via Google Chromecast, and all Apple devices. 

If you are a Globe At Home customer, get up to up to six months access to HOOQ with plans P1,299 and up, while Globe mobile customers can also get u to six months trial on selected prepaid and postpaid plans. Visit www.hooq.tv to sign up for a 7-day free trial.

* photos courtesy of Trail Unlimited

I have friends who got married and whom one is Filipino and the other is Chinese. I am happy to see them live happy lives and am sure they do so because they have learned to embrace each others cultural values over time. 

Chinese New Year theme for HOOQ Hangouts

It's nice that the Mano Po movie series featured this kind of marriage in MANO PO 7: Chinoy as it gave many of us a peek into the lives of a Chinese-Filipino family and how they cope with their differences in beliefs, values, and traditions. 

Since I wasn't able to catch the movie during the 42nd Metro Manila Film Festival (see the list of winners, here) screening, I'm glad HOOQ, Asia's largest video on demand service, chose to screen it at the Globe Iconic Store - BGC Ampitheater in Bonifacio Global City last Saturday. It is a very apt film for welcoming the Year of the Fire Rooster.

Fresh from its theatrical release last December, MANO PO 7: Chinoy features a star-studded ensemble cast led by Richard Yap, Jean Garcia, Eric Quizon, Jessy Mendiola, Enchong Dee, Janella Salvador, Jake Cuenca, Kean Cipriano, and Marlo Mortel. 

Jean Garcia having a light moment with Richard Yap and event host Valerie Tan

HOOQ Hangouts is presented by Globe Live in cooperation with Samsung. It is a series of outdoor screening events that showcases HOOQ’s vast library of carefully curated content. Lead actors Richard and Jean graced the event and posed for photos with some lucky winners from one of HOOQ's promos.  

Jane Cruz-Walker, Country Manager of HOOQ Philippines, explained, "We chose Mano Po 7 for this month’s HOOQ Hangouts not only to celebrate the Chinese New Year but also to emphasize that HOOQ will be the first to have the newest local movies after their theatrical run. Now, movie fans don’t have to wait as long since we will try to make it available on HOOQ as soon as possible." She announced that Mano Po 7 and other 2016 MMFF entries will be on HOOQ starting summer.

FYI, HOOQ subscribers can now enjoy over 1,200 Filipino movies spanning almost five decades of film making, and over 4,000 hours of local television leaving other video-in-demand services way behind in terms of Filipino content. 

Apart from Mano Po 7: Chinoy, other anticipated movies soon to be available only for HOOQ subscribers include Camp Sawi, I Love You To Death, That Thing Called Tanga Na, My Rebound Girl, The Escort, Bakit Lahat ng Guwapo May Boyfriend?, and Working Beks. 

In addition, viewers can also watch catch up episodes of the latest GMA 7 TV series including Alyas Robinhood, Someone To Watch Over Me, Meant To Be, Ika-Anim na Utos, and more in the coming months.

"As the exclusive presenter of the Metro Manila Film Festival, we will soon have the 2016 MMFF top grosser Die Beautiful and the Nora Aunor starrer Kabisera available on HOOQ.  The rest of the entries will also soon find its way onto HOOQ!" added Jeffrey Remigio, HOOQ Philippines Director of Content and Programming.

Make HOOQ your prime destination for thousands of foreign and local movies and TV series. It has the largest library of Philippine-made movies amongst any video-on-demand service in the country.

"Pinoy films and TV shows are closest to our hearts because it tells the stories of our lives and we can all relate to them.  That’s why it’s so importantly for us to continuously enrich our growing library with more quality local content from the top Philippine production studios," described Cruz-Walker who also mentioned Erik Matti’s On The Job: The Series, co-produced with Globe Studios. This will be the very first local production to be exclusively shown on a video on demand service. 

For a list of other local films to catch on HOOQ, please read my other post about the #LovePinoy HOOQ Hangouts, here.

HOOQ has over 10,000 movies and TV shows available for streaming or download. Globe At Home customers can get up to 6 months access to HOOQ with plans P1,299 and up, while Globe mobile customers can also get up to 6 months trial on selected prepaid and postpaid plans. You may also visit www.hooq.tv to sign up for a 7-day free trial. 

I love the HOOQ app. These past months, I was able to catch up on old and new TV series I like as well as movies I wasn't able to catch in cinemas -- during my most convenient times! Last year, I was also able to watch on HOOQ some entries from the New Wave Category of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

HOOQ team with the cast of Seklusyon and Direk Eric Matti

This year, HOOQ is once more a co-presenter of the 42nd MMFF and concludes 2016 with a special HOOQ HANGOUTS feature by holding a celebrity-studded premiere of Direk Erik Matti's SEKLUSYON  a few days before its regular run in theaters.

Jane Cruz-Walker, HOOQ Philippines Country Manager, shared that they started HOOQ HANGOUTS this year to provide a forum to showcase HOOQ's vast library that includes local content spanning almost five decades. "That is why we are ending the year with this HOOQ HANGOUTS featuring an exclusive screening of Seklusyon, produced by Reality Entertainment, which incidentally is also our partner in creating OTJ: The Series," she explained.

Seklusyon starts showing on December 25, 2016

Seklusyon stars Ronnie Alonte, Neil Ryan Sese, Lou Veloso, Rhed Bustamante, Phoebe Walker, Elora Espano, Dominique Roque, John Vic De Guzman, and JR Versales. Set in the 1940's, the story revolves around the ritual imposed on deacons seven days before they are ordained as priests. Required to stay inside a sacred sanctuary, each soon-to-be priest has to fight his own "demons" and past sins to be worthy of the ordination.

Although I had to cover my eyes several times to avoid getting a heart attack, I liked the film for the following reasons:

with Rhed, a very sweet and talented young actress

With positive reviews since making its international premier at the recent Macau International Film Festival, it's no wonder Seklusyon has become one of the most anticipated entries being the only horror-themed film in the 2016 MMFF.

Catch Seklusyon starting December 25 in local cinemas and also support other Filipino films included in the MMFF. This Christmas break, you may also want to catch past winners and finalists of the MMFF on HOOQ such as Baler, Tanging Yaman, Mulawin the Movie, Muro-Ami, and many more. 

Sign up today for a 7-day trial on www.HOOQ.tv! 

I like going to NUVALI because it seems to always have something new to offer every time I visit. In fact, just last month, my husband and I were at Nuvali's Camp N, for the launching of its exciting activities for both new and skilled bike enthusiasts. 

This December, we went to Nuvali again and discovered more stuff we can do there! First, we checked out Ayala Malls Solenad 3 and watched the latest Disney movie, Moana, in one of four nice cinemas. I highly recommend parents to watch this film with their kids. It has memorable characters and a lot of beautiful songs!

Next, we went around the "Christkindl Market" holiday village that's being held until the end of the month and features traditional and modern gifts for sale including affordable items that fashionistas would love. If I have little girl, I'd probably have bought one of those pretty matching mommy and daughter outfits I saw in one of the booths! There's also a Christmas Bazaar that offers unique local goods from Laguna.

One of the concerns of parents with young kids is the content available on local TV. Sometimes, there just aren't good enough shows that are appropriate to be viewed by very young audiences. The thing is, children who can't wait for their favorite shows' time slots may resort to just watching whatever is on the tube at the moment, which may not be very kid-friendly.

Last week, HOOQ Philippines showcased its massive collection of family-friendly titles and animated series at the third HOOQ Hangouts, a pre-Halloween treat of the biggest outdoor cinema event series held at the Globe Iconic Store in Bonifacio Global City.

Like the previous events, HOOQ Hangouts, in cooperation with Samsung and Globe Live, turned the BGC Amphitheater into a free outdoor cinema venue with massive LED screens, beanbags, and cushioned benches so guests can fully enjoy the show. This #SpHOOQtacular event featured games and prizes for little ones who came in costumes before the screening of Monster House, an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature horror-comedy produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis.