LAGUNA, Philippines: With film and television productions halted in the Philippines due to lockdown, one special effects artist is maximizing his skills by making scary face masks to raise cash and a few smiles.
Prosthetics specialist Rene Abelardo, 50, has been out of work since March but hopes to stay afloat financially after discovering an appetite for the hand-made, horror-inspired masks that he initially created for fun.
With help from friends, Abelardo has sold dozens of the molded masks, from monsters and zombies to the devil and the Joker. He is now receiving hundreds of orders from all over the Philippines.
The masks extend down to the jawline and up to the ears and are lined with a conventional cloth mask. They were an instant hit when they first appeared on social media, attracting thousands of likes and shares.
“I tried wearing the mask I made just for fun, and my daughter saw me and asked if she can take a picture and post it online,” he said.
“A few hours later the post unexpectedly went viral, and the rest is history.”
The Philippines has recorded more than 27,000 coronavirus cases and in affected areas has made the wearing of face masks mandatory.
Each mask takes up to three days to complete and Abelardo sells them for between 300-500 pesos ($6-$10) per piece.
“We started making more masks since we currently don’t have jobs. It’s still money coming in and it makes people happy.”
Filipino SFX artist seeks to ward off virus with horror-inspired face masks
https://arab.news/gbzrh
Filipino SFX artist seeks to ward off virus with horror-inspired face masks
- Each mask takes up to three days to complete
- Molded masks, from monsters and zombies, sell between $6-$10 per piece
ABC signs Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension, months after temporary suspension
President Donald Trump won’t be getting his wish. ABC said Monday it has signed late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension.
Kimmel’s previous, multiyear contract had been set to expire next May, so the extension will keep him on the air until at least May 2027.
Kimmel’s future looked questionable in September, when ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for remarks made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Following a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspension, and Kimmel returned to the air with much stronger ratings than he had before.
He continued his relentless joking at the president’s expense, leading Trump to urge the network to “get the bum off the air” in a social media post last month. The post followed Kimmel’s nearly 10-minute monologue on Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Kimmel was even on Trump’s mind Sunday as the president hosted the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.
“I’ve watched some of the people that host,” Trump said. “I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”
Kimmel has hosted the Oscars four times, but he’s never hosted the Kennedy Center show.
Just last week, Kimmel was needling Trump on the president’s approval ratings. “There are gas stations on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Trump right now,” he said.
Kimmel will be staying longer than late-night colleague Stephen Colbert at CBS. The network announced this summer it was ending Colbert’s show next May for economic reasons, even though it is the top-rated network show in late-night television.
ABC has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003, during a time of upheaval in the industry. Like much of broadcast television, late-night ratings are down. Viewers increasingly turn to watching monologues online the day after they appear.
Most of Kimmel’s recent renewals have been multiyear extensions. There was no immediate word on whose choice it was to extend his current contract by one year.
Following Kirk’s killing, Kimmel was criticized for saying that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” The Nexstar and Sinclair television ownership groups said it would take Kimmel off the air, leading to ABC’s suspension.
When he returned to the air, Kimmel did not apologize for his remarks, but he said he did not intend to blame any specific group for Kirk’s assassination. He said “it was never my intention to make the light of the murder of a young man.”
