Regal Films

QC honors movie maven Lily Yu Monteverde  

By Chin-Chin Chan Chiu

Mother Lily blazed a trail in the Philippine movie industry, and honed the artistry of the biggest names in showbusiness including National Artists for Film Lino Brocka and Ismael Bernal.

As the matriarch of Philippine cinema, her pioneering efforts have made Regal Films a constantly evolving production outfit into the 21st century.

As tinseltown's foster 'mother,' she helped shape the careers of the country's biggest names on the silverscreen for the past five decades, earning her the epithet "Mother Lily."

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Filipino-Chinese movie producer Lily Yu-Monteverde discovered her passion for motion pictures early on. At the tender age of ten, she often snuck out of the house to go to LVN or Sampaguita Studios and catch a glimpse of her favorite stars.

Though born to rich parents, she relied on her street-smarts and business savvy to get to where she is now. She earned her keep by working for her father-in-law, after marrying San Beda cager Leonardo 'Remy' Monteverde. "I love life. Money is not everything.You can't bring it with you. You must love what you do."

When her popcorn business proved to be prolific, and her profits allowed her to re-issue a blockbuster Lana Turner movie that raked n enough money to start filmmaking, there was no stopping her.

Hits followed one after the other, and the rest, they say, is history. Today, Regal Films and its tech-adept studio, Reality Entertainment, continues to make movies which chronicle stories that continue to win the hearts and minds of Pinoy moviegoers.

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Milestones:

1961 - started her popcorn business that would later on allow her to re-issue the top-grossing Hollywood movie, "All Mine to Give."

1974 - After raking in profits from screening Hollywood movies, she produced Regal Films' first box-office hit "Kayod sa Araw, Kayod sa Gabi."

1980 to late '90s - The decade where Regal Films produced some of the most memorable classics as Bagets, Blusang Itim, Temptation Island, Katorse, Inday Bote, the Shake Rattle & Roll series, and a host of sexy flicks reminiscent of the 'white kamison.'

2016 to the present - Regal Films' independent new-tech arm, Reality Entertainment, partners with video-on-demand platform Hooq, in producing original content as well as marketing titles from its vast film library for mobile device viewing.

2017 - The QC government honors Mother Lily as one of its most accomplished and outstanding citizens with the MLQ Gawad Parangal honors.