A Historic Night at the ‘Forgotten Island’ World Premiere

If you find yourself on Jeopardy someday, and you’re asked what was the first film to have its world premiere at The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, you can safely answer it was the first Hollywood animated film centered on Filipino culture: Dreamworks’ Forgotten Island. I say that with all the pride in the world because as both a fan of amazing storytelling and a Filipino journalist who covers entertainment, being there alongside fellow Filipina correspondent, Lauren Lola, meant the world to both of us.

While I had previously had the honor of speaking with the cast and directors Januel Mercado and Joel Crawford previously, it was Lauren’s first time seeing the film and speaking with everyone. This made things extra special as we both walked down the purple carpet, lit up by the bright yellows and aquas of the vibrant key art of the film. It was indeed a special evening for both of us as Filipinos, but to be able to see our coverage through to the end zone made it extra special as we prepared for our final conversations for the film at the premiere.

With that, we kicked off a brilliant night of hugs, laughs, and deep emotion, as we took to the carpet to interview Mercado and Crawford, H.E.R., co-stars Jo Koy, Harvey Guillén, and composer Nathan Matthew David.

Unfortunately, there were malfunctions with the microphone we were using so in some cases audio was lost or at a lower quality. However, we felt, given the importance of this movie and how much it meant to us as well as you reading this, we wanted to share it with everyone. So without further ado, here are our conversations with the cast and crew of Forgotten Island from their incredible World Premiere at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art:

Forgotten Island is truly one of the year’s best films. If you haven’t read Michael Lee’s review of it on the site yet, I suggest you see the movie immediately, then take a look. This movie is incredible, original, hilarious, and emotional. You absolutely should see it! I promise you won’t regret it.

Forgotten Island is now playing in theaters.