Jason Magbanua Talks About Filming Anne and Erwan’s Wedding
As we all know, Anne Curtis and Erwan Heusaff tied the knot last November 12 at the Queenstown, New Zealand. The wedding was attended by the couple’s closest friends and colleagues—which of course means that it was a star-studded affair, with a guest list that included Jasmine Curtis, Solenn Heusaff and Nico Bolzico, Belle Daza, Georgina Wilson, Tim Yap, Matteo Guidicelli, Luis Manzano, Marc Nelson, and Rovilson Fernandez, just to name a few.
The majestic mountains and rivers of Queenstown made the perfect backdrop for the nuptials, which were captured by none other than Jason Magbanua, wedding videographer of choice to both stars and us ordinary mortal couples alike. The #WanforAnne video, by the way, premieres to the public tonight at 8:15 p.m.—an event that threatens to eclipse the opening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. (We're kidding. Or are we.)
Covering an out-of-town ceremony was not without its challenges. “It was physically taxing. First of all, it was so cold. We had to layer up, we had to make sure we were comfortable filming at the same time. Sobrang ginaw niya talaga, we were at 10, 12 degrees on a daily basis,” Magbanua says. “You do thrice the work. You don’t have assistants, you don’t have a driver, you carry all your stuff yourself. We were at an Airbnb which had a 75-degree incline going up. After every shoot, we would pack up and just go up so physically taxing talaga siya.”
At the same time, Magbanua enjoyed getting to know the guests and seeing familiar faces. Even though he’d shot Solenn Heusaff and Nico Bolzico’s wedding, he never got to see Bolzico’s antics firsthand.
“He’s a riot. He’s such a funny guy and what you see on his Instagram is really him. During the wedding rehearsal, it was so cold. He was swigging a bottle of Macallan whisky in front of the pastors and he thought nothing of it,” Magbanua recalls. “They played touch football the day of the cocktails, and they were treating Erwan like a porcelain doll. ‘Nobody tackle Erwan! Kailangan walang injury pagdating ng wedding!”
“It was also striking for me that there were no mobile phones,” he adds. “The couple specifically asked that there be no mobile phones during the ceremony so it was really solemn. Nobody was holding a phone up during the vows specifically so that was really nice. Even though the couple are superstar celebrities, they were able to maintain their privacy even for that 45-minute span.”
And during that intimate ceremony, Erwan Heusaff was finally able to show some emotion for once. “This is a running joke between the friends. He’s really stoic. He’s dedma. He doesn’t show his feelings. I heard it from Isabelle, I heard it from Anne herself. And he admitted it himself during his vows,” Magbanua says. “He’s not big on emotions. And for those four minutes he was able to pour his heart out. ‘This is who I am, but because of how special this wedding is, I will be able to articulate that for you Anne, my wife. I’m going to do better at expressing my feelings for this person that I love.’ Kakaiba iyon.”
Looks like Magbanua is justified in warning us to break out a box of tissues before settling down to watch the wedding video.
