Filipino dramas, with gorgeous actors and actresses and good acting, have gained an increasingly strong foothold on local television as an alternative to Chinese and Korean ones.

When the Filipino drama “Only you” was first broadcast on Today TV in early 2010, local viewers knew little about that country’s dramas.

But three years later, almost 30 Filipino films have been broadcast on local television.

The channels that feature the most Filipino dramas are SNTV and Today TV, which dedicate their 5pm film programs to Filipino dramas, and also show them in the evening, during peak hours.

Other local channels have also experimented with Filipino dramas to see gauge viewers’ responses.

Some of the films which have won over local viewers are “Beauty Queen”, “My Girl”, “She-Wolf: The last sentinel”, “Dyesebel” (the Mermaid), “Mari Mar”, and “The Good Daughter”.

The three lead actors and actresses in “Mari Mar”, and actor Max Collins from “The Good Daughter”, also appear regularly on SNTV and Today TV to ask in both English and Vietnamese for people to watch their films. This represents the effort of Filipino filmmakers to penetrate the Vietnamese film market.

With classic plots including family conflicts, challenged or triangular love stories, ordeals and revenge, the dramas appeal mostly to housewives and the elderly.

Local youths are also drawn to them thanks to the actors’ and actresses’ physical attractiveness, Western facial features, and good acting skills.

But the popularity mostly comes down to novelty.

“With the boom in television channels, now there aren’t enough Chinese and Korean dramas to go round, so it’s understandable that importers have turned to films from other countries,” said Bich Lien, director of Song Vang Co., a film importer and producer.

According to Lien, compared to films from other ASEAN countries, Thai and Filipino dramas suit Vietnamese tastes and culture better.

Also, Korean and Chinese episodes costs three times as much as a Filipino one, she added.

“Filipino films aren’t necessarily good, but since they are inundated with Korean and Chinese dramas, local viewers are understandably drawn to such an ‘exotic dish’,” said scriptwriter Chau Tho.

Some companies are also planning to buy films from Thailand and India to air on local television.

“I’m really surprised that only a few years ago, no local film importers bought Filipino dramas, even for US$150 an episode, but now they’re willing to buy several series for up to $1,500 an episode, a much higher price than Vietnamese dramas,” lamented Tran Minh Tien, CEO of Lasta Co., which has produced a number of local dramas in recent years.

“Vietnamese dramas haven’t seen strides yet. Their quality remains so-so,” he commented.

Lien said that her company has translated some Vietnamese dramas into English and offered them for only $150-250 an episode, yet their sales remain low.

“Generally speaking, according to foreign film importers, Vietnamese dramas still lag far behind those from other countries in the region regarding storylines and filmmaking technology,” she concluded.

“Even local viewers are indifferent to Vietnamese dramas. We don’t even dare to offer our films to foreign importers,” Tien admitted.