TOLS: Kelvin Miranda, Abdul Raman, Shaun Salvador + Rufa Mae and Betong in New Show Come June 25th

I've had the pleasure of watching a couple of trailers this afternoon during the TOLS Media Conference held at the Novotel in Quezon City. This is the child project of Tyrone Escalante Artist Management and Merlion Events Production Inc. which will be shown on GMA's GTV channel. TOLS is a story of triplets Uno, Dos, Third played by Kelvin Miranda, Abdul Raman and Shaun Salvador. Rufa Mae Quinto plays their Mom in the weekly series and Betong Sumaya plays anti hero.

The setting is a Barber Shop and we all know pretty much by now that this isn't going to be your usual scripted story line as the peg was going to be a riot that's much like previous late 80's to early 90's Palibhasa Lalake as inspiration. Thing is, these guys are probably in a younger demographic which means they'd be connecting well with Gen Z's, Millennials, onward. Rufa Mae Quinto's casting has proven to be valuable because they'll be putting in her expertise in the genre and they guys lauded her about being so generous in throwing punchlines they'd be able to follow through with their own antics, tell them to stop if it didn't land too. 

 I love the fun, the format, and as Rufa observed, these guys have their own traits that people would find endearing. Aside from their good looks, Kelvin is a bit uncontrollable, whilst Abdul was unnerving and Shaun was the one that always got bullied. There were several times in the Media Conference where they divulged some pretty interesting relationships and rumors. Some of them shouldn't land on video but here goes a few minutes in this one if you're raring to know more about it.

Suffice to say, this was something interesting for me as an avid viewer of primetime shows. These guys look good on screen and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of ladies would adore them and this project. The previews and small clues they left us were devoured easily by the press covering the event and if that's piqued our interest, things would probably be same with the general public. Now make sure you go watch the first episode come June 25 at 7PM on GTV. Just make sure you've scanned the channel on digital boxes so you can start watching the show. 

Don't say I didn't tell you about it... a toast to the new crazy show! Who knows, they're already wishing for a second season, that might be even be in the pipeline already. :)

This Movie Called "A Girl and A Guy"

 

Just got off the mediacon of the movie "A Girl and A Guy". Honestly, I somehow find the title of this movie really weird, but I do get it. With a generation wherein being upfront and different is a norm, I'm not that surprised. It's about young adults finding their way in relationships, connection, and just doing it. It's also designed for a mature audience, the generation NOW and how their lives would be mirrored on this film. The cast includes a mix of stage actors, some newbies, and a few who have been in the industry for quite some time now. The film stars Alexa Miro, Rob Gomez, Pau Benitez, Candice Ramos, Rosh Barman, Sarah Holmes, Carlo Tarobal Emilio Francisco, Chloe Reyes, Roeder Camanag, Donna Cariaga, Marina Benipayo and Shaun Salvador. They have their individual stories, but most of them have paired up for chance, for romance, for relationships and just plain love. Though in between, it's going to tell the story as it is. You'll see tough, fiery and sexy scenes which hasn't been done in Philippine cinema, but that's just the tip of the iceberg because when they show up telling their tales, they're not going to hold back.

Candice Ramos plays Mela, a hardworking woman who focuses on her career and life. "It's always a challenge to do a role like this. The pageant industry in the country is very conservative, it's going to be a shock with what is going to be seen on June 24, but I trust the film making process. I couldn't join  BB. Pilipinas because I posed for FHM a few years back and doing this, I might not be able to do pageants anymore as I understand, we are a pee-dominantly Catholic and conservative country. Rob was easy to work with, even behind the scenes and we're so comfortable with one another and it's also nice to know we don't have malice, we just did the role and it was easy to do it because of Rob."

Chloe Reyes plays Cat and says "With theater, they are very bold to make the art form make sense, you do everything to make it meaningful and this really challenged me as a theater actress."

Shaun Salvador plays JP, representing the guy who wants to find love online. He's a boy next door, charming, but his story has a twist. in this film, he realizes one thing and says "I find that women are also a tease, and it can be reciprocated by men as well."

Carlo Tarobal plays Carlo, a self made guy who's into business. He's got material things, and found out there's something missing from his good life, it's love! He says "I look up to women and girls, I respect them and this movie made me realize what this generation is going through, the story tells people are fearless, women can do things that men are doing."

Rob Gomez plays Raf, a simple guy, introverted, he questions his existence and tries to figure out who he is in other peoples lives. He tries to learn and wants to become the man he wants to be. My family was initially shocked, but I think they understood later on why I'm doing this. I'm really nervous, but I'm excited doing this."

Alexa Miro plays Fiona and she says "I am Fiona here, a go getter, aspiring director, she wants to acheive everything and does 200 percent not just in her career, but her love. She wants to learn about love. Honestly I don't know why I went all out here, but I've been in the industry for a few years and it was just a dream working with this director, plus it's a perfect story and I wanted to take risks, I believe what I'm doing this for. There's a reason why we're telling this story, why it needs to be told, and it's really good to see this happen in the movie."

Rosh Barman plays Gio, "In a way I really relate to my character as he's very tough. I realize that there are women that become really toxic in relationships."

Pau Benitez plays Bea, vegan, conservative, a traditional woman who wants IT to come after marriage. "Well I don't have any regrets joining this film as I think telling the story is essential. It's a challenging role, as an actress you have to be daring."

Sarah Holmes plays Trixie, she says "We have common traits, we're both headstrong girls and go for what we want. I'm still trying to figure out who I am, but she's the type that does everything spontaneously. She's bold and straightforward like me, so in a way it was easy to play this role. Trixie gave me a chance to be myself and made me realize a lot about myself."

The director of the film Erik Matti says "I felt there were no rules in making this movie, it doesn't matter if its about skin, or how hard it is to tell the story. You will be surprised how important it is to be as care free as possible in this new generation. It shows, I'm sure you've seen so many pinoy movies that don't even kiss on screen, you'll see it as it is. You'll feel that they know each other, they bonded, they're comfy and I'm really pleased with that. When we did this, I wrote down all my thoughts and gave it to the writer. I was finishing OTJ during this time, we went back to work last June/July last year and Upstream tappped us to show an original work, and this was perfect for that. It's perfect for the Gen Z, the millennial, the pandemic put them in that state and we're telling that story. I'm happy that we have finished this really responsibly doing this as a film maker, without thinking it's going to be judged or censored. It's going to be told as it is. With this movie, I just hope they know where I'm coming from. I didn't want to do romcom because there are a lot of people doing that already, and I wanted to explore the side of the younger set of people. It's a way to know what can be done than just the normal story of boy meets girl, this will be discussed in A Girl and a Guy. It's no longer about us, we need to unwind the backward thinking. There's another side we can present and gravitate towards that. You're gonna see how they deal with experiments, with the same s3x or gender, or the opposite, or becoming fluid. Globe Studios and Regal decided we will produce this, I just finished one on HBO and eventually we got permits to shoot them as there are some crowd scenes, we had to test people and do this. I was relying on my cast to tell about the generation. On set I had to do that so they would do a real depiction to the situation and apply this to their characters. I worked with a lot of young actors and they've been conscious about how they would look in the movie. I think the trust I got from these bunch is heartwarming, it's so good that they put their trust on me. To use this well, when they saw the final product, they knew the characters too well, if it's written by me, Anj Pessumal made it reveal that the kind of inner mind of this generation is shown. It's their own world, their own way of doing things. There are several scenes that I had to ask them, to edit it was so hard because it was a fight, it had so much material that it was so hard to shorten things. I had to tell a story of a private moment, while they were undressed they had to fight, they were GF and BF, and we didn't have to calculate things because it's like real life."

You can view this on UPSTREAM.ph starting June 24, 2021. You can purchase tickets ahead of time and this is intended for an R-18 audience. You'll find out why it had to be told in a medium that can accommodate it. This is an UPSTREAM Originals project, there will be more. This one will push buttons, be out of the box, because it is an Erik Matti masterpiece.

New Shows LolaBasyang.com and #ParangNormalActivity on TV5

Typhoon and rain was outside but no one could stop TV5 from launching new shows as they held the grand press conference of two new shows, LolaBasyang.com and Parang Normal Activity. The brains behind this child project is the Perci Intalan and Jun Lana headed production house The Idea First Company that worked with the happiest network in the country TV5 so they could bring brand new spanking shows in your homes starting this Saturday/weekend. 

I still remember the time when legendary comedienne Chichay and Luz Valdez played the role of Lola Basyang. She was the iconic grandma who always got her grandchildren learn about Filipino values by telling them stories, legends and have them sometimes in it too. It's a pretty epic story line for its time and I must say, kids were a little obsessed to sit in front of their TV's or drag their parents on movie houses just to see it. This show though will have one of the greatest actresses in Philippine showbiz industry, Ms. Boots Anson Rodrigo. She says "It's the same type of stories, same legends that Filipinos loved. The only difference is you've got a more hip Lola B telling her grandsons/daughters about the usual. What kind of Lola B? For starters, her name is that way, her hair ain't white (she's dyed her hair), she's not on a rocking chair, she's not wearing a "Saya" anymore and wears pretty colorful clothes, neither is she just reading off a book as she's now on a tablet. She also is a blogger and she's going to be seen in almost all those popular social media channels most people are on and things are going to be told in a grand way every week."

The first episode will be a story about Maria Makiling. A really gorgeous fairy that lives in a mountain based on Philippine folklore to be played by TV5's princess Jasmine Curtis Smith. She wasn't at the press conference but one of the co-stars hunky Carlos Agassi was there and we asked about how he ended up on the show. I also asked about what he's been doing in the past few months/weeks since he's not that quite visible doing projects like these, and he says "I'm doing "Swak na Swak" in ABSCBN and also taped Imbestigador in GMA Channel 7 just a few days ago. I'm a free agent and nobody's managing me right now so everyone can go directly to me if they want to get my services. When this project was offered to me, I was more excited to have the chance to work with some great people in a different channel, all good!" Meanwhile, Vin Abrenica was there too together with Yna Asistio because they'll star in another story in the LolaBasyang.com series called "Ang Plawtin ni Periking" (Periking's Piccolo), which is about a small magical flute which you'll see in the coming weeks.

Lights went off and the spooky soundtrack played... it did actually frighten the kids a bit and when they got off the stage, these three teen boys came out hunting for what seems to be an entity... perhaps a ghost. I'm sure everybody had their own horror stories and these guys are putting in a little fun into it by getting some full blown stories that would make you laugh, smile, think and be a little frightened in between if you watch their show called #ParangNormalActivity.

This show may have a horror component to it but Director Perci Intalan assures that all the episodes were designed to just be light and wouldn't scare the pants out of your kids when it premiers this Saturday on TV5. You'll meet the ghost named Charlie played by the bubbly and pretty Ella Cruz. She'll be together with Carl Guevarra, Ryle Paolo Santiago, Andre Garcia and new discovery Shaun Salvador. You might be thinking almost all these boys and Ella hail from ABSCBN but they've been properly asked to do this specifically, they're also in between work so it was the perfect time for them to do it here.  

It's a mix of young love, comedy, playfulness, horror, mystery, adventure and everything in between but of course, it's not all rainbows and butterflies because they're going to be a little miserable when the characters of Jester Hernandez, Nico Nicolas and Joshua Joffe. In the succeeding episodes, they'll tackle a different story, a different creature or a different mysterious happening that will make the audience stay at the tip of their toes but still laugh in the end because it's still going to be a happy ending. Eunice Lagunsad and Kiray Celis (who just revealed she's got a big crush on Tom Taus) will add a little more spice to the stories, so don't discount them from any episode (and see her flying!) every Saturday!

Again, make sure to watch both of these programs LolaBasyang.com and #ParangNormalActivity this July 11, 2015 on the happiest channel in the Philippines TV5!

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