by Nestor Cuartero
A landmark deal, a first in Philippine TV, is the recent agreement between ABS-CBN and GMA-7 in the production of a new tele-series to combine artists and creative talents from their respective camps.
“Unbreak My Heart” reunites the beloved loveteam between Jodi Santa Maria and Richard Yap, the couple who scored a major daytime, long-running hit out of an ABS-CBN series, Be Careful with My Heart. Joining them are Joshua Garcia and Gabbi Garcia, and other cast members coming from both sides of what used to be a network war.
Dreamscape, represented by its head, Deo Endrinal, is producing the series.
This recent tie-up between GMA-7 and ABS-CBN speaks well of growing cooperation in our television industry. It can result in improved quality in programming and fresh casting requirements that can eventually raise the bar for excellence, excitement and entertainment among viewers and advertisers alike.
Some might say said collaboration between the two giant networks couldn’t have occurred had not the pandemic happened, or had not ABS-CBN lost its franchise to operate. Be that as it may, what’s important is the end-result such collaboration can bring to the table of our consumers. “Unbreak” isn’t the first collab between the two major networks. Earlier, ABS-CBN assigned airing of Star Cinema movies to GMA. Network also airs some of its programs on TV5 and on its various digital platforms.
Five months after its theatrical run with not much success, Ngayon Kaya, is now being hailed, with sweet vindication, as the No. 1 Filipino movie on Netflix.
On a Facebook post, producing company T-Rex Entertainment thanked the public “for catapulting the romantic film on top of the universe and in your heart.”
Paulo Avelino and Janine Gutierrez co-star in Ngayon Kaya, directed by Prime Cruz and written by Jen Chuaunsu (the creative pair behind Isa Pa With Feelings and Can We Still Be Friends).
It tells the story of college buddies AM and Harold, an unlikely pair between a shy probinsiyano and a rich city girl who are college buddies-turned-band mates.
Harold had a crush on AM, but he never had the guts to tell her. Even after college, they stayed friends and continued pursuing their music dreams. Harold stifled his feelings for fear of losing her friendship. Eventually, time runs out for Harold when he’s forced to choose stability and work in Canada, leaving AM to wonder what could have been if Harold had stayed.
Ngayon Kaya features songs by Mayonnaise, Typecast, Ang Bandang Shirley.
