HOOQ’s long-delayed OTJ- based series expanded into an original film and a series

SOUTHEAST Asian video-on-demand ( VOD) service, HOOQ, has announced new features on its app and a more concrete release date for its first original content as it celebrates its second anniversary.

“Last year, when we announced that [the continuation of the On the Job film] will be a six-part mini-series, the response was so overwhelming that we sat down again with direk Erik Matti. The vision for this was huge and we decided to make it bigger,” Jane Cruz-Walker, HOOQ Philippines country manager, told the media during the press conference on April 19 in La Fuerza I, Makati City.

HOOQ announced in the latter part of 2016 that it, together with Globe Studios and Reality Entertainment, would be producing a mini- series based on Mr. Matti’s award-winning film On the Job (2013).

The movie, which told the story of convicts recruited as guns- for- hire by politicians, starred Joel Torre as a hitman, Gerald Anderson as his apprentice, and Piolo Pascual as an NBI agent. The movie received a twominute standing ovation when it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. It was also screened at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea where it won the Jury Prize and a best actor award for Mr. Torre.

The HOOQ series is set after the events in the film. OTJ The Series: The Missing 8 will revolve around the media industry and politics.

Last November, Mr. Matti said the series’ first two episodes were scheduled for release before Christmas, but aside from a teaser video and cast announcement, no episodes were forthcoming.

At this month’s press conference, Ms. Walker announced that OTJ will come out in two parts: a full-length continuation of the first film called OTJ Part 2 in August, followed by a five-episode mini-series the following month.

This decision was spurred by demand for a continuation of the first film.

“This is probably the first time you’ll have a tandem of a full-length film and a series happening within one month,” she said.

NEW FEATURE

HOOQ also announced a feature where the newest films can be viewed by an existing subscriber or can be bought per title even by non-subscribers.

Peter Bithos, HOOQ CEO, said that newer titles — “as new as three months after the end of the theatrical screenings” — will be uploaded to the service every month in what HOOQ calls a “rental system.” Subscribers will only be able to view one recent title per month. Additional titles will cost P125 per film and will be available for subscribers and non-subscribers.

Titles such as Arrival, Underworld: Blood Wars, Fantastic Beasts and How to Find Them, and Rouge One: A Star Wars Story will be included in this system.

HOOQ, according to Mr. Bithos, currently boasts a “million” subscribers in the Philippines though he declined to give a more specific number. —