Janno Gibbs pays tribute to dad Ronaldo Valdez in directorial debut
JANNO Gibbs is extremely proud to share that it is a dream come true to finally direct and work again with his late father, veteran actor Ronaldo Valdez in Viva Films’ action-comedy “Itutumba Ka ng Tatay Ko.”
He mentioned that this project serves as a tribute to his father, who tragically passed away on December 17.
“This is a great tribute for my dad,” Gibbs said during a media conference.
He also shared how involved his father was in his debut directorial project.
“He’s been living with me for almost a year now. From the beginning, even during the concept stage, I would tell him about it. He’s really proud of me,” he explained.
Gibbs also said the role his father portrays in the film was perfectly suited to him adding, “Of course, he had to be in this movie, my first directorial job. [The role was] was tailor-made for him. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
The actor-director also responded to questions why he decided to release the movie just a month following Valdez’s controversial passing.
“Isn’t too soon to release the movie after what happened?’ But I believe this is the perfect time to release the movie because, sorry, I don’t want to cry, but the last image of my dad wasn’t nice. Hopefully, this erases that,” he shared.
The comedian also stated that their family is keeping an eye on each other’s mental health, ensuring they recover and heal from the shock as best they can
“I’m good. It’s good that I got the not-so-good details during a press conference; I’m sure you are all aware of that. I wanted to get that out of the way to promote. I couldn’t come here promoting my film, very sad and hiding a lot of anger, sadness, and resentment. I wanted to get it out of the way, and I did,” said Gibbs, referring to the family’s demand of a public apology from the police force after a leaked video from the scene of Valdez’s passing became viral on social media.
Meanwhile, asked if Valdez was protective of him as a father, similar to his character in the movie, he noted, “I remember one instance, during our confrontation scenes. I was rewriting the script before shooting, then I sent it, saying, ‘Give it to my dad so he can study it.’ When I arrived on set, my dad said, ‘Who wrote this dialogue? It’s beautiful! Of course, I was thrilled!”
“This is movie the best parting gift my dad can give me,”Gibbs emotionally stated.
Besides his father, Gibbs said that the film is also a tribute to the late Action King, Fernando Poe, Jr., who starred in the 1999 action comedy “Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko” with Judy Ann Santos.
“I just changed the title from ‘Isusumbong Kita’ to ‘Itutumba Ka.’ But that’s as close as it gets,” he explained.
“This movie is an homage to FPJ. I have many scenes here honoring him. In my character’s house, there are posters of FPJ. Half of the film is Dolphy, and half of the film is FPJ,” he added. In the end, Gibbs is excited to present his first directorial film to the audience expressing, “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but of course, it’s not something we can just suggest. So, I waited. I gathered enough courage and confidence to actually do so. Thankfully, Boss Vic (del Rosario, Viva Entertainment’s main man) was kind to me and granted my request,” he noted.
Gibbs added, “I think we lack comedy directors now because from my experience, all the comedy directors who used to direct us, including Andrew E, are no longer around. The one directing us now is Direk Al Tantay. I want to help the genre so that we can continue to do comedy.”
Also starring Xia Vigor, Anjo Yllana, Louise delos Reyes, Robb Guinto, Ronnie Henares, Jeric Raval, Billy Villeta, and Julianna Parizcova Segovia, “Itutumba Ka ng Tatay Ko” premieres in cinemas nationwide today, January 24.