Dingdong, Marian rivera coproduce Milestone project with gma, apt
REEL- and real-life husband-and-wife team Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera are set to make their much-awaited TV comeback with the sitcom Jose & Maria’s Bonggang Villa.
On April 25, the two prized GMA stars attended the contract-signing together with GMA Network and APT Entertainment executives who showed their full support via video messages and their presence at luxent Hotel.
Present at event were GMA Network Films president and programming consultant to the chairman and CEO Atty. Annette Gozon-valdes; first vice president for program management department Jose Mari R. Abacan; and assistant vice president for program management department Concie Agnes. in attendance from APT Entertainment were CEO and president Michael Tuviera, COO and CFO Jojo Oconer, and vice president for production operations Camille Montaño.
Dingdong expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the two entertainment powerhouses for this partnership: “Na-realize namin na naging tahanan namin ang GMA for the past two decades and forever grateful kami sa tiwala na binigay nila sa amin. it was because of GMA kung bakit ko nakilala ang aking mapapangasawa at dahil ’dun nagtayo kami ng sarili naming tahanan at doon nangyari ang idea na mag-shoot kami ng small videos sa bahay na ang title ay ‘Jose at Maria.’
Doon ko na-realize na ang sarap talaga ka-trabaho ni Marian na sobrang professional at sobrang galing at kahit sa minivideos ’yon ay ganun pa rin ang kanyang dedication. That’s why sabi namin, we want to bring this to the next level. That’s where APT comes in na nagtiwala sa amin at sa concept na puwede namin gawin together... which is Bonggang Villa. Kaya maraming salamat APT for everything and, of course, sa GMA for trusting us with this one. Para sa amin hindi lang siya trabaho or task as an actor, this is also very personal to us dahil dream namin ito, na makasama ulit ang isa’t isa sa trabaho, na makabilang sa isang show that we are also part of through coproducing and creating.”
Marian agrees with Dingdong that this is a dream project for them: “Isa ito sa mga pinangarap namin, lalo na sa akin kasi ang tagal ko nang hindi lumabas sa prime time. Hindi ako makapaniwala na totoo na ito, na mangyayari na ito kasi pangarap ko talaga magkaroon ng sitcom kasama si Dong. So ito na ang pangarap na ’yun kaya sabi ko sa mga taong nagmamahal at naghihintay, malapit n’yo nang mapanood sina Maria at Jose.”
GMA Network chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe l. Gozon reveals that fans of Dingdong and Marian are definitely looking forward to their comeback project: “Sina Dingdong at Marian ay dalawa sa mga homegrown talents ng GMA Network na naging pinaka-popular. Ang kanilang mga programa ay puro matataas ang rating. Kaya naman excited kami sa kanilang first sitcom dito sa GMA. Nakakasiguro kami na ang kanilang maraming fans dito sa Pilipinas at abroad will welcome them back in TV very soon.”
Executive vice president and CFO Felipe S. Yalong shares the fans’ excitement to finally meet Jose and Maria: “Congratulations, Dingdong and Marian. We are excited to meet Jose and Maria in this new sitcom and we are so proud of how much they have grown, as individual artists in their craft, and now as coproducers of GMA. We are looking forward to many more partnerships with them.”
Meanwhile, Tuviera, says that Dingdong and Marian inspired him with their dedication to their craft: “Sobra akong na-inspire because i’ve been wanting to work with them for the longest time. i think first time nila ulit to be together onscreen in more than 10 years. So, it’s such a big honor for APT to be partnering with GMA again of course, and to be working with Dingdong and Marian for the first time naman
as coproducers and not just as our lead stars.”
Jose & Maria’s Bonggang Villa begins its prime-time run on May 14 on GMA. More information can be found at www.