Direk ted on the challenge of working with Ashlloyd
When Star Cinema big bosses offered him to handle a movie project with the AshLloyd tandem of John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo starring in it, director Theodore “Ted” Boborol had mixed emotions. He was happy with what he considered as a big blessing and yet doubted on his capability to equal, if not surpass, the box-office returns of the two big stars’ previous movie outings under an A-list director.
“I was in great disbelief when this was offered to me last December,” direk Ted told The
STAR after the presscon for Star Cinema and Viva Films’
Finally Found Someone that is set to open on July 26 in theaters nationwide. “I asked them, ‘Serious kayo? Totoong Ako?’ because I had some doubts and I felt it’s not yet time since this is just my third (directorial) movie; parang natatakot ako
na kaya ko ba ito so I didn’t accept it right away.”
It took another meeting with the management, and some convincing, after the director gave his nod. He said that he was inspired with the kind of trust Star Cinema has for his work. “They trusted me before I trusted myself so it boosted my ego a bit kasi medyo insecure ako na tao
eh. The fact that it’s seldom for a director to be given an opportunity to direct John Lloyd and Sarah, I should see it as a blessing more than anything.” Coming from two blockbuster movies
Just The Way You Are (2015, topbilled by Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano) and Vince
Kath and James (2016 MMFF Star Cinema entry with stars Julia Barretto, Joshua Garcia and Ronnie Alonte), direk Ted still felt intimidated at how direk Cathy Garcia-Molina thrilled the audience in You Changed My Life, A Very Special Love and It Takes a Man and a Woman all topbilled by John Lloyd and Sarah.
“For me, she’s the Rom-com Queen because all her rom-coms were surefire blockbusters and critically acclaimed and that reality intimidated me a lot but my producers supported me all the way; they never made me feel that I’m a new director.
“I also appreciated how the actors respected me so after awhile, I just surrendered and promised myself to make the movie a very good romcom that the audience missed from Sarah and John Lloyd.” It’s been four years since the two stars last worked together. John Lloyd and Sarah expressed delight about being able to work with each other again. Finally Found
Someone, direk Ted confirmed, is a new story and the characters exactly fit for Sarah and John Lloyd. The challenge lies in how he would be able to provide the audience something that is familiar yet in a different style. He knows that he cannot completely alienate the audience “because they have learned to love the tandem that has a certain image or brand and that’s the main challenge for me as a director.”
Good thing, John Lloyd and Sarah were giving their inputs. Direk Ted was impressed with how well John Lloyd knows what is appealing to the audience.
“I believe that filmmaking is a group process and not dictatorship. You cannot say that when a movie became a hit, it’s because of the director alone or for its actors. John Lloyd really has many inputs and Sarah also added something new to her character. She wanted to show her ability to handle drama scenes kaya di lang puro patawa sya dito.” Finally Found Someone revolves around the unexpected romance between Raffy Sandoval (John Lloyd), a PR who masterfully crafts lies for a living, and April Esguerra (Sarah). They accidentally meet when Raffy sees April crying after she is left at the altar on her wedding day. Raffy will help her move on and find her happiness. Asked what type of director is he,
direk Ted sees himself as a chill, laid back kind. “You won’t see me holding my own presscon and you will only see me when there’s a project. I am chill because I don’t want my actors to be afraid of me. They can be more open with their own shots. I do resort to expressions but that does not mean anything, I just want them to open their senses for them to act out their parts well.”
He, too, remained chill even if it took six months for the movie to finish. His fears about working with big stars like John Lloyd and Sarah all went up like smoke on thin air from Day One on the set “because they never let me feel that I’m a newbie and they are superstars. At the end of the day, they always asked me as director if they have some problems with the scenes or if they want to know where the story is coming from instead of insisting what they want.
“They always tell me their concerns and we work on it with the writers so hindi
parang diktador o prima donna sa set.” Direk Ted has also discov-
ered that John Lloyd always aims for artistic growth and does not want to shortchange his audience. He is amazed with the actor’s ability to present something new to his audience not necessarily in acting but through the character’s journey. “He prepares and don’t expect him to talk to you whenever there’s a dramatic scene.”
Equally admirable is Sarah. According to direk Ted, Sarah is transparent and true. During their shooting, not once did he feel the actress was faking her emotions. “It helps when the director is able to read the
mood and feelings of his actors kasi alam mo kung paano hihilahin. Kaya po sa movie na ito, kailangan may bago rin akong maibigay.”
(Finally Found Someone also stars Christian Bables, Yayo Aguila, Dennis Padilla, Joey Marquez, Joj Agpangan, Leo Rialp, Alwyn Uytingco, Alexa Ilacad, Justin Cuyugan, Ruby Ruiz, PJ Endrinal, Lemuel Pelayo, Cara Eriguel, Neggy, Axel Torres, April Matienzo and Milo Elmido Jr., with a special participation of Enchong Dee. The story was written by Carmi Raymundo and Gillian Ebreo.)