When Giselle offered me the project, I was having doubts, even my manager is contemplating if we should accept the offer when she's been trying to get a project for me with Giselle's works for so long.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never underestimate Giselle. She's one of the most awarded film director in the country right now. I am actually an avid fan of her works, and I've been wanting to work with one of her projects and even her proposal for me is very new and interesting

But her project proposal is trying to achieve too much, she wants to tackle a lot of faults in film industry that's currently happening and sometimes trying too much is not trying anything at all. Nawawala ang focus to accomodate all of the topics ending up for the film to have no depth at all

It's one of the things I always check when accepting projects, some projects are trying to include a lot of things on their work to have broader target market ending up for the film to be a boring snooze fest dahil sa sobrang gulo ng plot and character development

And the truth is, if we're trying to point out these issues in film, there's a big possibility na we get into bad bloods against other people in this industry, baka kase matamaan sila, and it's really not good for anyone's career having bad bloods with your colleagues, specially with this type of work where your puhunan is your image and truthfully, connections

Another reason why I was having doubt to accept the offer is baka hindi maintindihan ng audiences na we're just calling out the cliché, toxicity, and overused tropes in film, baka ma-align pa ang project na'to sa ganun na klase ng movies, I'll be very disappointed, I have a reputation for having a great filmography since I was a kid. It's kinda shallow, I know, but I take a lot of pride in it

However, Giselle made me changed my mind when apparently it's an indie film, she doesn't want to have big sponsors and producers, and only want to create the movie because of her passion and wanting to tackle this issues without anyone stopping her

It's her dream project and has been working on it while she's still at university, sabi pa niya, ako na raw talaga ang naiisip niyang maging bida para sa indie film niya, kahit it was just a wild dream for her as a student. Not gonna lie, that worked on me a lot.

And this will be my very first indie project and it's an honor na may first project is trying to address the s that's happening in this industry na kinalakihan ko

I accepted the offer for the love and respect for my craft, hoping that this film somehow inspire other film makers and screen writers not to be afraid to go outside the safe box and to let producers know na our audiences are not dumb and they know that they deserve better when we have a very talented people in this industry

With the technology now, it's very easy to just consume art from other countries, and we cannot blame them if they can watch better films from outside the country, and I do believe we have to keep up and I know we can, we have talents for it, we will just need more support from the higher-ups

At dahil nga sa naantig ako sa objective ni Giselle, ako na mismo ang nag presinta to accept the film without any payment. At first, my manager got mad but I didn't know what changed. Suddenly, Rosie agreed with the idea and was happy for me to accept the work

It was a very discreet project naman so I don't think my fee will get affected, even my fans doesn't know that we're filming right now, ang alam ng lahat is i'm on a mini break after the success of my last TV series.

And we also have a signed contract with Giselle to not tell anyone about it. I don't want it to backfired on me, although I've earned a lot na, and I came from well off family, I do still need to keep on earning money

Giselle was so happy about it, niyakap pa nga niya ako, she admitted shyly na hind niya daw talaga sure kung paano niya ako mababayaran sa taas ng talent fee ko. I just laughed it off because I know she earned a lot with her films, though it's no wonder it'll hurt her bank account to pay me

Another reason why I accepted the offer is because of my bestfriend, Yi Zhuo who was very supportive about the project, ang sabi pa niya, it exactly represents on how much I love my craft which is true naman, so I should accept the offer and I've been planning to do indie film for so long, so why not do it with the director that I've been a fan of for so long

She even promised me to handle her online school schedules so she can be available and join in the filming and take the role as my bestfriend as part of her support for the project.

It used to be so hard for her to adjust with her school schedule so we can have projects together, kailangan ko pa talaga mag paalam in advance with a lot of favors just to make her say yes to be a part of a project, since I love having her around. Not gonna lie, her offer helped me to decide to accept the offer a lot

It all started when we're having a celebration after the success of my last movie with Jimin. "Next Level" was a big hit and a critically acclaimed film. During the filming, Jimin and I became great friends, ma