Multi-awarded crime thriller On the Job (OTJ) is getting a serialized treatment. This was announced in a press conference last week with Erik Matti together with Reality Entertainment’s Dondon Monteverde and HOOQ CEO Peter Bithos.
The film, which premise revolves around contract-killers, corrupt government officials and their victims, was screened and had a world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in France where it received a two-minute standing ovation. Then, it was screened at Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea where it won the Jury Prize with Joel Torre as Best Actor.
The six-episode adaptation of the film, which starred Piolo Pascual, Joel Torre and Gerald Anderson, is set to begin production this month. It will be shown later this year exclusively on HOOQ and will be released internationally to its other markets such as Thailand, India and Indonesia.
As interest builds up on the remake of OTJ, it’s logical to ask whether or not the original cast members Pascual and Anderson (specifically) who gave intense and memorable performances will be back in the mini-series version of the film. Without giving away too much, Matti told The Standard what the audience could expect from OTJ, the series.
“We are already completing the story line for each episode and we are thinking of bringing back some familiar faces in the film but of course we are going to tell you that in a separate announcement.”
HOOQ’s Peter Bithos concured the filmmaker’s answer saying, “We’re giving Erik and Reality [Entertainment] full creative control. They could bring back the characters that they want and they could tell the stories that they want [to tell]. That’s what we are here to do, and as Erik finalizes everything, we look forward to be coming back in July to tell which characters Erik decides to bring back. I’m eagerly awaiting as well.”
Matti added that they would endeavor to stay faithful to the original version but since they are given ample time to explore the story’s characters, they are planning to highlight more conflicts and give subplots a detailed treatment.
“HOOQ allows as to expand the world, expand the characters, tell their stories a little more in-depth than what a two-hour film can afford,” the filmmaker explained.
Though other people might think that doing a six-episode series would pose a difficult challenge to expand a certain kind of story, the filmmaker assured that for something like On the Job that follows so many characters and tries to put together so many complicated layers of the society, a six to eight- episode series is nothing but exciting to explore.
“Most of the films we make, Dondon [Monteverde] gets to see them from the first cut. They always go beyond the two-hour running time because there’s just so much to say in a film,” he explained.
Matti was also ecstatic when they made the announcement that OTJ will be turned into a video-in-demand series not only because the film will be made available to HOOQ’s 180,000 paying subscribers in the Philippines alone, but also because this landmark co-production will pave the way to other local talents to be given a spotlight in this media platform.
★★★★★
Barbarians and Romans clash on History
Last night, an eight-part documentary drama premiered on History Channel. The show is called Barbarians Rising and goes with a tagline “Rome didn’t fall in a day.”
The docu-drama revolves around the rise and fall of the Roman Empire from the perspective of the barbarian rebel leaders. It is a visceral journey that chronicles a wave of rebellions against one of the strongest empires the world has ever known.
The true story of the 700-year battle for supremacy begins as the ancient world were claimed by either the Romans or Barbarians. As revealed in the first episode, Hannibal of Carthage (Nicholas Pinnock) builds the first great barbarian alliance to defeat Rome before it becomes unstoppable.
With stunning and elaborate production, it’s hard to ignore the effort the cast and crew put into staging such grand docu-drama. According to History Channel Executive Producer Kristen Burns, the team had done a lot of research to ensure Barbarians Rising lives up to expectations.
“We made sure we were able to accurately spend 700 years of history. Things change across 700 years, representing different barbarian villages, style in which they live, costumes, making sure each of the barbarian tribes had a distinct characteristic,” Burns told The Standard in a phone interview.
To execute an accurate and detailed description of the barbarian tribes that revolted against the Roman Empire was a bit of a challenge. Given their timetable, they had to shoot during the summer and the actors were clad in wildly flapping fragments of fur.
“The weather was very hot the same time they were shooting Hannibal crossing the Alps which was supposed to be the dead of winter,” Burns revealed.
The television executive met with the actors during one of the location shoots. She shared how these actors were eager to talk about how they were interested in meeting their deadline training for specific fights and filming them days after learning the stunts.
“They only had a matter of days [to prepare] and that actually helped them make it feel a little bit more raw and a little more energetic because it was not so choreographed,” Burns concluded.
Barbarians Rising airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and is available on SKYCable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch. 43; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 125.