After challenging times, everyone deserves to welcome better days.
And that is exactly what upcoming Boys’ Love (BL) series titled, Better Days promise to their followers.
For those unfamiliar, BL genre follows and depicts blossoming romances between young men.
Headlined by Chesther Chua and Benedix Ramos, the two digital influencers are set to play the roles of Kian Nuestro and Aron Villegas respectively to highlight love and food in the digital six-episode series written and directed by Carlo A. Obispo.
They may be considered as “newbies” in the entertainment industry but these two are set to prove that they got the looks, brains, and most especially the skills.
Produced by Unframed Film and co-produced by LoveJohn Media Productions and Uncle Scott Global Productions in cooperation with Rough Road Productions, Better Days is set to steal hearts starting tonight.
Idea behind ‘Better Days’
The director is proud to say that Better Days looks beyond the usual sensual romance.
“Better Days won’t dwell too much sa intimacy but we are to highlight other aspects of love and relationship, not just the physical attraction.”
He briefly shares, “Nung nagbe-brainstorming kami ng producer ko, if we wanted to make a BL, nag-agree kami na magiging inspirational siya.
“’Yung kwento ng BL is inspired by mga real-life couples na na-achieve ‘yung kanilang mga dreams, well marami kaming mga kaibigan like in the film industry alone, may mga BL couples na they share their dreams, ‘yung love nila is founded on ambitions, goals and dreams nila at sabay nilang ina-achieve together.”
Unframed Film Executive Producer Kristian Villaflor added, “we are offering love as a venue in fulfilling their individual dreams by growing together.”
Describing his character, 21-year-old Benedix says, “Aron is a man of few words.
“He is someone you can’t really judge immediately, napaka-misteryoso niyang tao na kailangan mo muna siyang makausap para tuluyan mo siyang makilala.
Laughing, he adds, “this is something na medyo nahirapan ako kasi if you know me personally, you would notice na I like talking.”
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Chesther had no difficulties in portraying his role as Kian Nuestro mainly because “isa siyang vlogger, hindi naman masyadong nalalayo sa totoong ako kasi pareho kami ng passion and ng ginagawa.
“May pagka-kwela siya at makulit.”
Better days in the midst of the pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, Direk Carlo and the production team did their pre-production virtually finishing their online casting in three days.
Instead of dwelling on the delays in their timeline, the team opted to focus on the good things brought about by the quarantine period.
“For us, we took it into our advantage kasi first, nagkaroon ng urgency to actually move faster kasi we are very uncertain about all these things happening.
“Hindi natin alam kung magla-lockdown ulit, hindi natin alam kung mage-extend nanaman, hindi natin alam kung kailan magiging normal lahat, so let’s just take advantage of what we have now.
“Kahit na very limiting ‘yung mga circumstances, even yung mga meetings online, we made use of the resources that we have.
“Naapektuhan yung timeline pero dahil gusto talaga naming gawin, hinahanap nalang namin kung saan magwo-work yung production in a way na hindi kami nagpapa-dictate or limit sa pandemic.”
He adds, “Sa totoo lang, madami ring mabubuting nangyari kasi parang mas naging mabilis yung proseso – every night may updates, mas mabilis ‘yung flow ng information.
“In a way, nagamit din namin yung mga effects ng pandemic to actually make our work easier and faster.”
Natural chemistry
Chesther gleefully recalls his first encounter with Benedix via zoom.
“Hindi pa po kami magkakilala talaga, so parang sinurprise kami sa Zoom kung sino ‘yung ipa-partner samin.
“Pinag-ready kami ng script namin tapos nung pagka-join ko, sinurprise kami kung sino yung makaka-partner namin.
“Pinagusap muna kami, ganyan, sa tingin ko nakitaan talaga kami ng chemistry na magfi-fit sa amin yung series.”
Asked what his first impression about Benedix, Chesther admits, “Mukha kasi siyang masungit so akala ko talagang masungit siya sa totoong buhay.
“Pero syempre nasa audition kami, kailangan namin pakisamahan ‘yung isa’t isa, ‘yung mata niya, parang laging [nagke-glare].
“Pero mabait si Ben, masarap din ka-trabaho kaya okay siya.”
Meanwhile, Benedix reveals to feeling a bit intimidated with his on-screen partner.
“Sa akin naman, si Ches nung una ko siyang nakita, para akong nakakita ng “uy, teka lang” ako kasi from the province talaga ko e, para akong nakakita talaga ng city boy… which is very perfect para sa role niya.
“Nung una parang mai-intimidate ako dito, sabi ko, parang di kakayanin ng balat ko to, parang hindi uubra yung kapal ng mukha.
“Naging hesitant akong kausapin siya at first pero nung naging okay naman yung usapan namin, na-realize ko na wala namang dapat ika-intimidate or ika-ilang namin kasi napakabait niya, dadaanin ka niya sa ngiti.
“Minsan kapag seryoso na lahat, tapos biglang ngingiti siya, parang lahat ng staff, sila Direk, mapapangiti nalang din dahil sa smile niya.”
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