Producer Arnold Vegafria hopes the artists will exert effort in promoting their movie
The lead actors of the summer movie “G! LU” are pumped up now that their movie is finally showing after five years.
“G! LU,” produced by ALV Films, Benchingko Films, and Rein Entertainment, is headlined by David Licauco, Derrick Monasterio, Ruru Madrid, Kiko Estrada, Enzo Pineda, and Teejay Marquez.
ALV Films is owned by talent manager Arnold L. Vegafria. The movie is written and directed by Philip King.
The movie finished its principal photography in 2019 but took a while before getting a playdate primarily due to the pandemic.
Five years have passed and ALV Films has finally found the right time to show the movie, opening in theaters today, April 24, 2024.
In a press conference at KAO Manila on April 17, the actors present during the Q&A were asked about their thoughts about the movie finally making it to the theaters.
Derrick admitted that there was a time he actually forgot he had a pending film to be shown in the cinemas since it had been a long time since they finished filming.
He related, “Kami ni David, lagi niya ako mine-message, ‘Bro, yung ‘G! LU,’ ipapalabas pa kaya yun?’ Mga ganyan. Lagi kami nag-uusap pero medyo actually, sa dami ng nangyari and sa sobrang busy naming lahat, siyempre nakalimutan namin.
“Ako, aaminin ko, medyo nakalimutan ko pero noong nakita ko na medyo lumalabas na siya ulit, sabi ko, may ginawa nga pala kaming movie.
“’Tapos noong parang nagkaroon na ng mga dates ng presscon, promotions, it’s finally here and naalala ko lahat ng masasyang moments and naalala ko kung gaano kasaya yung film. Yun lang naman, parang noong una, ‘Ah, asan na kaya?’ ‘Tapos ayan, ito na. So, nakakatuwa.”
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Meanwhile, Teejay and Enzo think that this is the right time to show “G! LU”
Teejay said, “So, siyempre, kinakabahan talaga, hindi naman kinabahan pero everytime magkikita kami, yun yung topic namin, ‘Uy, kailan na ipapalabas?’
“Iniisip ko rin baka hindi na ipalabas pero yun nga, parang lahat, nagtataasan na yung career, sakto kapag lumabas ito, mas okay.
“So, nangyari yan lahat, perfect timing talaga. So, naiintindihan namin bakit. Hopefully, opportunity ito para mapanood ng lahat.”
Enzo added, “Sobrang excited po ako like everybody else but of course, at the end of the day, a lot of things happened and kami po, tiwala po kami kay ALV, our manager and producer, also kay Direk na ilalabas nila ito sa tamang time.
“Sobrang init ngayon ng panahon so I believe perfect timing itong ‘G! LU’ kasi pampadagdag ng init itong pelikula namin.”
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As for David, he reflected how a lot of changes have already happened in their lives in the years they were waiting to see their film in the cinemas.
He said, “I think alam ko naman na ipapalabas siya. Number one, siyempre naman, si ALV gumastos siya. So, for sure, kailangan naman niyang maibalik yung na-invest niya.
“I think it’s just a matter of timing gaya ng sinabi nilang lahat. Basta lalabas ito at saka perfect timing.
“Si Katarina [Rodriguez], nagka-family na, si Derrick very busy sa ‘Makiling,’ nakita niyo yung performance niya, di ba? Si Enzo, plantito na ngayon, si Teejay pa, ako rin may ginagawa.
“So, I think yun lang naman talaga yung year na pwede namin siyang gawin and then nag-pandemic—2020, 2021, 2022—so last year was a busy year for me. So, tama lang din naman and sana panoorin niyong lahat.”
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ALV’s request to the cast of “G! LU”
Echoing the stars’ thoughts about perfect timing, film producer and manager Arnold Vegafria (ALV) believes that he chose the right playdate for “G! LU.”
ALV acknowledges the current challenge of the movie industry, which is now recovering from the blow of the pandemic.
“Ang challenge kasi ngayon ng movie industry natin, we’re thankful that slowly, bumabalik na ang movie industry, ang tao nanonood na.
“Kaya ito, this is perfect timing, it took a while for me to decide kung kailan ko i-e-air itong very exciting film para sa mga kabataan.”
Of this, ALV is aware that every new film will need the help of its artists and the media to promote to result in box-office success so that they can produce more films in the future.
He continued, “Kaya nga I need the help of all of you, especially the media friends, to help promoting para the more… very successful naman yung last movie namin, yung ‘After All.’
“So, yun, tumulong naman yung mga artista noon, si Kelvin Miranda at saka si Beauty Gonzalez na mag-promote, it became successful naman. At least, kahit papaano, kumita ng kaunti at magbigay ng saya sa manonood.
“But this time, most important na pelikula na maibibigay sa kabataan kasi there’s a moral lesson in this movie. Hindi lang ito good and fun time na pinapakita nila, but may issue dito na sa kanila, every individual has an issue and it’s very relevant now, yung mental health. Nandito yun, importante.”
Most importantly, ALV wishes for the cooperation of the film’s lead stars to help promote the film as the movie brings them back to their humble beginnings.
“Kaya I hope na itong mga lead star nito, especially when they did this film, most of them are just new in the industry. I took a risk to do a film to launch nga sana itong mga new actors natin, the next leading men.
“But look at them now, all of them are the leading actors in the industry. So it’s perfect timing na ilabas ito dahil all of them are now the lead.
“So, I hope and pray that all the actors, artista involved to help promote this film. Hindi ito para sa producer, sa creative team, ito ay para sa industry natin para ang mga fans niyo ay bumalik na sa sinehan at hindi lang sa telebisyon makikita ang exposure ng mga artista.
“Para buong industry ay maging masaya, magkaroon ng trabaho kaya nga po kami ay hindi titigil na gumawa ng pelikula, ito ay para sa industry. Nasa artista din yan, if they don’t want to promote, babagsak na naman ang industry natin.
“Kaya I hope, lahat tayo magtulungan, producers, people in the industry, the actors and the actresses, this is for all of us.”
“G! LU,” which is about a group of friends called The Valley Boys Crew, also features Pinky Amador, Michelle Dee, Katarina Rodriguez, Chanel Morales, Maureen Montagne, Sophia Senoron, Kimi Mugford, Ali Forbes, Carl Guevara, Ken Anderson, Denver Hernandez, among many others.
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