Comedian and FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano star Jerald Napoles shared his struggles in working during this time of the pandemic. Napoles shared how COVID-19 affected his work and that of many other stars in the showbiz industry.
According to Jerald, many plans were postponed because of the restrictions brought about by COVID-19 but life must go on.
“Lumalaban, one day at a time. Maraming plano ang na-postpone sa buhay hindi lang sa akin, pati na rin sa ibang mga tao, pero hangga’t may mga chance pa rin for us to live the most out of this situation, laban pa rin.”
He said the main challenge for actors like him is to remain relevant since many producers have opted to pause to cope up with the current crisis.
“Ang pinakamalaking challenge po ay work. I have to put extra effort para magkaroon pa rin ng relevance and exposure. Extra effort in terms of content productions, kasi hindi lang ako aarte sa contents, ako rin ang editor, director, at cameraman. Bumagal kasi ang efforts to produce movies dahil maraming factors na nakakaapekto tulad ng quarantine restrictions and protocols.”
Napoles also mentioned the effect of shutting down ABS-CBN which resulted in the unemployment of many of its talents and employees that added to many others who are looking for jobs and projects at this time.
“‘Tapos may isinara pang network. Although wala naman po akong kontrata sa ABS-CBN at maaari akong lumabas sa kahit na anong shows. E, dumami po ang mga artistang naghahanap ng mga project. So statistically speaking, tumaas ang competition. O, let’s say, humaba ang pila para makakuha ng roles o projects.”
However, to cope up, Jerald together with his girlfriend Kim Molina decided to join the many artists who tapped digital platforms like YouTube.
“Wala pa pong ibang fallback aside from the digital platforms sa ngayon. Even before the pandemic, I am deeply aware sa business side of digital content creation and marketing. Hindi ako expert sa bagay na ‘yan, pero nagkaroon ako ng passion na pag-aralan para ma-maximize yung platforms, in my behalf. Hence, somehow may mga brand pumasok sa mga individual social media platform namin ni Kim, bukod sa kita mismo ng YouTube channel namin.”
With the dwindling interest of Filipinos in traditional television viewing, making your presence felt in digital platforms will definitely boost their chance to stay on track and stay relevant.
Napoles was last seen in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano prior to the pandemic.
