On March 3, Kapuso director Dominic Zapata highlights the ‘crossroads’ the television industry face.
At the media conference for Hearts On Ice, Zapata pointed out how general audiences nowadays prefer to consume content on their mobile devices rather than TV.
“Now I said this a hundred times– we are at a crossroads in television. The television industry is at a crossroads kasi wala na pong nanonood ng TV halos. Well, some other generation. Let’s admit it, everyone watches on their devices, ako nga bumili na nga akong ganito eh. Dati, Nokia-Nokia lang ako eh.”
Admittedly, it made him fear for his livelihood as a director, which fueled him when facing the challenging task of helming a series about figure skating.
“Siguro that made my head turn–fear made my head turn–fear na mawalan ako ng trabaho. But what’s fueling me right now is not fear–I see it as a challenge. And I embrace that challenge. The challenge is what, the challenge is for us to continue the television industry at ipakita natin sa mundo kung ano ang television industry ng Pilipinas.”
He then added that TV shows have a more massive scope than those presented by content creators on digital platforms.
“It’s not that– we’re not content creators for YouTube. No, we’re not, and it has to be– it has to be evident in the material that we broadcast– this is not something that you can see on YouTube– by YouTube content creators. It’s not something that you can see on Tiktok– unless we post it.
“It’s not something that you will see on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. No. Sa TV lang nagagawa ‘yun because this show is massive.”
He then emphasized the resourcefulness of the team behind the series.
“‘Yung mga pinaggagawa namin dito, pag nakita ninyo sila, behind the scenes, I don’t think you would even see this in maybe Ice Skating productions in Hollywood– how do I know that? Because of the contraptions we made. We made from our own hands– we made from our own imagination.
“Because– mag-research ka, walang ganon. We have a sled, we have this bicycle, para kaming naglalako ng Yakult kapag nandoon kami sa–when we’re on ice, because that’s what the show calls for–and for me to say na ang hirap, it takes away from the fact that we are not fueled by ‘yung hirap, we are fueled really by inspiration because binigyan kami ng magandang material. And how dare we kung gumawa lang kami ng sinimplihan lang namin, para lang pagaanin lang ‘yung buhay namin. This is what the show calls for, this is what we come up with.”
As for their upcoming Kapuso series, Hearts on Ice stars Xian Lim and Ashley Ortega.
The teleserye also features Amy Austria, Rita Avila, Tonton Gutierrez, Lito Pimentel, Ina Feleo, Cheska Iñigo, Kim Perez, Ruiz Gomez, Roxie Smith, Shuvee Etrata, and Skye Chua.
According to reports, Filipino Olympic figure skater Michael Martinez also has a special appearance in the upcoming Kapuso series.
Under the direction of Zapata, Hearts on Ice airs on March 13 on GMA Telebabad.
