A creative playground for directors

MANILA, Philippines - Love — whether it speaks of an everlasting kind or a tragic one — is a favorite theme for any film or TV masterpiece. One TV show that best showcases the different facets of love is Wagas, the one-hour GMA News TV weekly show airing Saturday nights at 7.

Marking its fourth year this month, Wagas continues to appeal to televiewers for its attention-grabbing features week after week. Indie film directors Adolf Alix Jr., Zig Dulay, Michael Cardoz, Rember Gelera and Jeffrey Hidalgo have been alternately handling the presentation of stories with careful execution of details, in a manner that is both heartwarming and easily understood by all.

Program manager Joni Mosatalla and executive producer Richelle Pancho-Ramirez attest to the rigors of cultivating a raw story culled from real-life circumstances into an affecting form of art. The production team devotes more or less three weeks to complete research, interviews with case studies, casting and set-up of location prior to the actual shooting of a particular story.

“We have done teacher-student relationships and the usual types of romantic stories,” begins Joni. “For this year, what we want is for love (story to be) taken to another level na hindi lang ‘yung tipong romantic type of love but the kind that went through a lot — tested by time, tested by struggles and then at the end of it all, the two would stick together.”

No wonder, the show has gradually evolved by featuring stories that went viral on social media, tackle same-sex romance and border on the supernatural. One of the remarkable stories was about the undying love of a wife to her security guard-husband who collapsed at work due to a brain tumor. The man turned into a vegetative state but the wife never lost faith as she continuously attended to his needs. She would be singing Gospel songs to him each meal time until he miraculously recovered.

Another episode, titled Nunal, tugged at viewers’ heartstrings because of a couple’s display of true love in the midst of trial and despair.

Moving love stories of political and broadcast media personalities equally served as inspiration to the audience.

The directors say that the approach to directing Wagas is different from the kind of treatment they give in indie films. For direk Adolf, the treatment always depends on the kind of topic or genre of the story.

“Generally, you stay close to what is happening, including the emotions. We are conscious na medyo heightened reality ‘yung sa TV kasi may expectations ‘yung audience. For me, directing for Wagas is not like doing a soap. I execute its story based on how I would effectively translate the emotion on screen. If it’s for docu-drama hindi ganun kataas, ‘yung mga eksena kasi but for TV, sometimes there are parts that are intentionally done with high emotions but generally in Wagas, you feel the natural emotions compared to soaps,” explains Adolf.

According to Richelle, having indie film directors makes the show different from other similarly-themed programs on TV. “When we started four years ago, it was intentional on our part to get indie film directors because we wanted to change the (TV) landscape. Our purpose was to create a movie for TV. Perhaps, hindi rin magiging ganun kalayo ang treatment nila kasi parang creative playground nila itong show.

She continues, “Kumbaga, they have the freedom to do what’s on their mind so the show also serves as an avenue for them.”

Jeffrey agrees and says, “From my experience, Wagas is a nice playground for us because it’s like filmmaking on TV. They encourage us to be more open. In ETV (Entertainment TV), there’s a certain mold or look to follow but here, you can experiment.”

Is the directorial freedom synonymous to going beyond the line of truth? 

“If there is a need to do ‘some enhancements’ to the story, we consult our case studies first to know if they agree on it or not. On our end naman, we make sure na hindi maiiba ‘yung angle ng story,” says Joni. “We also ask who they wish to portray the characters yet it still depends on the show’s budget if their requests can be granted.”

Direk Zig observes that the subjects would usually request for their idols. “Kung kaya (ng budget) sige but if we are to do the casting, we try to get actors who closely resemble the subjects.” 

Kris Bernal and Rocco Nacino in a scene from one of the fourth anniversary presentations that will air on Saturday, Feb. 11.

The directors admit there were stories that they found too tough to handle. Zig says there are things that cannot be avoided but what is important is they believe in the story. “We still put a lot of effort on them it’s just that iba lang ‘yung galaw mo pero iba talaga ‘yung attitude mo when you believe in what you are doing. I think that’s the reason why transferring (to other shows) never crossed our mind because we believe in what we do.”

Rember, who is also the spiels director of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, diligently works on stories given to him but would think twice on outrageous and atheist types “kasi may anak ako at para kasing ang bigat n’ya…l always say na ako may personal na paniniwala.”  

Adolf says that stories of Wagas have already evolved as the show now also tackles the paranormal. It challenges their abilities to deliver the story according to how the experience exactly occurred. “I think challenge din na di mo alam yung world na yun then mag-kakaroon ka ng insight about that experience. I think it is best to also share that kind of experience.”

In line with the celebration of the show’s fourth anniversary, three of the most heart-warming stories will keep televiewers glued to their TV sets. On Feb. 11, Rocco Nacino will slip into the shoes of a deaf-mute man who has no way of telling his feelings to the woman (played by Kris Bernal) he loves except through sign language.

Direk Michael, on the other hand, is behind the story of a mother whose children suffer from microcephaly. Jean Garcia topbills the episode on Feb. 18 while real-life couple Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellana star in the Feb. 25 presentation directed by Adolf. The episode depicts the love that blossomed between Satur Ocampo and Bobbie Malay during the martial law.