Prolific filmmaker Adolfo Alix Jr. has been working hard throughout these extraordinary times, and he is reaping the fruits of his artistic labor of love.
Alix is one of the very few original Filipino content producers for the Taiwanese company GagaOOlala, a successful subscription video-on-demand (VOD) service provider that specializes in LGBT content.
Middle of last year, he started his partnership with GagaOOlala and produced 13 well-received short films that formed part of the popular and widely followed anthology series Unlocked. “I am very grateful that I was able to connect with the people behind GagaOOlala. I guess it’s destiny, because everything just started to unravel and my working relationship with them has taken root and solidified throughout the past months,”Alix said, adding, “And I’m very happy that in our own little way, we are able to help actors and filmworkers find work because the production is entirely Filipino.”
Happenstance, the latest collaboration from the Taiwanese producers and the award-winning Filipino director, has also taken off successfully when it was launched on Christmas Day. It is a magical narrative about two heartbroken young men whose paths will cross even if each is living in a different time period—one in 1974 and the other in the present. The story was cowritten by Alix and his award-winning writer-friend, Jerry Gracio.
A supermoon appears and magically opens a portal between the two different eras, resulting to the lead characters Jose and Wade finding each other and eventually falling in love. This weekly series stars Alix’s new acting discoveries: Kiko Ipapo and Jovani Manansala.
Ipapo was studying to become a Christian pastor when he was in his teens. But fate took on a different turn for this now 21-year-old young father who is now bent on making a name for himself as an actor. “After the seminary, I became a lost soul,” he admitted. “Searching for myself and my purpose became complicated. I tried all sorts of jobs: construction worker, food server, driver, barista, online seller. But then I remembered what I learned in the seminary, that there is a God whose love is infinite and whose grace is limitless,” Ipapo said, adding that he also found love after he found God again.
Meanwhile, Ipapo’s leading man Jovani Manansala was already making a name for himself as a sought-after TV commercial actor. The former IT student has appeared in some independent movies, but Happenstance is his biggest break yet.
“I want to focus on becoming a good actor. It will all depend on the projects that will land on my lap in the next year or two, because I am aware that there are a thousand hopefuls and only a few will stay on and make it a lifelong profession. I will take every role, every project one at a time, and absorb all the learnings I can possibly take in. I am lucky that I get to be directed by the likes of Adolfo Alix, and being entrusted with such a big role such as that of Jose Manuel, my character in Happenstance.”
Alix’s winning streak continues. He was recently bestowed the Silver Award at the GagaOOlala Pitching Sessions, wherein more than a hundred stories from over 20 regions were presented to vie for production cash grants. His entry, titled Almost, was awarded $50,000 and production will start as soon as the groundwork is ready.
We were with Adolfo Alix Jr. when he debuted as a filmmaker in 2006 in the movie Donsol, and he never stopped working hard to tell beautiful, timeless stories on whatever platform all these tales can be viewed and watched and appreciated.