It’s either you like him or you don’t, but content creator and controversial filmmaker Darryl Yap doesn’t really care.
Yap’s satisfaction comes from being able to create content—content that stirs curiosity, affects people, is out of the box, is oftentimes way ahead of its time—and people can think whatever they want, say whatever they wish, and react however they desire.
When the local election campaign shifted to the fast lane recently, Yap found himself at the core of many disputes between his followers, who have been consistently loyal to him; and his bashers, all because of his new outputs on different social-media platforms—all of which rocketed to the top of the trending charts a few hours after they were released.
Take, for instance, the much-talked about the “Lenlen Series [Not a Political Content!]” which has garnered more than 30 million views to date. The number of Yap’s bashers rose, mostly coming from the supporters of opposing political players, but his followers and his fans also multiplied to unimaginable numbers.
“I always go back to this challenge that I pose to them: content versus content. But those on the other side don’t seem to get it, or perhaps they simply cannot get it!” he said.
The LenLen series stars Sen. Imee Marcos, It’s Showtime’s Ms. Q&A grand winner Juliana Parizcova, and Urian-nominated filmmaker Roanna Marie Mercado, who is also a signature actress in many of Yap’s movies for his mother studio Viva.
It was with Viva where Yap’s star started to shine. After Jowable, his first project with Viva, hit it big, there was no stopping Yap. During the pandemic, he created and directed 13 feature films, most of which were big hits on the Vivamax streaming platform.
“I really wanted to take a break from making movies this 2022 because I was aware that it’s an election year and I planned to focus on projects related to politics. I have clients during the previous elections and I was starting to receive calls, offers and inquires from those running for posts this year,“ he shared.
Because he is a creative workaholic, Yap immediately decided to shoot his new series, a contemporary love story titled Baby M, starring newbies PJ Rosario and LJ Ramos. Like his many previous video outputs, Baby M trended right away after its first episode was launched.
Where does Darryl Yap get his drive, wit, toughness and passion? Nobody really knows. What we recognize is a young creative mind who did not fear to pursue what his heart dictates, a derring-do who used his challenging past growing up in Olongapo, to seize all the opportunities in his colorful present, so he can create the amazing future he has already affirmed in his beautiful mind this early.