The Road To Forevermore

The road to “Forevermore” was not easy. Hindi naman EDSA na, as we put it, walang forever sa haba ng traffic. Hindi rin naman lubak-lubak. Kumbaga lang, naglalakad kami sa isang daanang walang masyadong street lights, at maraming eskinitang papasukin before reaching your destination.

I remember the team spending the entire summer meeting almost everyday to come up with a concept that would best fit Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil’s first TV series together. Maraming naibato. On my part, ang prinesent ko ay mala-“Basta’t Kasama Kita” nina Aga Muhlach and Dayanara Torres, isang prinsesang nagmahal ng ordinaryong lalaki. Hilig ko talaga sa mga kwentomg prinsesa, noh? But we were looking for something…

Then came a concept that caught our attention: a strawberry farm girl falling in love with an, um, asshole, set in Benguet. At that time, kagagaling ko lang sa Baguio, and the thought of a light, romantic series set there where the sceneries are breath-taking, and the weather is so cold excited me. Iba ito; we’ve never done something like this.

By July, just days after my birthday, the management gave the concept a green light after we presented it. It was actually one of the fastest to be approved in Star Creatives’ recent memory. But what posed as a big challenge for us was when we entered the story development. Yung ilalatag mo na yung at least 13 weeks na itatakbo ng kwento. We had a concept, a beautiful one. Pero paano mo pahahabain? We are trying to veer away from the usual nawawalang heiress, amnesia arcs. It was just a story of great love challenged by life’s circumstances.

At kailangan na ng pilot script by August. Eere na raw kami once “Ikaw Lamang” of Coco Martin and Kim Chiu ended. We were all challenged because we actually put in that timeslot. Imagine, a loveteam na walang pinanggagalingan halos, at i-introduce mo pa lang for the first time, ilalagay mo sa slot where KathNiel and Kim and Coco have been lording all these time?

But what we held on then was… We had a really good story. And we had faith in Enrique and Liza. For some reason, we just had. Gut feel siguro. Naalala ko pa, isang meeting, napadaan si Liza, our headwriter Riz Reyes said, “maganda at mabait si Liza. Guys, pasikatin natin siya.”

During the story conference of "Forevermore" with the
main teen cast and Direk Ted Boborol.

So the day of the story conference and look test came. When we finally saw our cast, Liza, Enrique, Yves Flores, Sofia Andres and Kit Thompson together, medyo nakahinga kami. In fairness, may chemistry ang mga bagets. At kinilig ako sa presensya ni Ate Lilet Esteban, who actually tried out in “Bridges Of Love” but ended up being casted as our serye’s main kontrabida.  I was singing her songs when I was a kid! At ang ganda niya, we thought it would be refreshing to see her in a serye for the first time.

We posted pictures agad of the story con in our social media accounts because we wanted to know everyone’s reaction. We even asked TV Patrol to have it covered. The feedback was good. Pero alam mo yung may pagdududa ang ilang netizens kung tatagal ang show, at yung loveteam we officially coined LizQuen that time. Oo nga naman. But deep down us, once malaman na nila ang kwento nito, at makita nila sina Liza at Enrique in their roles, magugustuhan nila ito.

First look test. 

Still awkward.

After the look test with Quen, who was si excited
to play Xander. 

After the look test with Liza, sporting curly hair.

The look test afterwards was supervised by the show’s then assigned director, Ted Boborol, fresh from “Annaliza”’s success. Everything went smooth naman – in fact, nung pinagtabi namin ang LizQuen for series of shots and videos, kinikilig na kami. We immediately felt their connection. Mga titig pa lang ni Quen kay Liza, pak na! Pero napansin namin yung naiilang pero alam mong kinikilig si Liza. At si Quen, yung dinadaan man sa malalagkit na titig si Liza, pero alam mong gentlemanly. May undeniable sparks at tension between them. We just felt they needed to get to know each other more, and break the ice.

So while we were preparing for the coming taping, Liza and Enrique went through a series of workshops so they could get to know each other better, at basagin na yung mga harang sa kanila. During meetings, we were told na slowly but surely getting there na, pero sadyang mahiyain daw si Liza.

Direk Cathy Garcia-Molina's first creative
meeting with the team.

By mid-September, I was surprised to see who joined us in the meeting – Cathy Garcia-Molina no less! She was asked to direct the first few weeks of the series. To help us with the story flow, and to bring out the potential onscreen chemistry of Liza and Enrique. I remember Direk Cathy having apprehensions then especially kay Liza, kung paano niya ito ika-come out of the shell. There I realized how really challenging what we have gotten ourselves into. Si Direk Cathy na ito ha. But dahil nga si Direk Cathy ito, we put our trust in her na magagawa niya dito ang nagawa niya kina John Lloyd Cruz at Sarah Geronimo sa “A Very Special Love” – a loveteam na hindi mo inakala.

Second look test for the show. 

The teen cast donning their peg looks for the serye.

Direk Cathy personally decided what look
would fit Enrique as Xander. 

So proud of Liza that moment!

The team checking Lilet's Bettina Grande look,
personally overseen by Direk Cathy. 

So we had another look test, this time with Direk Cathy. Marami siyang ginawa na, we realized, mas nagpaganda sa itatakbo ng kwento at characters. Sa looks nila, sa characterization, sa nuances… Pati character names, from Tessa and Chot, napalitan ng Agnes and Xander. Direk Cathy was so into it. At nakakatuwa kasi, unang salang pa lang, magkasundung-magkasundo na sina Direk at Quen. Mas nauna pa silang nakapag-break ng ice compared sa Liza at Quen, I thought.

That surprise "almost kiss" that Direk Cathy asked
from Liza and Enrique. Kinilig kami agad! 

Mas OK naman na ang LizQuen in terms of interaction. Nakakapagtawanan na. Nakakapag holding hands at yakapan na for the cameras. But Direk Cathy surprised them sa look test when they were asked to do an “almost kissing scene”. Alam mo yung, magkaharap sila face to face, yung alam mong maghahalikan na. I remembered how surprised they were lalo na si Liza. Her face was so red. Naka-ilang takes din. Direk Cathy understood. Ang bata pa ni Liza, may innocence at shyness running through her. Biniro ko pa nga na kung ako din yan mahihiya ako, hello si Enrique yan. Pero na-waley ang hirit ko kay Direk; Enrique just laughed and gave me a high five.

But after that moment, one thing was sure in our hearts: we would go with this. Push. Susugal kaming lahat sa proyektong ito. Sa kwento. Sa aming mga bida. At sa chemistry ng LizQuen. This was a risk we knew was worth taking. Hindi kami “bahala na” then. We would make this happen. At finally, after some deliberations, may title na ang serye namin: Forevermore.

The pocket presscon for "Forevermore" before we all ]
left to tape in Benguet. 

We knew and felty are big things were to come for the show and their
loveteam. And we were right!

On October 1, pinatawag ako to attend and help in the coverage of the pocket press conference for Liza, Enrique, Direk Ted and Direk Cathy. Naka-lock in pa ang creative team nun sa isang hotel somewhere sa Quezon City because anytime then, mag-start na ang taping. There I found out two things: pupunta na kami ng “La Presa”, as we coined that place in Benguet, in two days to start taping. At eere na kami in 3 weeks. 3 WEEKS!

Our road to forevermore has begun.