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| direk carlo catu (far right) with cast of MY SINGLE LADY |
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| jodi, ian and direk carlo catu |
CARLO CATU is only 27 years and is one of our youngest directors today. Born in Angeles City, his indie films “Ari, My Life with a King” (about a Kapampangan poet) and “Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon” (about love and forgiveness in one’s sunset years) have won awards here and abroad.
He now branches out to doing a TV series for iWant, “My Single Lady”, produced and starred in by Jodi Sta. Maria, co-starring Zanjoe Marudo and Ian Veneracion.
He says it’s his personal tribute to his sister, a single mom, and all the single mothers he has worked with. “The story is about their struggles, na may karapatan din silang maging maligaya uli. Tungkol din ito sa acceptance, forgiveness, beingbrave and strong for your loved ones,” he adds.
Compared to his movies that are mostly drama, this one is lighter and more of a comedy, with Jodi as Chona, a feisty girl who thinks her mother is really Regine Velasquez, who they were able to get to do a special participation in the online series.
“Doing ‘My Single Lady’ is very educational for me,” adds Carlo. “In the indie films I did, I didn’t think of the audience at all. Ginawa ko lang what I think is best to come up with a good movie. But doing this for TV, malaking factor yung how will the audience react and accept this.
"This is my first comedy and I’m lucky I have Jodi playing the lead role kasi ang galing ng atake niya. We discuss the scenes we do, kung hindi ba masyadong baliw na yung eksena.
"My co-writer, Janina Gacosta, and I are fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality competition for drag queens, so we have several gays in the cast, including a tranny, si Vitex Paguirigan who we just discovered for this show. Maraming nakakatawang eksena.”
“My Single Lady” will start streaming on iWant on January 22. They’re hoping it will be a hit so they can have a Season 2 and Jodi is now also producing two more projects after this.
