JEFFREY JETURIAN directs his first teleserye on GMA Telebabad in “What We Could Be” that launches Ysabel Ortega to stardom with Miguel Tanfelix and Yasser Marta as her leading men.
“Aaminin ko. when I learned about the cast, I had apprehensions as I’m not familiar with them and their work,” he says.
“But as we went along, they surprised me kasi sumabay yung mga bago sa beteranong members ng cast.
"They’re young but they showed a lot of sensitivity, maturity and intelligence in attacking their roles. Pinadali nila ang trabaho ko. Magagaling silang lahat.”
Jeffrey believes their careers will prosper.
“They will definitely go far in their acting careers not only for their talent and good looks but for their passion and dedication to their craft and good work ethics.
"Ysabel is the biggest revelation in this series. As the lead female character, siya ang anchor ng kuwento at buti na lang dalang-dala or kering-keri niya ang mga eksena.
"Versatile pa siya kasi she can shift easily and effortlessly from light, casual to dramatic acting, just like great actresses Nida Blanca, Maricel Soriano and Jodi Sta. Maria.”
The show is also the first teleserye co-produced by Atty. Joji Alonso of Quantum Films with the Kapuso network. She is also the manager of Direk Jeffrey.
“This is the 30th anniversary of my partnership with Jeffrey who was my director when I first did ‘Legal Forum’ for RPN-9 and later with GMA News Channel in 1992,” she says.
“Jeff also directed many of the movies I produced, including the award-winning ‘Kobrador’, ‘Minsan Pa’, ‘Ekstra’ and ‘Bisperas’. I am also grateful to National Artist Ricky Lee for guiding us when we hit a snag in the development of the story of ‘What We Could Be’.”
This is Quantum’s first collaboration with the Kapuso Network. So how is it?
“Working with GMA was a breeze. The process was very simple and fast. After we pitched two concepts and one was chosen, we immediately began having the scripts written so we could submit it to GMA for their review.
"Each week we would get their comments on the scripts, which were minimal. They liked how the story went and I made sure that our team had already given input on the possible changes or improvements before I submitted anything to GMA.
"Pati revisions of the story bible, I was part of. After all this was going to be my first series so I really wanted it to be good.”
Their taping went smoothly but they were affected by the rains.
“Nalunod na yata sa itlog ang Santa Clara sa dami ng mga alay namin para huwag naman kaming ulanin.
"On the whole the weather was kind to us, except on two occasions na talagang nakakaiyak, because we couldn’t shoot a number of sequences on the rainy days and we would have to move those not taken, on the last day.
"I also had a major problem because of one of the technical members of our team, someone new, could not retrieve five crucial sequences we’ve taped for the pilot week.
"We lost all the materials at ang malala, scenes shot in the province pa man din ang nawala, so we had to reshoot all of them.”
How did they cast the show?
“They gave us names of the GMA artists who may be available and then we sat down to discuss our choices. We all agreed that Miguel and Ysabel would fit the roles of Franco and Cynthia.
"Si Yasser, he auditioned. We are fortunate sa cast na napili namin. They all have strong potentials to become bigger stars.
"I specially like Ysabel because first time I already saw her noong nasa ABS pa siya in ‘On the Wings of Love”, gandang-ganda na ako sa kanya.
"She surprised me with her acting in this series. She can jump from a funny scene to a dramatic scene, just like that. Magaling ang batang ito. She deserves to become a huge star!”
DON'T miss the feel-good romance-drama 'WHAT WE COULD BE' when it starts airing on GMA-7 this Monday, August 29.