This is the story of "G&g - Goals & girls"
In mid 2008, our production company was commissioned by a well-known company in Malaysia, Red Communications SDN BHD, to produce a Philippine version of its award-winning film "G&g - Gol n Gincu", turned into a hit Malaysian series, directed by Bernard Chauly. With no hesitations, the company started its pre-production stage, from creating a story to fit the Philippine audience, go-sees and talent scouting to find the best actors and actresses that will portray the specific characters in the story, building props and designing sets, actors' training and character development, finding the best possible locations, and so much more. I was even part of the cast, where I was part of Shasha's futsal team. I also provided some training and blocking for all the futsal scenes in the series, since I had been playing soccer since Middle School back in Indonesia. It gave me a chance to play again somehow, after not being able to play since I left college. A good exercise, I guess. Hahaha! I even had my real soccer mates to play roles in the first episodes of the story just to give it a little more kick.
Casting was a bit challenging for the supporting cast, as we wanted fresh faces. Fortunately, we found a cast that, not only portrays the character physically, but also through their own personalities, as most of them were able to relate to their own roles as the story went by. Since most of them never played soccer or futsal before, we had to show them some basic skills they needed so that it would look a little more realistic as we shoot the scenes. With the help of professional soccer players from the Mizuno team, it definitely gave them more confidence.
The first week of taping was, of course, the most difficult, as everyone was still trying to get used to how things work and move. It was given that, time would go slow, and it actually did. I wouldn't say that we didn't have hard times, like arguing, pretending, covering up, blaming, and all that stuff, because we did and we all learned our lessons. Things got better, of course. ;) The cast became deeply involved with their characters as the story went by. It was definitely a good learning experience for the cast, not only they underwent training and support, not mentioning the dramas in between, from our veteran director, Direk Al Quinn, who showed them his commitment to making this a good production. This gave everyone the chance to prove themselves and perform better.
Here are some BTS shots, from the first few episodes. The first video is the scene of Eddie's team playing a futsal game. The second video is where Patrice tries to play futsal with Shasha and her team.
Here are the dream sequences where, first, the main character dreams about her fear from losing a fight, and the other one, where she brings out her frustration, stands up and meets a guy who she would fall in love with as the story goes. Patrice gets caught up in a game of love and hate.
I even had my car used in the story, as Shasha's car. My partner did most of the driving scenes for our car and all the other cars used in the series.
As the story went by, more and more back stories of other characters were revealed with more discoveries, complications, challenges and realizations. The whole production was finally getting together. By the end of the year of 2008, everyone was already hoping that the TV Series would launch its first 4 episodes, but it didn't. Wow! How long are we going to wait? Hah!
Since the beginning of the pre-production stage, I had been part of the development process as well, I worked closely with the writer, director and producer and was given the chance to write some episodes. I wrote Episode 11 and the Season Ender, Episode 13. I was also responsible for organizing and managing the wardrobe for the series and styling the cast, specifically, Empress Schuck, Lovely Rivero, Nikki Guevara, Paw Diaz and Kristel Moreno.
Since the beginning of the pre-production stage, I had been part of the development process as well, I worked closely with the writer, director and producer and was given the chance to write some episodes. I wrote Episode 11 and the Season Ender, Episode 13. I was also responsible for organizing and managing the wardrobe for the series and styling the cast, specifically, Empress Schuck, Lovely Rivero, Nikki Guevara, Paw Diaz and Kristel Moreno.
We ended production Mid-November of 2008, with the season-ender. The show finally aired its Pilot Episode, "I want a Striker, not a Cheerleader" on July 19, 2009 on TV5, gaining a 3.8% TV rating from Mega Manila - AGB Nielsen. I believe it's a good rating for a new show in a newly launched network. The hardwork paid off somehow. ;)
The last day of shoot was the last time we all saw each other, in set, in our sweaty clothes and in stress-mode. The perseverance, support, commitment, and understanding that each one had put in to make the production work, could never be replaced.
Here are some photos from our Christmas Party 2008, with the cast and crew of G&g - Goals & girls and our other TV Show, 3R - Respect, Relax, Respond.
(Click on the photo to go see the rest of the photos)
For more info about the show, please visit its official site:
For more info about our production company, please visit:
