DIRECTOR Jerrold Tarog revealed that he is halfway done shooting the much-anticipated historic biopic "Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral."
In an interview with Tarog on Wednesday evening at the TBA Studios launch held at Edsa Shangri-la, he disclosed that they started working on the film in May and is expected to finish the production by October.
He clarified though that they will not submit "Goyo" for competition in the upcoming 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).
"It was never our intention to submit this in the MMFF kasi next year pa talaga ang target namin. Right now, nagfo-focus lang kami na matapos yung pelikula."
Topbilled by Paulo Avelino, “Goyo,” the sequel to 2015 hit movie "Heneral Luna," tells the story of Gregorio del Pilar two days after Luna was assassinated.
The film will focus mainly on the five months before the Americans launched its major attack against then President Emilio Aguinaldo's government.
This is Avelino and Tarog’s third film together after “Heneral Luna” and “Sana Dati.”
The director said that as early as 2015, he already had an agreement with Fernando Ortigas and Eduardo Rocha that they will continue the three-part series and that Avelino will reprise the role of Goyo.
"Nakaplano na yun, sinabi ko na kay Paulo, diretcho tayo sa kwento mo. Alam na namin yung pacing ng isa't isa. So, nagkakasundo naman. Thankfully maganda yung returns ng Heneral Luna kaya umabot tayo dito."
Tarog is also happy that TBA Productions is teaming up with Globe Studios in producing the movie. He said based from what they work on now, this is his biggest production to date.
"Based sa ginagawa namin sa set, siya yung pinakamalaki so far. Minsan may mga eksena kami na 600 people ang kailangan namin i-manage and lahat yun may kanya-kanyang blocking. Nakaka-overwhelm siya minsan but at the same time, sobrang saya namin kasi nakakagawa kami ng ganitong pelikula."
The director is optimistic that TBA Productions and Globe Studios’ partnership will not end in “Goyo.” He said they still have a lot of films in production and will continue to produce quality films for the Filipino moviegoers.
"We're very thankful na may ganung support from Globe kasi yun naman ang naging problema ng independent filmmakers, paano makakaabot sa malaking audience. It was different back then. When I was starting, hirap na hirap kaming maghanap ng audience. This time, with the backing of the producers, we're optimistic on the result," he ended. (SunStar Philippines)