Entertainment director Frank Lloyd Mamaril on Monday, January 17, showed his appreciation to award-winning actor Alden Richards after working with him for the first time in the documentary-concert ForwARd.
“Ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ka-level ko, well, ka-edad ko, na sobrang dami nang nagawa in such a short span of time na nakaka-proud. Then at the same time, ang saya i-celebrate,” he said during the show’s virtual media conference.
The concert tells the story of the actor before his rise to stardom. Mamaril then realized how Richard’s experiences had molded him to become the person he is right now.
“Si Alden Richards siya yung ano, mabait na bata na maraming napagdaanan sa buhay. At dahil napagdaanan niya yun ngayon, gusto niya may marating pa siya. Hindi pa siya tumitigil, ayaw pa niyang tumigil. Yun si Alden. Hindi titigil. Forward lang lagi,” the director described.
ForwARd also marks Mamaril’s first concert with a GMA Network artist, admitting that it was “close to his heart.”
“It’s close to my heart because this is one of the projects na sobrang collaborative ng artist ko. Hindi siya katulad ng iba na may set in stone na eh, kung ano yung tatahakin niyang gawin eh.
“Ito ang sarap gawan ng konsepto kasi raw. Nandoon yung gigil nung talento mo to do more plus the fact na siya pa ang nag-produce nito. So s’yempre he knows what’s at stake and at the same time collaborative siya eh in terms of the concept, lahat; in terms of everything that in terms of production. Kaya sobrang feeling close to my heart tsaka hindi kami nahirapan,” he explained.
He also revealed his personal objective for the concert: to tell who the actor is.
“Ang goal ko in this concert is to tell his story kung bakit ganyan si Alden Richards and why he’s moving forward. Maraming stories ang makikita niyo dito na hindi pa niya naikekwento so to speak, sa maraming tao.”
Meanwhile, Richards, the concert producer, considered adding Mamaril as part of his team the “best decision” he had made for ForwARd.
“Well, parang with the past experiences that I’ve had when it comes to concerts po, s’yempre I wanted to try new blood in terms of my production team. Of course, I have been given the opportunity to be introduced sa FLM Creatives headed by Direk Frank.
“I would really like to say na I was never wrong with that decision and I think tama po yung lahat nang tao na naging involved sa concert because all of us really jived very well.
“Day one palang, naglolokohan na kami sa rehearsals, actually sa Zoom palang naglolokohan na kami. So I think that’s the cue that you’re in a circle of good people. So best decision po that I’ve made for this concert.”
The documentary concert will be streaming on January 30, at 8:00 p.m.
