“Tala: The Film Concert” director Paul Basinillo is still on cloud nine when we had an exclusive chat with him. He admitted that his successful project with Sarah Geronimo is tapping new grounds. At first, they adjusted and nervous at the turnout.
“Since this is the first time we are doing an online concert of this scale, everyone really didn’t know what to expect. Will the crowd still watch? Will people patronize a local show versus a foreign show? Will they prefer watching Netflix or HBO rather than our local streaming sites like KTX.ph or IWantTFC? So many questions, and yet we applaud the bravery of the producers, specifically Boss Vic for encouraging us to mount a show of this magnitude during these uncertain times. He was the one who really pushed for this major project to take place. Luckily we followed our guts and produced it. It’s a gamble that paid off big time for everyone. As of this writing and as you may already know, we’ve been dubbed the biggest-selling online concert to date. And because the steaming is not limited to the Philippine market, people from across the globe was able to watch it. We trended worldwide during the premiere of the film concert,” he said.
Direk Paul revealed his favorite part of the show.
“I personally like 'Ikot Ikot' because it is something fresh and different. Hanga ako kay Sarah sa kanyang courage at willingness to experiment. Napakahusay din ng buong team, from G Force to the technical group, napakagaling! Again, to mount a show like this you have to consider so many things. There are so many moving parts, so may protocol to follow, one mistake can cause you a cancelled day and that’s it. You can’t bring it back. But with all the other production, I think we equally put the same amount of work into it, whether it's a chill song are a full production number, pareho lang ng effort and amount of dedication and passion from the whole team” the director said.
As for his artist Sarah, Direk Paul has this good words:
“She is very hands-on. And we like that. She knows what she wants to achieve, and we are just there to help her. In fact, I remember when we first pitched the project to her sometime August 2020, she was never hesitant. She knew the team will do their job and make it easier for her to execute her vision. Me, as a director, I’ve always considered Sarah as a creative partner in terms of how she wants her show to look and feel. I’m there, together with the whole team to walk with her in this journey. When she speaks her mind, everyone listens. And that’s a mature superstar who is always grounded. Always humble. Walang ego, kaya madaling ka work. Mas marami na syang magagandang ideas. And sobrang happy to collaborate with them both. In fact, when we have online shoots, Matt is the one who normally lights, frames, and composes the shots. Even the technical aspects of it, like the camera being used, the lensing, the audio. Sobrang alam yan ni Matt. As a co-triathlete, I get to interact with Matt re our common hobby. But since pandemic ngayon, walang races so back to regular programming muna.” he said.
“Tala: The Film Concert” will be having a global repeat on May 1 at 8 p.m. and May 2 at 11 p.m.