Director Adolfo Alix, Jr.’s latest project, the Boys’ Love (BL) series “Happenstance,” uses the super moon that appeared in March, roughly during the start of the lockdown in our country, as a jump off point.
It introduces Wade and Jose Manuel, two people who magically meet because of a portal connected to the occurrence of the super moon. They live in different periods – one in 1974, one in 2020. Jose Manuel is grounded after his military father learned of his relationship with Luis, an activist. Wade, on the other hand, is recovering from a recent break up with Eric and while on vacation is caught up in the quarantine because of the CoVid 19 pandemic. After the super moon, an opportunity opens for these two heartbroken souls to connect across time and find love once again.
Alix found the inspiration for “Happenstance” from a local story covered in the news about a house owner finding love letters from the ‘70s during a house renovation and who tried to track down the sender almost five decades later. The filmmaker tapped Palanca awardee and much-admired author Jerry B. Gracio to craft the screenplay of the series.
Newcomers Kiko Ipapo and Jovani Manansala won their roles after auditioning. Kiko is Wade and Jovani is Jose Manuel. Kiko is a social media personality who started as a print model before deciding to try his luck as an actor. “Happenstance” is his first foray into acting. Jovani, meanwhile, started in the entertainment industry by doing several commercial ads. After that, he acted in television shows like “Ipaglaban Mo” and “Maalaala Mo Kaya” and in the independent films “Mamu, and a Mother Too” and “Jolly Spirit.”
Actor and singer Mikoy Morales composed the theme song of the series “Ating Lang,” which he performed live during the press con. The music video will be also released in the upcoming days.
The first in its genre to feature two time periods, “Happenstance” also prides itself by assembling some of the country’s finest actors, including Bembol Roco, Rosanna Roces, Alan Paule, Erlinda Villalobos, Shu Calleja, Angeli Bayani, Ken Anderson and Saviour Ramos.
The series will consist of six episodes to be released weekly from late November, exclusively on the LGBTQ+ streaming platform GagaOOLala.
