Actor Rocco Nacino feels fulfilled having the entry “Write About Love” in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
“I’m proud kasi maganda ang track record ng TBA, with ‘Heneral Luna,’ ‘Goyo,’ ‘Sunday Beauty Queen’…,” the 32-year-old Kapuso star says.
Written and directed by Crisanto Aquino, the rom-com presents a thoroughly entertaining story of a young scriptwriter (Miles Ocampo) who must has to navigate her way into showbiz — and life — as mentored by the more mature writer played by Rocco.
It is Rocco’s first time to work Miles, who is a Kapamilya star. “It’s nice to work with Miles, because she’s very enthusiastic at parang written talaga ang role for her,” he says.
Aside from working with Miles and first-time director Cris Aquino, Rocco also enjoyed “Write About Love’s” shoot in Baguio and Sagada.
“I especially liked doing the scenes where Miles and I and the characters in our film — Yeng Constantino and Joem Bascon — appear in one scene,” he recalls. “First time nag di-dialog na di nagkakakitaan ang 2 pares. Nagpa guide ako kay Direk Crisanto kung anong atake sa eksenang iyon.”
In “Write About Love,” the Female Writer, played by Miles, succeeds in presenting an original story called “Just Us” to a whole team of studio executives. A few days later, however, she gets a call back: Sorry, she’s told, but there’s an upcoming film with a similar plot.
But all is not lost. The studio heads would like a rewrite under more experienced scriptwriter — Male Writer (Rocco) — whose last film project was a hit.
Working together with a seasoned writer meant not just a few but a lot of dynamic changes to the original script. No more boy-meets-girl and the subsequent stages of falling in love (i.e. friendship, attraction, denial).
To the studio heads and Male Writer’s point of view, “Just Us” should be written as purely, a relationship story.
Enter the script’s characters namely Joyce (Yeng) and Marco (Joem) who are celebrating their first 100 days as a couple. In the script, Marco works as a construction engineer while Joyce is a talented singer for an up and coming band.
The two writers must now find ways to complicate this initially happy relationship and inject the script with all sorts of drama. So that by the time the fictional couple reaches their 200-day anniversary, things were already rocky for Joyce and Marco. And it all finally comes to a head when Marco makes Joyce choose between him or her career.
As the two screenwriters with contrasting views on love and relationship further develop the story, they start to realize that many of the choices and circumstances in Joyce and Marco’s lives are actually mirroring their own.
In the end, they realize what it truly takes — to write about love.
“More than the acting, though, I hope the viewers appreciate the story,” states Rocco.
Rocco, who is marking his tenth year in showbiz, said he is planning to do charity work this Christmas and also a thanksgiving for his tenth year in showbiz.
“Gusto ko ng charity event dun sa liblib na lugar,” says the Kapuso Foundation ambassador and Philippine Navy reservist, “I want to coordinate with the Navy at sana kahit one day or one week makapunta dun at marating yung malayong lugar. Nag iisip rin ako sa Pasko, gusto ko punuin ang sasakyan ko at random na magbigay ng food at drinks sa mga madadaanan or mga enforcers.”
