Shake-Up

No, I’m not referring to the earthquake that hit the metro earlier. That quake was a spoiler though. I was inside the movie house and wasn’t able to finish The Bourne Supremacy because the people were already panicking. The title refers, rather, to the shake-ups that are happening to my life these days. Particularly, work life. Man, this week has been very topsy-turvy. I’m still overwhelmed by the drastic changes. Still literally shaking up, anxious over what’s going to happen next. Or nah, maybe it’s because I still haven’t recovered from that nasty quake. (I was inside overcrowded SM for chrissake!)

Tuesday, Direk came back from abroad and became the bearer of bad news. He told us our show (and other daytime soap operas) is going to end by last week of October. I couldn’t hide my sigh of relief upon hearing it. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know THAT news was definitely NOT bad news for me. =) But when I found out that my workmates aren’t feeling the same, including one who felt very affected over the management’s lack of respect to the show, I felt guilty and bad as well. Others may see me as non-committal but I do am proud of the show. It might be blithe, gimmicky and soapish, yes, but at least, our characters talk close to real life persons than other existing soap opera characters. I would also like to believe that we are the first DAILY multi-character and youth soap opera in the Philippines. (Of course, I’m aware Taiwan’s F4 soap is the original.) But what can we, lowly network slaves, do? Management’s only concern is the ratings numbers. Never mind if they’re the ones who decided to put these afternoon dramas against anime shows anyway, which even non-Broadcast Communication students would know is very bad programming.

I felt bad yes, but I moved on quickly. No BS. Of course it helped that I got two standing offers mere minutes after Direk announced the cancellation to us. One was to write for an existing soap pitting two former talk show rivals. The other one, to write for a fantaserye launching this Monday. I said no to both. I was thinking I’ve saved enough moolah already to keep me surviving for another year of production work. I was also looking forward to an early Christmas vacation and thought I would continue working only after the holiday season. (Okay, Direk also told me not to accept since he has plans to hire me for production work in his next show. Plus Michiko recommended me to produce/write for an independent but prestigious production company along with other frustrated writers/filmmakers. Plus the movie peeps still kept on calling me to accept the AD job in the trilogy movie I posted about previously). It’s sinful to brag, I’m sorry.

Okay na sana eh. Michiko and I were ready to finish the soap and go on with our lives. Until kanina. Hay. Changes again by the management. We’re not going to be cancelled anymore. We’re going to be a weekly drama series. Phew! I was dismayed because I was already planning my vacation (planned to pass by some Visayan cities and reunite with former acquaintances and long lost friends before hitting hometown) but was also happy that they realize the show has loyal fan base for them to give it another try on a timeslot wherein its pre-teen core viewers can finally watch (Sunday afternoon).

Having been aware of the management’s impulsiveness and indecisiveness, I’m putting in my mind that nothing’s final until the airing date itself. For all we know, by Monday, there’ll be again changes. We’re going to be cancelled again. Or worse, we’re going to continue being a daily show. Hay. I just hope they decide quickly and surely.

I'm nervous.