In the face of the pandemic, when everyone has been compelled to stay home in isolation, the think tank of The IdeaFirst Company pushed the film outfit to create a series that can be shot remotely. The result is a YouTube series that has since gained a significant amount of following, GAMEBOYS.
Weeks following its release, the Filipino BL (Boys Love) series, an offshoot from the noticeable hype from viewers driven by the success of recent international series of the same genre, has already hit over a million combined views after just two episodes – encompassing fans not just in the Philippines but also in the USA, Europe and Latin America. All of this came about without fan-powered lead actors and marketing muscle flexed for big promotions
The online series features a lead cast of independent cinema mainstays, Kokoy de Santos (one of the stars of the Cinemalaya hit, F*ccbois) and Elijah Canlas (the star of internationally acclaimed film, Kalel, 15)–marking a Philippine first in riding the latest wave of successful Asian BL series that have gained traction among viewers the past few months – the most recent hits being Thailand’s 2Gether: The Series and the recent Where Your Eyes Linger from Korea.
“GAMEBOYS is ultimately about love overcoming all boundaries – even physical ones set by our new reality,” says Executive Producer Jun Robles Lana. “It is about two people who find each other at a time when they can only connect with one another virtually. I think that is what makes it so resonant with audiences around the world. We want to believe that you can still find love and companionship even in the middle of a pandemic.”
Ivan Payawal, the director of GAMEBOYS, admits being overwhelmed to see that this series is getting so much international love too, “I knew we had a show we can all be proud of, but it’s just overwhelming to see fans from around the world commenting and posting about it – a lot of them even creating reaction videos to chronicle how much they loved our episodes!”
GAMEBOYS, written in Filipino with English subtitles, has enjoyed fans contributing subtitles in other languages. To date, the series has French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Ukranian, Czech, Turkish, Korean, Thai, Indonesian and Arabic subtitles.
Written by Ash Malanum and co-starring Adrianna So, new episodes are uploaded every week. Episodes of GAMEBOYS can be found on the YouTube channel of The IdeaFirst Company, the production company behind movies such as Die Beautiful and The Panti Sisters.