Carlo Aquino, Rufa Mae + More Try to Survive an Island Game Show in This Scripted/Unscripted Show
Here's what you should know about the Prime series.
(SPOT.ph) What happens if seven big names from Philippine entertainment end up on an island competing in crazy games in order to make it out? That's exactly what Comedy Island Philippines is about. The Prime Video series drops on August 31, with big promise to be one hell of a riot. Just think: Carlo Aquino, Rufa Mae Quinto, Andrea Brillantes, Jerald Napoles, Cai Cortez, Awra Briguela, Justine Luzares, together with Drew Arellano in an island survival show. Who wouldn't want to join the fun?
Also read: 10 Must-Watch Series to Stream on Prime Video
Prime drops hilarious Comedy Island Philippines show
The trailer alone is full of crazy one-liners. You get a glimpse of the different characters the stars play, with each one blurring the line between fiction and reality—which is where the fun of this series stems from. Comedy Island is not a straight reality show, instead seesaw-ing planned and unplanned moments for an overall series not like any other. We got to chat with showrunners Quark Henares, now head of Amazon Originals Philippines, producer Tanya Yuson, and director Randolph Longjas more about how it was made.
What is Comedy Island Philippines about?
You can think of the series as a "hybrid" of both scripted and unscripted content, says Longjas. "You just have the narrative as the backbone, but all the rest of the activities are unscripted."
The concept actually came from Amazon, "It's the first time they wanted to try something new," explains Cruz. The producer, as co-founder of Indonesia-based production company BASE entertainment, was also part of producing the Indonesian and Thai runs of the show.
With the nature of the series being hybrid, the showrunners knew they had to pick very well the mix of "contestants" they would have. They handpicked seven, plus Arellano as the Hunger Games-esque host, to create the dynamic they wanted. "We wanted to be unexpected, for sure," says the director. "So all of us, we had a lot of meetings about it, even with Prime, with Quark as well. Because one, it had to not be your usual. You can't have all one flavor. It's better to have different components.
And at the same time, can they do improv?"
That last question was vital for the success of shooting the show. There are, of course, the chosen ones who are King and Queen of what they do: think Rufa Mae and Napoles, then there are the unexpected ones like drama actor Carlo Aquino and Gen Z star Andrea Brillantes. Classes, held by Chicago's sketch and improv spot Second City, we're conducted virtually before shooting—one by one so that participants didn't know who they'd be starring with until the last possible minute.
The big surprises the showrunners got had to be Carlo Aquino and Andrea Brillantes. The former ended up loving the improv setup so much he would dress up in costume when he wasn't supposed to be on the set so he could sneak in and still be a participant; "I would be doing the framing and suddenly, 'Is that Carlo?'" joked the director. Yuson shares that it turns out his comedic timing is impeccable, too.
The latter burst out of her shell and became one of the most competitive on the show; "At first, you could see may konting trepidation, may konting kaba. And then, later on, siya na talaga 'yung pabibo," says Henares. "She got into it and became very fearless, like, literally fearless," adds Yuson. We can't wait to see how she took on the games.
When all the prep work was done, the cast and crew were dumped somewhere in Phuket, Thailand, for the shoot, and more importantly, the competition. They spent a month abroad for the show with essentially only the overarching storyline guiding them. There was "The whole narrative, like the universe na how they got there and why they need to do such things, the rules. But say for example, 'pag sinabi na ng host, okay, you're gonna play or you're gonna do this, wala na. 'Yung plano mo ng mga shot list, wala na 'yan," jokes Longjas.
"The celebrities are [playing] versions of themselves," says Yuson. When asked whether the game show had an actual prize, the showrunners joked that the reward was really "How much you can 'kill' in the scene. Like, how much you can make it funny or make people laugh."
Also read: 10 Times Carlo Aquino Proved His Acting Chops
Where can you watch Comedy Island Philippines?
The series, produced in collaboration between Amazon Studios and BASE Entertainment Asia, will begin streaming on Prime Video on August 31. A total of six episodes will drop with three episodes per week from August 31 to September 7.