Rom-com for tech-savvy millennials

Janella Salvador (left) and Jason Paul Laxamana

Janella Salvador and Jameson Blake’s combined charms are more than enough to entice us to check out their first movie team-up. They topbill Regal Films’ “So Connected,” which opens on May 23.

Directed by Jason Paul Laxamana, the film, meant for tech-savvy millennials, is about how two people can have chemistry even without shared history. Vibes don’t lie, après tout.

Jameson portrays Karter, a video editor for a web channel whose smartphone gets stolen and is sold to a waitress named Trisha (Janella).
Since the mobile phone is synced to Karter’s computer, he has access to all the videos and photos of Trisha. As Karter “stalks” Trisha, he becomes infatuated with her.

The film shows us that there are really no strangers, only friends or lovers we have yet to meet.

Here’s my chat with Direk Jason:

What makes the Jameson-Janella tandem work? The movie is about two people who start out as strangers but eventually fall in love. The Jameson-Janella team works because they aren’t a love team and have never worked with each other, so their dynamic as strangers is genuine. It also helps that Jameson has a wee bit of a show biz crush on Janella, so his character’s shyness around Trisha (Janella) is charmingly believable, as well.

What did you discover about Jameson and Janella during your shoot? That Jameson is a shy guy who’s aware of his shyness. He knows that he has a long way to go in terms of acting. He can be candid and extroverted when the camera isn’t rolling, but the moment it rolls, he withdraws to his introverted shell.

Janella is intelligent. She’s well-versed with general knowledge and speaks in an erudite manner. There was a time when almost every staff member on the set was playing Wordscapes, and I would sometimes hear her suggesting advanced-level answers through the lapel microphone.

What was your fave scene and the hardest scene to shoot? The hardest would probably be this simple conversation scene in which Karter and Trisha bare the reason for their fears with each other. The scene required them to genuinely inhabit their characters to make the concealed suffering of Karter and Trisha believable.

My favorite set of scenes includes those shot in the panciteria where Trisha works. Whenever I preview those scenes, I find my usually coldhearted self smiling with amusement.

Why should millennials watch “So Connected”? The movie tackles issues familiar to their generation—stalking, privacy, bullying and, of course, love.

Are good actors born or made? Some are born, while some are made. Those who are made start out with the humble admission that they weren’t born with the skill, so they find the necessary training to eventually become impeccable performers.