Valuable lessons from Arjo Atayde’s Cannes experience

June 16 ------ The second season of the psychological thriller “Cattleya Killer,” which is currently streaming on Prime Video, is already in the offing, while the action flick “Topakk” will make the rounds of international film festivals before it gets its local premiere.

This was according to actor Arjo Atayde, who plays the lead in both films and whose family-owned production outfit, Nathan Studios, bankrolled the projects. In this exclusive interview with Inquirer Entertainment, Arjo also talked about his highly publicized upcoming wedding with TV host and social media star Maine Mendoza. “Yes, we are expected to do another series,” said Arjo of “Cattleya Killer,” which is the first-ever Filipino series to be screened at the 2022 MIPCOM Cannes, a global market for entertainment content held annually in France. “Based on how it was explained to me by Sir Dodo (Dayao, writer), he already has a continuation to the story. Yes, there are a lot of questions left unanswered in the first season. The story is twisted, but subliminally, it discusses mental health,” Arjo explained. “Cattleya Killer,” with Dan Villagas at the helm, follows the intriguing investigation of a slew of murders by a copycat of an infamous serial killer who terrorized Manila two decades ago. Anton dela Rosa, the son of the cop who cracked this legendary case, becomes the prime suspect when past traumas and long-buried secrets are brought to light.

Arjo said he and the other Philippine delegates returned from France with valuable lessons from the experience. “It’s a must for an actor when given the opportunity to go there for a film. The only way to do that is to get into genre films, which are highly accepted in foreign countries. That’s another thing I learned and one thing we should push for—creating films in the horror, thriller and action genres.” “Another lesson is on how other countries design their film industries. They put up a hub that can generate these kinds of films generate in the sense that they are given help to get to wherever they want to go in any part of the globe. This is not to badmouth anyone I don’t mean any disrespect to those in the rom-com genre—but there are other directors from other genres who are hoping to be given the same opportunity to tell stories. That is definitely one important lesson, to create a hub that could help all filmmakers, particularly the independent ones.”

Source: inquirer.net