Vic Sotto takes a break from doing daddy roles in new sitcom 'Open 24/7'
Need a good dose of laughter every Saturday primetime?
Watch for the newest comedy show offering of GMA Network, in partnership with M-Zet productions, titled Open 24/7. The sitcom, which features Vic Sotto, Jose Manalo, and Maja Salvador, will premiere on May 27 after #MPK.
Its grand media conference, which was held on Monday, May 8, at Seda Hotel in Quezon City, was attended by Kapuso executives led by GMA Network Inc. Senior Vice President for Programming, Talent Management, Worldwide, and Support Groups Atty. Annette Gozon-Valdes, Sparkle Assistant Vice President Joy Marcelo and Sparkle Senior Talent Manager Tracy Garcia.
Before the panel interview with the cast of the comedy show, First Vice President of Program Management Department Joey Abacan gave his opening remarks and talked about the long and strong relationship of the Kapuso Network with Vic Sotto and M-Zet Productions.
Mr. Abacan shared to the press, “Nakakatuwa lang dahil, I think, ang dami natin ginawa Bossing ever since you started with us with Okay Ka Fairy Ko, we had 1 for 3 and then recently, natapos na ang Daddy's Gurl. May forever tayo Bossing.
“Ang M-Zet (Productions) naging partner ng GMA for such a longtime already. Hopefully, we are going to be doing more, more partnerships.
“Thank you very much for the wonderful cast. This has been handpicked by the production [and by] JR Reyes, who is actually directing.”
Boss EZ and Mikaela
Open 24/7 is a story about Boss EZ (played by Vic), a reluctant, socially awkward guy who finds himself in charge of a convenience store.
Multi-awarded comedian Vic Sotto, whom we've seen portray the role of Barak Otogan in the recently concluded Daddy's Gurl, discussed how his role as Boss EZ will be different this time around.
Bossing Vic explained, “Pinaka-role ko rito kung paano makiki-interact sa dalawang generations- Millennial at 'yung mga Gen Z. Alam naman natin iba na ang pananaw ng mga kabataan ngayon, 'di ba? It's more of parang papaano ka makiki-interact sa mga Gen Z, mga millennial. May kaniya-kaniya ng idea na yan, e. So, 'yung dynamics nung show is bukod dun sa nangyayari sa loob ng convenience store.
“It's Open 24/7 [kasi] is ang location niyan is a convenience store na pag-aari naming dalawa ng kapatid ko na si Jose [Manalo].”
“'Yung character ko rito as the boss [Boss EZ] supposedly the boss nung convenience store. Ito 'yung aking mga tauhan, mga kasama. 'Tapos si Maja [Salvador], so iba! Iba ang magiging personalidad ko dito. Usually sa Daddy's Gurl, ako 'yung tatay, daddy. Ganun din sa Daddy Di Do Du, daddy rin. So, right now medyo aalis muna ako sa daddy roles. Kumbaga e, ano lang 'to dabarkads role.”
Meanwhile, Maja Salvador, dubbed as the Majestic Superstar, will play the role of the kikay Mikaela on Open 24/7.
This will be the first Kapuso show of the award-winning actress. At the media conference, she was beaming with excitement as she related to the entertainment media what made her say “yes” to this big project.
“Para bigyan ko lang din po kayo ng background kung bakit ko tinanggap ito,h indi lang siyang basta 'yung nagawa ko ng role dati. Challenging din ito for me. Ang character name ko dito si Mikaela, isang kikay, maarte na babae.” she explained.
“Lahat sila magagandahan kay Mikaela, pero hindi nila alam kung ano'ng ganda o hindi maganda darating po sa convenience store. Guguluhin ko 'yung mundo nung convenience store without them knowing.”
She added that the creative team, together with their director JR Reyes, was able to answer her question about how she will tackle her role, which led her to accept the show.
“We had meeting sila Miss Ruth, our head writer; Kuya Randy Reyes; and of course our director, JR Reyes. 'Tapos, pinakuwento ko kung paano nila gusto 'yung ganitong atake ko dito, sa ganito ganiyan.
“So nandun 'yung sitcom, but challenging for me. So nandoon pa rin 'yung kakailangan pa rin- kailangan ko pa talagang umarte.”
“May tanong nga ako, e. Because sa ibang bansa, may comedy series sila na comedy, pero hindi sitcom. Hindi 'yung dito na puwede ka mag-adlib anytime.
“So may ganun pa ako, ano bang atake natin? Ganitong series ba like ibang bansa o sitcom talaga, Pinoy sitcom 'yun so may ganun kami. And 'yun 'yung nagpa-“oo” sa akin nung nasagot nila 'yung mga tanong ko.”
Currently, Maja is in the midst of preparing for her wedding with fiancé, entrepreneur Rambo Nuñez Ortega. Despite her hectic schedule, she still felt the strong urge to do this project no matter what.
“So kahit may kasal na mangyayari, ewan ko, napaka-workaholic ko. 'Yung passion ko sa pag-arte, parang kailangan ko ibigay 'yun sa sarili ko parang 'yun 'yung bumubuhay sa dugo ko.”
Maja and Rambo got engaged in April 2022.
