HOOQ: A ‘destination’ for Pinoy content

MANILA, Philippines - “In terms of awareness and acceptance, I think we’ve reached a lot of Filipinos,” replied Jane Cruz-Walker, HOOQ Philippines country manager, when asked about the milestones the video-on-demand service has achieved since its inception in 2015. “HOOQ is now the destination for Pinoy content,” she added. This is on top of the Hollywood and Asian catalogues HOOQ offers to its loyal subscribers. 

In two years’ time, Walker recalled, HOOQ as entertainment content provider “managed to get all the top studios to sign with (us) and to entrust to us all their content. I don’t think you will find a platform that (houses) all the top studios.” It’s a big achievement to get ABS-CBN and GMA 7 for local TV content and to acquire the entire library of Viva Films and Regal Films, plus HOOQ’s recent partnership with Reality Entertainment. These developments complement Walker’s faith in Filipino talent and its capacity to provide creative content.

“I think we have a lot of talents in terms of (providing and creating) content… we’re making Filipino content available not only to Filipinos, but also to non-Filipinos since HOOQ is present in other countries, (and) to Filipinos abroad.”

The presence of VOD service is also felt in Singapore, Thailand, India and Indonesia. It is an avenue to showcase cultural products (in the form of movies and TV shows) from the Philippines.

“In the industry, we always talk on how we can uplift for example the quality of content,” she said. “This is one platform where you can really have that opportunity because you can experiment, you can be daring, you can be bold. You are not limited (in exploring possibilities).” This is where Erik Matti’s On The Job (OTJ): The Series comes in as HOOQ’s first venture into producing original content. 

“We’ve got an overwhelming response… We’ve been talking to a lot of people,” Walker shared after HOOQ had expressed its intention to turn OTJ, the 2013 movie into a miniseries. “We can’t do them all at the same time. We want to do it right. Ayaw din namin ng sabay-sabay. Two years pa lang kami dito, we’re already doing original content.”

The trailer for HOOQ’s OTJ was released last year and the likes of Jake Macapagal, Teroy Guzman, Bela Padilla, Lou Veloso and Smokey Manaloto with Leo Martinez (as returning actor from the 2013 original crime thriller) were tapped to topbill the much-anticipated series.

“It’s going to be about corruption and media,” said Walker. “Tatawid. (The movie) will cross over. Let’s put it this way, the movie is complete. But there’s something there that will make you watch the series.” She preferred that the movie’s nitty-gritty like the storyline and the character arcs should come from direk Erik Matti.

So, HOOQ is bent to create OTJ, the sequel and OTJ, the miniseries. According to the people behind the video-on-demand service, it’s the first time that audiences will have a tandem of movie and series, which happens within a month. The movie will be released in August. The series is made up of five episodes.

Looking back, HOOQ has made a big leap from building a loyal base of subscribers to getting a strong partner in Globe. But it never loses its sight to its core — to have a strong content.

“We work really hard in making sure that we choose the right content,” said Walker. “You know the cost of content, which is very high. You need to balance it as well. There’s the business side of it. Considering the challenges, considering that we’ve only been in the industry for two years, I think for me (what we have done so far) is quite an achievement.”

Having celebrated HOOQ’s second anniversary, the video-on-demand service finds new ways to keep subscribers hooked. They include Transactional VOD and Subscription VOD, which brings movies to one’s home after their three-month theatrical release and allows one to enjoy a movie from the TVOD library every month at no additional cost, respectively. HOOQ assures subscribers of latest movies from the cinemas and TV series.

This resulted from HOOQ’s partnerships with Disney, Dreamworks, Lionsgate, Miramax, Pixar, Sony Pictures, Starz and Warner Bros., BBC and Endamol Shine and local networks and film studios. 

(To get easily HOOQ’d, download the HOOQ app from Apple Store or Google Play or to sign up for a seven-day free trial, visit www.hooq.tv.)