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During the pandemic, the BL (boys love) series became a hit among Pinoy viewers because it's readily available online.

Despite restrictions at the time, director Ivan Payawal successfully created Gameboys (2020), which gave more popularity to its lead actors Kokoy De Santos and Elijah Canlas. Likewise, director Xion Lim grew his YouTube channel by creating BL projects such as My Day (2020) and Our Story (2023).

But now that almost everything has gone back to normal when it comes to TV and movie production, is BL still popular?

At the special screening of his new series titled Sky Valley, Xion Lim admitted that the production of the BL series has lessened over the past year. However, he said that there are viewers who are still interested in such a genre.

He said, “Sa ngayon kasi, talagang meron pa rin talaga and kaunti lang talaga ang gumagawa. As you see, siguro sa mga BL sa mga ibang bansa, tuluy-tuloy pa rin.

“Ako, gusto ko pa rin ipagpatuloy yung representation ng Philippines din sa BL world kasi marami pa rin talagang nag-aabang ng magagandang kuwento.

“Of course, challenging lang din talaga ang paggawa ng online content sa ngayon. I guess, there are a few remaining na talagang nagsu-survive pa rin. Yun naman ang advocacy ko, na tuluy-tuloy pa rin akong gagawa at libre siyang mapapanood.”

For his part, it was challenging because he is a one-man team in producing a BL series.

“Actually, sa akin, ang dami ko pang bagong ideas, bagong kuwento, na gusto kong ituloy-tuloy. Medyo mahirap lang on my part kasi ako sa equipment, ako nag-e-edit, ako ang nagsho-shoot, scoring and everything. Gusto ko kasi mas hands-on ako, mas natututukan, ever since na nag-start na ako,” he stated.

Like Xion, fellow director Ivan Payawal admitted that fewer BL series were being produced after the pandemic.

““If I'm completely honest, medyo kumonti ang mga gumagawa ngayon ng BL. Medyo kumonti but hindi naman siya tumigil. Meron pa rin akong nakikitang mga content na palabas.

“Kami ngayon, mayroon pa rin, yung Pretty Boys. At least, napapagpatuloy pa rin yung sinimulan noong pandemic. Hindi lang siguro kasing ipag noong pandemya pero, at least, meron pa ring gumagawa at yun naman ang importante,” he told GMANetwork.com during the press conference of his new BL series, Pretty Boys, held recently.

The said program is also Ivan's comeback project in the BL genre.

He said, “To be honest, I was very nervous going back to the genre kasi nga yung last kong ginawa was Gameboys 'tapos itong Pretty Boys. But I enjoyed doing this one with these three actors. It's such a refreshing experience for me. Siguro iniisip ko, the young Ivan na nagkakaroon ng identity crisis noong time na yun, when I was in high school, probably the kid inside me was so happy doing this one. Kasi, ang iniisip ko lang talaga is parang kapag napanood ito ng marami, the young ones, it would be easier for them.”

Pretty Boys features actors Markus Paterson, Tommy Alejandrino, Kiel Aguilar. While newbie actor James Lucero joins Tim Tuppil on Sky Valley.

Meanwhile, here are other actors who starred in a BL series: