Your favorite Pinoy Big Brother Connect love teams bring thrice the romance in Star Magic Studio’s maiden film venture “Connected.”

Ralph Malibunas and Gail Banawis will join Kobie Brown and Andi Abaya, and Chico Alicaya and Amanda Zamora in the movie that chronicles the struggles of young adults, such as feelings of isolation, in a connected world.

Gail plays the ‘astig’ Fil-Am musician Fin, who finds love in the process of searching for something. And that love arrives through the character played by Ralph. Gail did not reveal too much about the story but she hinted about their kissing scene, which was a challenge for an NBSB (no boyfriend since birth).

According to director Theodore Boborol, Gail made the kiss appear believable despite zero real-life experience. Workshops that include intimate exercises, plus Direk Ted’s vision and Ralph’s gentlemanly ways were her only guide.

For Direk Ted, he embraces his calling to introduce neophytes through his movies, fulfilled to help newcomers achieve their dreams. He’s not one to question the management’s choices anyway. Rather, Direk Ted gets to know the artists to see what the producers saw in them. “Tinitingnan ko bakit sila ‘yung tinatayaan. Para malaman ko ‘yun, I try to find kung ano ‘yung pinaka-positive, strength nila, ‘yun ang gusto kong i-magnify on screen for people to love them,” shared he.

In keeping with the movie’s theme, Gail and Direk Ted shared their thoughts about “disconnecting to connect.” Gail is drawn to the idea of creating balance between loving oneself and loving others, “In order to be genuine or openly love other people, kailangan mo rin mahalin ang sarili mo. So, you disconnect from others, connect with yourself, so you can have a good connection to other people.”

Admittedly, Direk Ted is sometimes eaten up by social media interactions and ends up being disconnected from the real world. “I surf the internet before sleeping and after I wake up,” a habit he is trying to break. He underscored the need to unwind from the virtual world from time to time, “Nami-miss ko pa rin ‘yung interpersonal connections. Iba pa rin’ pag face-to-face interaction.”

“Connected” will be streaming this July 22 on KTX, iWantTFC, TFC IPTV video-on-demand, and SKY Cable.