Pre-production Reality Entertainment, an independent Filipino production company that was established in late 2005, began producing
Happy Times in 2018. The project was headed by its executive producer Dondon
Monteverde, who had produced several critically acclaimed films including
On the Job in 2013 and
BuyBust in 2018. In the movie, it tackles courtship in the social media generation: the message of the movie is that it's important that you have a social media presence... but at a time of social media relevance, even the things that are supposed to be in private are shown in public... It's very important for me that there is an underlying message at the end of the movie: that love can be something that you're proud of or love is something that you keep for yourself. — G3 San Diego
Happy Times was first developed in 2018: G3 San Diego and Dondon Monteverde discussed their plans for Rivero's solo project. This marked Rivero's first starring movie. According to G3, it was a special request from Dondon Monteverde to create a story specifically for Rivero. Monteverde told G3 to make a film for Ricci Rivero and the song would be "How Can I". G3, then, met with Idanan at a story conference in 2019 to further talk about their plans. G3 San Diego has been a writer for 21 years; both G3 and San Pedro's first
teleserye was
Krystala. G3 describes
Happy Times as a "first-love coming-of-age kind of movie". When asked about her inspiration to write the film, G3 answered: "I think as a writer, everything that you write comes from a certain experience... When I was crafting it, I was very cognizant of the fact that I wanted to create a perfect boyfriend... and I just looked for his intersection with Ricci. From then, I was able to come up with three concepts." Multi-awarded filmmaker Ice Idanan just recently branched out from indie films to mainstream filmmaking. She marked her first mainstream movie in
Regal Entertainment's 2019 film titled
Stranded.
Happy Times was her first mainstream movie under Reality Entertainment.
Casting and development Ricci Rivero has always been wanting to pursue his acting career aside from being a well-known varsity player in the Philippines. He stated: "Ever since, I always wanted something new to do. I always get attracted to [and] enjoy watching Tagalog films." He had his first acting project in the
2018 Metro Manila Film Festival entry
OTLUM, which took place after he left the
De La Salle Green Archers in April 2018. Rivero then returned to playing basketball for another year and joined the
University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 82 as part of the
UP Fighting Maroons collegiate varsity basketball team. He had been receiving several TV and film offers after his first film, though he declined them all so he could concentrate on his basketball commitment. Days after the end of the UAAP season in 2019, however, Rivero announced that he will be back in the big screen. On November 26, 2019, Rivero confirmed via Twitter that he will be having a new acting project with Reality Entertainment, although no other details were given about it. This would be his second project as an actor a year after his acting debut in 2018. In an interview, he mentioned that he enjoyed doing films and that he appreciated the craft more, leading him to want to further experience performing in front of the cameras. In contrast with the
OTLUM's horror theme, however, he wanted to try doing action films in the future as he already has a background in taekwondo. He is also open to working with anyone who is willing to help him and wherein he can learn something from the project. In another interview of the same year, he reiterated his upcoming movie project and that it will start rolling by January. His future leading lady, Sharlene San Pedro, was also brought up during the interview regarding their fans' support of their team-up. Rivero mentioned that they have not really met nor talked personally, though he expressed: "thank you to those who appreciated us even though we haven't had any projects together". At this time the rest of the cast was yet to be confirmed. Afterward, he appeared in iWant's digital documentary series "Dayories", which emphasizes collegiate players' real-life stories in hopes to inspire the younger generation. On January 27, 2020, G3 announced through her Twitter account the inclusion of three other leads, namely San Pedro, Peralejo, and Feliciano. On a separate interview, the team mentioned that the cast did not go through auditions, but was specifically chosen for their roles. Idanan added that it feels like the film characters were specifically written for the cast and it suits them so well. During the press conference in December 2021,
Philippine Daily Inquirer journalist Allan Policarpio asked the cast's sentiments with their characters and how they relate to them: San Pedro said her similarities with Toni include her not being girly and people misunderstanding her sexuality; Rivero said he is family-oriented, and he is not overly confident nor proud compared to Kim; Unlike George, Peralejo is close with her real sibling and there are people handling her social media accounts.
Filming Principal photography on the film began in early February 2020 in the Philippines, and was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2020. In March 2020, after the Philippine film and TV industry had started halting filming production due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Reality Entertainment decided to stop most of its operations and projects as well starting on the 15th. The cast and crew, thus, had to reschedule the rest of the film shooting. According to Rivero, "there are three days left for
Happy Times shooting, and the remaining shots are the major scenes". Around the same time that the TV and film production ban was lifted and the new rules were implemented in June, Rivero confirmed that
Happy Times production will resume and that he yearned for the completion of the film. In mid-October, production manager Mark Salamat announced San Pedro's request to resume the shoot in January 2021 for safety reasons. During this time, San Pedro was busy with her academics: she was finishing her school thesis while completing her
on-the-job training in March 2020. However, she is still active in the entertainment and the
video game industry, including signing a contract with Yellow Room Music in August to further her music career, hosting "Ambagets: Ambagan ng Bagets" alongside
Miles Ocampo via the Kumu app, streaming and "amassing a respectable number of followers on [her] gaming-dedicated Facebook page", as well as collaborating with the ''Don't Blame the Kids
(DBTK) clothing brand and Call of Duty: Mobile'' (CODM) mobile game for their streetwear collection. While the film was put on hold and the
UAAP Season 83 was canceled, Rivero went on doing other television projects such as a regular hosting gig for a time and miniseries via
TV5's
Sunday Noontime Live! and
Gen Z, respectively, by the end of the year. He also appeared in
Erik Matti's 2021 horror film
Rabid. On the other hand, Peralejo released her debut single "Nahulog Na Puso" in 2020 under Star Pop. Subsequently, the crew was scheduled to finish the shoot in March and May, respectively, as discussed during their pre-production meetings via
Zoom; though the dates were pushed back once again Filming resumed at the end of July 2021 and was wrapped on August 1, 2021. The remaining scenes were shot by director Joel Ferrer. Rivero noted that he enjoyed doing the film because he wanted to entertain his fans, who, he says, can relate to the characters of the movie. Idanan also guided him in making the film, which allowed him to be comfortable with the team. He said: "At first, it was really hard. Direk Ice was consistently motivating me. 'You can do it. Get some rest. Let's pray.'" Working with the cast, particularly San Pedro and Peralejo, was also fun, according to him. Rivero stated: "It feels like we are just playing in the set". He further explained how his two leading ladies were very professional at work. Since San Pedro and Peralejo are both seasoned actresses, they helped him on how to act in front of the camera. In another interview, he stated, "While the director is my coach, my costars are my teammates. If I'm having a hard time, I ask them what's the best way to deliver a line, or how to react to what the other characters are doing. I had many questions and they made sure to help and guide me." Post-production started as early as February 2020. In September 2021, Idanan confirmed that Editor's cut was finished.
Happy Times was three years in the making.
Music Gwyneth Dorado, who was part of ''
Asia's Got Talent Season 1'''s grand finalists, is the singer behind the songs featured in the film. Mark Salamat asked Ice Idanan if they wanted to create a theme song for the film. He, then, recommended the then new-and-upcoming artist, Dorado. Idanan agreed and told him how she wanted the lyrics to convey the premise of the story. A day later, Dorado had completed both the lyrics and the melody of the song titled "Shooting Stars". The studio version of the song was released on December 21, 2021, via
YouTube. Other songs featured in the film are "For You" and "Home", which are also produced and performed by Dorado. ==Release and Promotion==