LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Members of the Loyola Film Circle (LFC) shoot a scene from this year’s Orsem film, a true exercise in student-produced filmmaking. Photo by Mario T. Dagdag
Two months away from graduation, senior communication major Gabby Quimel is faced with a crossroads: to start working for a big film production company—something he’s never considered before—or to stick to his original plan and start up his own production house.
It’s a familiar decision for many filmmakers. While working for large companies such as Star Cinema and Viva Entertainment would probably entail a bigger budget and paycheck, working independently would mean greater creative freedom.
Strangers to the film industry see the difficulty as a choice between two polar opposites: mainstream and independent filmmaking. After all, if one puts Cathy Garcia-Molina’s One More Chance beside Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay, the two would appear to have no similarities whatsoever.
But the truth is, there isn’t much of a difference when it comes to independent and mainstream filmmaking. The process involved in making a 20-minute short is still similar in many ways to that of an hour-long movie, though on a much shorter schedule. At the very least, the talent involved and the amount of coffee consumed would be almost identical on both sides.
It’s a reality that aspiring filmmakers fail to see at times. The line between these two supposed extremes isn’t sharply defined, so much so that experiences coincide, and paths intersect quite often—each, in their own ways, coming from that same fascination for film.
Cinematic origins
The intersection between indie and mainstream filmmaking isn’t restricted to the process involved. When it comes to an unrelenting passion for the silver screen, one’s love for the art outweighs any other criterion, be it financial stability or cinematic experience.
There are, however, some fortunate few who were born into the business. Take for instance movie producer Dondon Monteverde, whose family owns the established multi-genre production company Regal Films. Growing up in this almost 50-year-old production house, Monteverde claims, is what turned his initial disinterest in film into a lifelong fascination.
To this day, Monteverde is driven to live up to the challenge of pushing the boundaries of Philippine film with the movies he has produced, such as Gagamboy, Pa-siyam, and the recently released Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles.
On the other hand, there are those who have had to discover the joys of filmmaking for themselves. Quimel, now an intern at Manila Man Productions and assistant vice president for externals at the Loyola Film Circle (LFC), says that his first few encounters with film production had to do with video-making projects in high school. “It came easy to me to be creative,” he recalls.
There are also ventures like the student-piloted business 11:11 Productions, which handles various event photography and videography services. Conceived only last year, this brainchild of Ateneo sophomores Lyka Gonzales and Miko Ancheta was purely an accident. The two were simply doing requests for friends at first, but their love for the craft eventually developed and emerged stronger as time passed.
“It’s really fulfilling, the feeling of growth, since it’s not just the material side; it’s something that makes you happy,” Ancheta says in a mix of English and Filipino, recalling the origin and motivation behind their independent business.
Despite these vastly different beginnings, the reel keeps on turning. As with any art form, the challenge of capturing moments is a pursuit these filmmakers all share. In truth, filmmaking isn’t just about what the audience sees—there’s much more to capture behind the camera’s glare.
The chromatic experience
Film production entails colossal amounts of work. Whichever angle you’re coming from, it will always be long and winding, through pre-production and script-staging, down to finalizing and promoting. This cannot be avoided—making movies requires filmmakers to go the extra mile, whether as an independent producer or as a big-time name.
Erik Matti, a director for Reality Entertainment and a partner of Monteverde, is firm in this belief. “If it’s cinema, and it’s enjoyed on widescreen, you have an obligation to bring the audience into a different world,” he says, “to an experience they haven’t seen.”
The practice of capturing film still diverges in a number of ways depending on the context, however. While established names such as Regal have a whole team of seasoned producers, directors, and creative artists to produce output that appeals to all audiences, students and amateurs have to do the work all by themselves.
This seeming disadvantage doesn’t exactly bother the likes of Ancheta and Gonzales. For them, the final packaging is the same as placing a signature on a work of art—a name and style that is both distinctly theirs. Ancheta expounds on this, saying how active minds and novel ideas are valuable qualities that professionals look for in fresh graduates.
As for Quimel, he opens himself to learning what he can from both inside the Ateneo and outside of it. For him, since the pressure is what distinctly sets the two realms apart, there is much worth to practicing while in college. “It’s a good training ground,” he says. “That’s the biggest difference.”
Of course, this contrast leaves greater expectations on the shoulders of established auteurs, along with smaller room for error. That is to say, the challenge is not just in creating a unique idea to go against the grain—financial matters must, inevitably, be taken into account. “You sink the boat if you don’t make money,” Monteverde explains.
At the end of it all, the diversity of their contributions to film is what keeps local cinematic culture alive and thriving. Through this, the industry grows alongside its members, and in remarkable detail, too—all the way from where they came from, up to the very choices they’ve made.
Split decisions
Although things will definitely change along with the passing of time, Quimel still chooses to encounter film on his own for as long as he can.
Young filmmakers Ancheta and Gonzales wholeheartedly agree with Quimel’s decision to stay independent. The pair, being visual artists from the start, enjoys having the freedom to create and package their material the way they want to. “If you’re on the indie side, or if you have your own production house, or if you have a different style basically, you stand out as your own,” explains Ancheta, in a mix of English and Filipino.
A more experienced Monteverde, on the other hand, didn’t have much of a choice when it came to professional independence. Being raised, fed and educated by moviemaking, Monteverde found himself facing a different set of choices: whether to inherit his family’s legacy or to create his own.
Today, it appears that Monteverde has managed to choose both. After eight years of working with Regal Films, Monteverde set up Revolver Studios, a production house that specializes in TV commercials, and Post Manila, a postproduction company. His latest venture, Reality Entertainment, is a monument to cinema, his first love.
“I think the market is just waiting for people to go out of the box and do different things,” says Monteverde, who hopes to veer his future projects away from the stereotypical Filipino fare, with movies like the aforementioned Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles and the soon-to-be-released OTJ.
Perhaps, then, Quimel and other young filmmakers are just what the market has been waiting for to bring new ideas into the age-old industry. “I thought I would learn more when I go work outside, [but] I’m still learning a lot here in school,” admits Quimel, who intends to make the best of the few months of college he has left. At the moment, there’s something about being an underdog that appeals to him, as he is inclined to the idea of sticking with Manila Man Productions and helping them make it big.
Climbing to the top
“It always helps when you start out from the ranks, from the bottom of the ladder,” Matti constantly tells his trainees. Coming from someone who started out in the local industry as a continuity advisor—someone in charge of making sure all the details of a shot are exactly the same as the last—and who presently has several commercials and 12 movies under his belt, this is pretty sound advice.
In a way, this is exactly what Quimel and 11:11 Productions are doing. They may not be working for companies with big names, but they are their own directors, producers, writers and continuity advisors. Independently or not, they’re slowly working their way to the top of the industry. With those at the proverbial top determined to change the industry at present, it’s difficult to tell what will happen in the next five years, let alone the next 50.
“I wish meron akong madirect na maganda in the future. (I wish I could direct something good in the future.),” Quimel puts simply.
Taken from this perspective, it could be said that the contrasting sides of local cinema are but different angles of the same picture. After all, it is the love for film that pushes each forward, competitively or otherwise, despite their different directions.
At the same time, it is also this same love for film that unites the contrasts between the two—and in its place, there is a mutual cultivation of the Philippines’ culture on the big screen.
With reports from Bea V. Sigua
