Adventures in the Off World

Voila!

2010-05-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Mateo Guez brings "Off World" to Cannes. Here he is looking dapper on the beach.

Good News

2010-05-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Here's where we're at right now, a year and a half after principal photography ended:

Off World had it's North American premiere as opening night film at the 10th Reel World Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. Director Mateo Guez was there to represent, of course. (He sent me a pic, but my email account was hacked!)

The film was well received and won the Outstanding Candian Feature at the festival. Congratulations to Mateo Guez and Byron Wong (Producer/Composer)! We are very proud of you guys for battling it out there.

Off World will screen at the 20th In and Out Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Toronto at the end of May. In June, the film will be at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, "the longest running and widely recognized LGBT film exhibition event in the world."

Finally, the film was selected to be part of the TeleFilm Perspective Canada programme in Cannes 2010.

Amazing!

(More details can be viewed www.theoffworld.com.)

The children are also doing well. Julia Nebrija, our location manager, reports that beside the SMPC office in Paradise Heights in Tondo, the kids have started an urban garden and their very own mini co-op. They are growing their own vegetables and learning about saving money.

Remember Natalie? When we were shooting, she was a toddler. Here she is at the Children's Museum in Manila on April 22nd at the Earth Day celebration. Aside from tree planting and t-shirt printing, they were asked to write poems about nature.

Natalie made a drawing since she wasn't sure about the poem--but most of the other kids wrote about taking care of the environment and not throwing trash everywhere. Certainly that's good news.

Love from Manila.

with still a million things to say: dispatches from brazil

2009-10-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce that "Off World" was premiered at the 33rd Sao Paolo International Film Festival in Brazil.

There were over a hundred people at the screening and a half hour Q&A with director Mateo Guez after.

Yay!!!

indie spirits

2009-07-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging out at the CCP this past week for Cinemalaya, the independent film festival now on it's fifth year. Some of the amazingly talented people who worked on Off World have films this year at the festival.

Leeroy New, my forever set crush and award winning artist, was the production designer for Engkwentro. I heard he had to construct a slum for their shoot. Here's Leeroy in top form:

Ms. Irma Adlawan plays Fe in Ang Panggahasa Kay Fe (The Rapture of Fe). Amazing. We spent hours hanging out in the dinky blue van, our makeshift holding area on the set. Not a word of complaint from this woman, who is not only an exceptional actress but also a lovely person.

And of course Che Ramos in her first lead role as Laya Marquez in Mangatyanan (Blood Trail). She really went for it! Three cheers for Che!

Bravo, guys. I'm proud of you.

saints preserve us

2009-05-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

May 22 is the feast day of Saint Rita, who is kind of my favorite because she's the advocate for impossible causes. When things are tough, good old Santa Rita keeps me going.

So I dragged Mateo to San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila where they celebrate high mass on her feast day. Although he's Jewish, I thought his half-Catholic side would enjoy it. There were roses, candles, a brass band, and a nice breeze outside the church.

Again, children everywhere. This time with candles for the parade. Photo by Mateo Guez.

Here she comes. They parade her around town once a year.

Mateo getting into the spirit of things.

A nice evening in Intramuros.

And even if the movie itself is almost, almost, almost done, this war is far from over.

our day with irma

2009-05-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that the behind-the-scenes documentary is moving along. Mateo and I drove to the Roadrunner facility in Quezon City to do the voice over recording with our favorite actress.

Ms. Irma Adlawan, who plays Lucky's mother, in the studio with us to narrate the behind-the-scenes documentary.

Ironically, Irma has no speaking lines in the movie. But she needs no words to bring us to tears.

Done in 2 hours flat. She's amazing!

keep on truckin' (part 1)

2009-05-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

A week ago from today, Mateo and I hopped on a plane (delayed of course) to Palawan. Landing in Busuanga, we took a two hour boat ride out to The Calamianes. Our destination: Mangenguey Island (www.mangenguey.com). Here's Mateo documenting his trip:

Our hostess on Mangenguey, the inimitable Helena Carratala Mander.

We had nineteen hours of behind-the-scenes footage from principal photography last December. It's been fun to watch it and it's challenging to put together.

Mateo also needed a mini break from the madness of making this movie, so we make it a point to chill. We sat on the dock and sunned, ate Helena's fabulous food, swam in the salty Palawan waters and brainstormed. Suddenly the next chapter in this adventure became a lot clearer.

And so the plot thickens.

On our last day, our hostess took us out on the boat for a sunset spin. Everytime I go this part of the country, I'm awed by how lovely it can be. Mateo enjoyed himself, I think maybe fancied himself The Boatman.

Mateo flies back to Toronto this evening. While he was here we talked to a lot of people: those who worked tirelessly with us, those who helped us, those we want to help.

I think we're both aware of how awesome the ride has been so far, and how amazing it's going to be.

Trailer's Up

2009-05-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

I just figured out how to post the trailer. Yay.

Anyway, here you go:

back in town

2009-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here he is, Mateo Guez.

Behind the Scenes

2009-03-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Finally finished digitizing the tapes of Juan with Jason. My eyes are blurry. How strange to be watching everything three months later. Was it only last December?It feels like years ago.

Actually, it was a pretty intense ten days shooting in Tondo. Sure we were tired and unglamorous and sometimes crabby but after watching the tapes, I saw that we were relaxed, fairly happy, and efficient enough to get everything done on schedule. And you know what--we had fun: Marc and his wisecracks, Julia's karaoke moments, Leeroy making strange faces, everyone spontaneously breaking out into song and dance, enjoying Trisha's gourmet meals in the middle of nowhere.

It wasn't a picnic making this movie, but it was far from being a nightmare.

Here's Mateo taking a two-minute power nap .

Watched the sunset from Jason's editing suite. Sat from ten am to twelve midnight. Now that we've seen all the footage, the real work begins...

Flash Back

2009-03-17T00:44:00.001-07:00

Today I woke up to a rainy morning in March and drove through the slushy streets of Manila to meet with Jason Tan, editor for our behind-the-scenes documentary. Jason is a ninja-slash-all around sweetheart and he's going to help us come up with a kick ass docu. Juan of course shot all the footage. Nineteen tapes baby.

Here's Jason:

First Look

2009-03-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

This arrived in the mail today. Finally, after months of waiting--the rough cut of the film is here!

I'm watching it tonight in Alabang. I need a dark, air conditioned room, a good t.v. and a nice-ish sound system.

I still can't believe we made a movie.

age of aquarius

2009-02-03T15:38:00.000-08:00

4 February 2009

Happy birthday Mateo!

Love from the Manila Crew

Toy Drive Updates part IV

2008-12-22T21:50:00.001-08:00

Tammy David sent a bunch of Happy Meal Toys for the drive. How cool is that? Thanks Tammy!

Tomorrow the toys will be picked up just in time for the Christmas party at Aroma dump.

Toy Drive Updates part III

2008-12-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

Today a huge box of toys arrived from Hong Kong. It was so large Lyn Lyn could fit into it.

A huge thank you to Miss Jenny Shum who organized everything in HK and sent the box to me!

We're donating the toys to a non-profit organization based in Aroma Dump site. One day we were shooting there and I met Ben Compton who works with Kuya Manuel and Ate Victoria--they are setting up a day care center. These toys are going to make it just in time for the party on the 24th. Yay!

Happy holidays!

out takes and deleted scenes

2008-12-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

The dust has settled, the mud has been washed off our boots, and the numbers have been crunched. I spent the weekend eating, sleeping, and playing with the poodles. Since I am now a woman of leisure (well, relatively), I had time to go through the photos from my crappy little digital camera. There are lots I didn't post, so here they are in random order.

Children everywhere.

Entrance to Temporary Housing. Note the mule on left side.

The boys vying for Che's attention.

Mateo planning out the shot in Building 28.

It's time to put on makeup, it's time to light the lights...

Busy Juan.

Che doubles as a makeup artist for Yancy.

Lao in his red jersey dress.

Number 21.

The Senoras of Building 28.

The gang takes a break by the water.

The "gypsy" hooked up and pimped out.

Mud, glorious mud. I pretended it was the kind used for spa treatments.

Here's Noi. He is mysterious and silent.

Discussions, discussions. Probably in French.

Francois doing his thing.

Mateo said, "Take a picture of me with the dolly. For my mother."

The smoke gets in your eyes, your nose, your hair, your clothes. Even my sunglasses smelled of smoke.

Fe from the Co-op and her youngest, Bim.

Alvin Salamat, the classiest gay on the block! He's an amazing person.

If you're fond of sunsets and salty air...

Nice shirt, Juan!

The lovely Irma Adlawan and Mateo on the way to Smokey.

This is me getting loopy. Fucking eye bags.

Set Crush Leeroy, our very own Dumpster Mod.

The shitty dock, my favorite spot in all of Tondo.

it's a wrap

2008-12-12T00:07:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a small wrap party at Penguin in Malate. Fun times! Everyone was there: cast, crew, and various friends. It was very laid back, with peanuts, cold beers, and good music. It also doubled as a mini despedida for Julia, who flew to Florida this morning. The Frenchies are gone, too.

It's been strangely quiet. It's a gloomy day and so far I've spent it in bed--reading, sleeping, and eating Cheetos. Oh, bliss.

I still can't quite believe we pulled it off. Of course, we had a group of amazingly talented people working on this film. Everyone was exactly the right person for the job. Also we had the support and good wishes of family and friends all over the world.

Mateo and I were sitting in the car yesterday, driving through Manila holiday traffic and talking about how this whole experience. It's is kind of a minor miracle. "I felt like I was in the middle of a battle and there were bullets all around, but we were somehow protected from them," he said.

I'm sure the adventure is far from over.

Last Night of Shooting

2008-12-10T21:52:00.000-08:00

Random order. Too frazzled with receipts and accounting plus hardly slept. I'm a walking disaster today.
Dawn and I were wondering what kind of creature this is.
Marc and Che on the steps.

Mr. Dagenais waits for the cable.

Leeroy transformed the room into a restaurant.

Writing pages of script.

I love the floating jelly fish lamps!

Close up of jelly fish lamp.

Marc trims his facial hair. So attractive.

Chicken tikka and couscous! Yay.

The Last Supper.
The unit in Quiapo watching play back.

Quipo candle ladies.

Here we are in Quiapo.

El Hogar.

Gorgeous building across. Old HSBC building I think.

Good work Art Dept!

Wrap party tonight.

C'est Fini

2008-12-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

It's a quarter to six and I am surprisingly awake. I know I'll be a super crabby bitch tomorrow but I'll try to get some sleep. After all, we're wrapped. Ten days of shooting in the can. I'm dead tired but happy. We've shot an amazing film and I'm very proud of it.

Pictures from the last day to be posted at a decent hour.

Shiny Happy People

2008-12-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

Random shots of cast and crew on our last day in Smokey Mountain...

We flew kites over the co-op.

Julia is like Princess Diana in Smokey Mountain.

Art Dept. outdid themselves with the kites...

While Francois climbs old Smokey Mountain.

Leeroy has a blast flying the kites... And so does Noi (below).

Julia and her favorite kite.

Juan's eye view in the dump site.

Dawn and Leeroy compare tan lines.

Kirara and Caio trampoline on the bed springs. Boing Boing Boing.

Dawn folds up her sleeves and tries to even out her tan.

Mateo annoys Kirara on the set.

Look I'm in the mud!

Caio gets a little loving from Marc.

Down in the Dump

2008-12-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

We finished our last scene at Aroma Dump yesterday. I actually like the Dump out of all our Smokey Mountain locations. The trash is picturesque and the people are chill.

Mabuhay from Aroma Dump site!

Francois in his bright orange shirt.

Kirara with Julia and Mateo. This kid is hilarious--totally unimpressed with Mateo's charm.

Leeroy on the job.

The cutest butt in Smokey Mountain 2008.

Art Department setting up the plastic sheets.

There are bed springs everywhere. And trash.

Stepping on the plastic.

Getting ready for take.

Kiddies.
Dawn and Julia play Jack and Jill.

Class Picture! Yay. Note Kirara holding the clapper.

hellong dolly

2008-12-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

We had a two hundred foot dolly shot this morning. Mateo radioed Dawn to send me down from the van so that I could document it for the blog. Voila!

You're looking swell, Dolly...

tracks

and more tracks

We had some nice curves this morning

and still more tracks

Packing up the dolly

The RS boys who set it all up--it took two hours in the dark and the mud. Good job, guys!

El Hogar or Mosquito Central

2008-12-09T00:51:00.000-08:00

We're out of Tondo and moving into Quiapo and Binondo tomorrow. I love the Quiapo markets thanks to walking around with Carlos there all the time. That's going to be exciting for sure.

Then there's El Hogar, that beautifully decrepit old building on the banks of the Pasig River. It was built in 1911 and survived World War II. Mateo and Francois love the building and I do too but it's very musty and dank and there's a gazillion mosquitoes. Of course it will seem like the Shangri-la compared to Smokey.

This building has gorgeous bones.

The staircase is so elegant.

Not a lot of tenants, as you can imagine.

It's also a bit creepy.

Hmm. I'm bringing sandalwood incense cones and lots of organic anti-mosquito oil.

One Day To Go

2008-12-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

Day Nine started at 3 am. We were already running late (Filipino time, as I explained to Mateo) and then when we got to the dock, the bankas we ordered were gone with the wind. And then there was a huge ass garbage barge parked exactly where we wanted to film. Argh.

Of course, it all entailed major pakiusap very early in the morning. Armed with our super tanod Mang George, I had to wake up Jerry, the guy in charge of moving the barge. Mateo was a bit stressed because we were under time pressure to catch the sunrise. We thought of renting the tugboat for a couple of hours but the guy in charge of tugboat affairs--some dude named Rudy--was nowhere to be found. Oh well. Dawn eventually found the bankas and they had to travel all the way from Navotas to get to us in Tondo. Apparently they were docked since last night but since the waves were strong, they feared getting smashed on the rocks. Hmm. I can't really argue with that.

I was feeling a bit nauseated this morning after all the banka business, so I took a moment and sat on the dock alone with my Mini Maglite. I tried to imagine what it looked like when it was a small fishing village before all the trash came. I've seen the sunset from there and it's gorgeous. A hundred years ago, there must have been a lovely little beach and clean sea-breezy air.

The sun eventually came up and we got the shot we wanted and it was the start of a beautiful morning.

I thought I could not last the day but here I am fourteen hours later--feeling elated that Day Nine is over and we are done with shooting in Smokey Mountain.

Two Days To Go

2008-12-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

We are 80% percent done. Understandably, tempers are flaring and we're all tired. But still, the shoot is relatively relaxed and going well. Today we wrapped at 7.30pm after a nice dinner of fish, mushrooms, and brown rice.

Also, we shot the last scene in the Temporary Housing area. I never ever want to go back there again.

I can't believe we've come this far.

Julia and Marc in the mobile home.

Tired and hungry. Trisha outdid herself with the dinner tonight. Super delicious and healthy! No fried pork chops for us.

Our hot boys on the set.

Day Seven Finished

2008-12-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

Marc is such a sport. And a sweetheart.

Ernie and Bert.

Our garden kids had colored plastic bags wrapped around their feet.

It's that kind of day.

Leeroy steals a doll from a child.

***

Tonight is the Syquia Christmas party and my neighbors have a jazz band covering "Rock Around the Clock" right now. It's that kind of night. I'm exhausted.

But Julia and I made an effort to get into our party dresses and venture forth into the building. I'm glad I did because Caliph was spinning downstairs at The Living Room. It's a great party but I'll quit while I'm ahead.

Today was poignant and tiring, kind of surreal. Every day is a new adventure and a different kind of battle. I need to get some sleep.

***

Day Six Done

2008-12-05T16:22:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was pretty tough for everyone. We shot our last scenes in Paradise Heights.

So it's officially Day Seven, dubbed "Mother's Day" by Dawn. We have Irma Adlawan Marasigan on set today. She's amazing, I can't wait to see her work with Marc and Lao (who was her student at some point.)

We're moving to the Temporary Housing area and Aroma Dump Site which are even more hardcore than Paradise Heights. We have no Co-op office to use as our home base, so now everything from wardrobe to actors have to stay contained in our dinky blue van. I think we're going to have to eat at the gas station across the street. Deluxe accommodations it ain't. Oh well. Two more days of this then a day off.

Wish us luck.

Toy Drive Updates part II

2008-12-04T23:42:00.001-08:00

My friend Jenny Shum in Hong Kong is sending me a box of toys for the kids in Smokey Mountain. Yay!!!!

My old college car pool mate Marie Santos--now Maria Wakem--and her brother Luigi are also sending some toys.

Thanks guys!!!!

I'm going to send the boxes to Father Mike's parish (which encompasses Paradise Heights) and the Day Care Center of Building 7. Our Location Manager Julia Nebrija will help us disburse.

There are so many kids in Smokey Mountain, you cannot imagine. My friend Carlos Celdran is working on getting the RH Bill passed, and I totally support him. There are too many children running around barefoot and bedraggled in this country. Julia has had pregnant teenage moms offering their offspring to her. It's kind of insane.

These are the co-op kids: Bim, Maybelline, and Ren-Ren. Julia and I want to help Ren because we think he's mildly autistic. He's two and looks like a Baby Shaolin. Adorable. But how will an autistic child thrive in Smokey Mountain?

Bim-Bim and Ren-Ren. They are buddies.

Mateo wants to adopt. I'm sure he'll make a great father. He's so good with kids!

Natalie, 2, is super cute and naughty. I want to adopt her. Her mother got pregnant at 15 and left Natalie with her mother, who is only 39. From what I've heard, Natalie's mom is pregnant again--at 17--and doesn't come home.

Natalie's aunt Abigail. She's a tween, super smart, and sweet. She wants to be a reporter when she grows up.

My other favorite Jake and his friend. If I could, I'd adopt him too!

The kite kids on the dock.

Gemma and Heidi. Juan took some amazing pictures of Gemma--she's going to be a stunner, this one.

Thanks to your donations, the kids of Smokey Mountain will have a brighter Christmas.

Block Party !!!!

2008-12-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

Our last shot from Day Five involved a big party scene. And if there's anything Filipinos are good at, it's having a fiesta. All we need is a giant karaoke machine, a bandehado of pancit, a teen drum troupe, hip hop dancers, colored lights and voila--there you go. Fun times for sure.

And oh did I mention hours of hard work?

Camera set up. Francois did hand held for this scene.

Colored water and the local kiddies. Actor Lowell Conales in the Bruce Lee t-shirt looks on.

In the middle of the chaos, Marc fell asleep on the spot. Or maybe he's just having a moment.

The Roxas Tribe arrive. Their drumming filled the building with such great energy.

Outside it was quiet and drizzly. In the equipment truck, the vibe was mellow: they were eating watermelon seeds.

But inside the fiesta atmosphere infected everyone, including myself. And to think I was a crabby bitch all day. Sad but true.

The Misses Thang: Yancy and Lao get ready to party.

The whole building comes out to watch.

Lots and lots of kids. Always. They are everywhere in Smokey. I will make a separate post about them.

Local color. Each apartment was lit up from inside. Amazing.

Meanwhile, out in the hallway the world wasn't as colorful. But we still had fun!

Leeroy, Dawn, Julia, and Alec: they are all good kids. The best.

Leeroy and Dawn hanging out.

Me and Alec.

Here's Leeroy concentrating. On what, I'm not too sure.

Julia is a minor celebrity at Smokey Mountain. Here she is with her salsa partner.

I thought this was a good sign.

My fugly pink Crocs got me through another day. I wore Argyle socks with them. That's Juan's foot on the left.

We wrapped at 11 pm, one hour behind the Building 28's curfew. But no one really complained. Pinoys love a good party. I hope no body drank the colored water...

blogging in bed

2008-12-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

It's one am. I Am So Fucking Tired. I need to see my acupuncturist and soon. Day Five was tough, it rained quite a bit and Smokey Mountain is kind of miserable when it's wet. Thankfully we shot indoors today and everything looked amazing.

Today I saw the designs from Kermit T. who is in charge of creating the looks for Mamacita, our
very own fabulous parlor gay. Here are his designs:

This last one we used for the party scene. Lao Rodriguez, who plays Mamacita, looked hot.

Here are the shoes Kermit made. Lao was walking around in them and we were talking about Naomi Campbell's infamous spill on the runway with those insane shoes... In fairness, Lao did a good job strutting around in this pair. These can definitely be used as a murder weapon.

Voila. Here's Lao in full costume for the party scene. Rampa fatale!

Earlier today we shot the first scene in the parlor with Lao (this time in a red jersey dress that showed off his man cleavage) and Marco Morales, who plays Mamacita's boyfriend Kiko. He was giving the neighborhood gays palpitations as he walked around all hunky and shirtless on the set. Don't they make a cute couple?

Marco by the way is super cool. He's very professional, really nice, and so easy to work with. He signed lots of autographs and posed gamely for pictures. One little girl asked him to sign her notebook ten times but Marco was very sweet about it.

Note that Mamacita's parlor is called "Be Beautiful For Him". Honestly. It actually exists--there's a small neighborhood parlor on Kalayaan Avenue with the same name. And now it's immortalized in our film.

All that wonderful production design is executed by Leeroy New (blue shirt) and his boys. I don't know how they manage it.

Actually, I still don't know how we've managed it. We're half way done. "It's a miracle, it's a miracle" as Boy George sang. Ugh. I gotta go to bed. I'm quoting a Boy George song.

More pictures of the party scene tomorrow, I promise.

Rainy Days and Parlor Gays

2008-12-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

Day Five. It's a bit drizzly and gray but that's okay. We're shooting in the beauty parlor and suddenly our cast has grown. We're expecting three new actors on set today and I think it's going to be fun. For tonight's scene we're also expecting a bunch of drummers and hiphop dancers. I have a feeling Dawn's megaphone will come in handy.

Poor Julia had a massive allergy attack yesterday and so I brought her to Dr. Lao who stuck a metal thing up her nose and sucked out all the nasty smoke she inhaled at the dock. The smoke there is no joke. But it sure looks good on film!

I can't believe we're half way through. Four straight days of shooting and then another day off next Monday. That seems like years away from now.

Meanwhile, the Christmas lights in Manila are up and twinkling. The holiday traffic is getting heavy but hopefully we'll be finished before it becomes unbearable. After this shoot, I'm officially going on vacation.

More of Day Four

2008-12-02T15:19:00.001-08:00

Day Four done. We spent half the day at the dock behind Aroma Dump where smoke constantly billows and permeates everything. I had to wear a dust mask or else my allergies will kill me. But it's all worth it in the end--we got beautiful shots at sunset complete with kids and kites.

Julia in her Baranggay Tanod cap and me in my gauzy green scarf.

Setting up the crane on the dock. We paid four guys to sweep the shit off. It was spotless. Well, no, more like shitless.

I love this kid playing on the roof. He was totally in his own world.

My kite kids: Bobet, Heidi, Gemma, Romeo, Joshua, and Jason.

Marc, Julia, and Mateo. Marc says Mateo looks like Adam Levine of Maroon 5. Hahaha.

We are Love Bandits.

Here we are trying to get those darn kites to fly.

Garbage barge. Garbage barge. Garbage barge. It's a tongue twister.

We needed a gorgeous sunset and we got it.

Mateo and Francois hard at work.

And with that, we're wrapped for the day.

Day Four: Morning in Random Order

2008-12-01T18:07:00.000-08:00

These boots were made for walking...
Caio and his posse.
Marc's really a sensitive guy.

Julia and Dawn are on crowd control duty. These girls are amazing!

Early morning in the hood with Little Miss Sunshine and Juan Caguicla in his "Derelicte" couture.

Jun, our gaffer. Real Men Wear Pink.

Bright and early at Aroma Dumpsite.

Me and Dawn in the early morning. Not too shabby for five hours of sleep.

Alec and his little friend.

Here comes the sun...

Whee crane shots!!!!

More crane shots. We need to milk it for what it's worth. It's costing a fucking arm and a leg.

"They call me Direk," said Mateo. "What does that mean?"

Francois and his fancy crane moves.

Juan does his thing.

Back at the Co-op, here's Mateo eating peanut butter (and pan de sal) for the first time in his life. I don't think he's into it.

Now I have a massive headache. Thank goodness tomorrow we have a day off. But it ain't over till it's over.

Day Three: Welcome To Baranggay 128

2008-12-01T05:45:00.000-08:00

Day Three over.

I'm exhausted. Today was kind of a mess because it was our first day of shooting in Smokey Mountain. Too tired to write so instead here are some pictures.

Sunrise over Paradise Heights.

They jeepney getting rigged for the shot. Mateo keeps calling it "gypsy" and I'm always saying "No, JEEPNEY!" Honestly.
Francois doing this thing with the car rig. The shot looks amazing!

There were rumors that Bruce Willis was our star. I wonder how on earth that started. Here's Mateo in the "gypsy".

Julia on her bike. She's got the whole kit: belt bag, walkie-talkie, cap, and her little face towel. What a pro!

Detail of Julia's FODLING BIKE. Did they mean FOLDING BIKE? Because it really folds up. Then again, it's made in China.

It looks just like any other sunny day over any other mountain, only this one is made of compacted trash.

Meet Jake, 7, and Dave, 9. Jake (left) was trying to get my attention by running around saying "I want to be an actor!" He's really cute so we gave him a small part as a kite boy.

Meanwhile, our lead actress Che Ramos puts her face on, while Maybelline watches in awe.

Here we are at Baranggay 128.

"Embrace the apparent chaos." Hmm. Well, I tried. It was kind of crazy.

Downtime for the actors on set. We're sitting in front of a sari-sari store and it seems everyone turned up to gawk at us.

Finally we move to Building 28 in Paradise Heights.

Hello Dolly! Mateo Guez strikes a thinking pose.

Our lead actor Marc Abaya in character.

Inside, Francois adjusts the lights...

... as the pigeons hang out on the rooftops without a care in the world.

Up in five hours. Ugh. Gotta go now.

Building 28 Here I Come

2008-11-30T06:16:00.000-08:00

Day Two in the can. Yay! It was fairly light despite the many weird little episodes today.

The Baranggay Captain came over on his dinky motorbike. He was eating a bag of chips when I came down in a sporty black and white ensemble accented with fuchsia socks. Ugh. So gross. I had to do back to that little outpost and get another clearance permit and cough up another two grand for it. He wanted 2500 but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He had his girlfriend in tow, by the way. She wore a mint green tank top and tight jeans and called me "Ate". Double ugh.

And then there was a huge crack in the awning of Juan's apartment. Uh oh. Thank goodness for the Art Department! A little nip here, a little tuck there. Now it looks better than ever. Honestly, this building is going to look fabulous in this movie. The old dame is seeing some good times.

While trying to savor Trisha's gourmet fish burger over lunch, I had to give someone counseling for an hour on the fire escape. No, I did not do both things at the same time. So I put the burger down, grabbed a last french fry. When I got back, the fries were wiped out and I was a little wiped out as well.

But all in all, not too shabby. We wrapped at 7 pm and had a fabulous Asian noodle style dinner and some ice cream. Mateo brought me a red rose from the mini mart around the corner, so sweet of him. I'm taking it as a good sign. Please Saint Rita, make this your impossible cause. Keep us going until the end.

I have to get up at 4 am tomorrow. I only ever get up that early for flights. I'm not flying to anywhere, I'm going to Smokey Mountain.

Wish us luck!

toy drive updates

2008-11-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

My friend Venisse and her kids Danielle and Alix have made the first donation to our toy drive! Yay! Now there's a balikbayan box full of toys and books sitting in my car.

For donations, please get in touch with me. The more the merrier, right? We actually have three scenes that involve the local kids, and I would like to give them something after the shoot.

Happy Sunday!

Meet the Gang

2008-11-28T22:37:00.001-08:00

It's our day off! Our first day of shooting went smoothly enough, it was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. I can only think one day in advance. If I plan too far into the future, I will surely have a mini breakdown.

Anyway, here are the amazing people working on this film...

Mateo Guez (director): this chatty Frenchman with the cute lisp is the captain of our strange ship. We love him to bits. He's single by the way. We're trying to set him up with someone but he's super picky. Go figure.

Francois Dagenais (DOP): likes good food, good wine, and is a total film geek. I must say that Manila has never been shot the way Francois is doing it for this film.

Miss Dawn Dizon, (1st Assistant Director) 25. She's super efficient, always cheerful, very sweet, nurturing, and wholesome. She is living proof that good girls win in the end. Here's Dawn with her pet Leeroy.

Alec Humphries (2nd AD), 22. Alec is a total sweetheart and is very enthusiastic about working in movies. On the set, he acts as translator for Mateo and Francois because he speaks English, French, and Filipino.

The Lovely Julia Nebrija (Location Manager for Smokey Mountain), 24. She's super smart, sassy, independent, funny, and great with people. We would be lost in Smokey without her. Bim-Bim here calls her "Mama Julia" and Mateo "Daddy Macho".

Leeroy New (Production Designer), 22. Brilliant and cute. What more can I say? I want to frame all the watercolors Leeroy has done for our different sets. Apparently he's going to color coordinate the garbage in Smokey.

Kermit Tesoro (Wardrobe), 21. This kid is something else. He's a fashion designer, an artist, an all around magic fairy.

Caio Cadiz (Sound): he's our steady bear. Caio hasn't slept all weekend because he had an out of town wedding. Poor guy.

Trisha Greentree (Caterer), 24. Francois loves her food and that says a lot. Trisha can do pasta with feta, spinach, and squash AND adobo with baby potatoes, among other things. She can also do a pot of minestrone soup with ingredients gathered from the local 7-11.

Juan Caguicla (behind the scenes documentation). My downstairs neighbor and giver of strangely mature relationship advice. Doesn't he look hot in this picture?

And then there's me. Look at those eye bags! And that dorky mask! Oh well. I'm kind of dreading the germs. I have anti bacterial hand gel and wet wipes and a can of Lysol. Of course I'm up against mountains of trash and goodness knows what else so maybe I should just accept it with no resistance.

Someone told me "Germs can't touch you but fear in the mind can." Now I'm fearless. Plus I have those rubber boots.

Day One: North Syquia

2008-11-28T00:24:00.000-08:00

Our big lights set up. Well, not really that big. But enough for the Baranggay to notice. I had to take a pedicab to the local Baranggay outpost and haggle over the price of a permit. I had to haggle with the pedicab driver too.

Inside Juan and Trisha's apartment. We finally shot at 4pm. Three hours behind schedule but who's counting?

First location: Julia's Apartment. The coffee table from my apartment was brought downstairs.

Bank Travails

2008-11-27T21:10:00.001-08:00

We spent 2 hours and 30 minutes in the bank this morning trying to get enough cash to pay for film and equipment for our first shooting day. Mateo was on the phone with his bank in Paris for half an hour trying to explain the situation. The bank clerk was giving us attitude so I gave her attitude right back.

Here we are waiting on hold with Mateo's bank in France. We kind of look like tourists but we're fucking stressed out.

But the film arrived, the crew is here, and everything is seemingly coming into place. All I need now is my lead actor who is apparently somewhere in Greenhills buying boxer shorts...

The Day Before

2008-11-27T00:32:00.000-08:00

I'm strangely calm despite the chaos going on in the world. There's twelve million things I have to do before we start shooting tomorrow but all I secretly want to do is watch the news and eat carrot cupcakes.

What the hell is going on in Mumbai?

Mateo and I have decided that after this film, all we want to do is get married and lead domestic lives. Of course, he's gay and Jewish so I can't marry him. He says he loves me but I know I'm not really his type. What is it about me and hot gay guys? We make a good team, though.

Yesterday while I worked on the story, Mateo had his story conference with three of our actors who are all fucking amazing. Casting was a bit of a nightmare but I'm glad everything happened the way it did.

Final production meeting at 8pm tonight. I'm still amazed with the level of talent and passion of all the people we're working with.

So come hell or high water, tomorrow we shoot six scenes. Wish us luck. Happy Thanksgiving. Honestly, there's a lot to be thankful for.

The Power of Apocalypse Now

2008-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Fucking honestly. The closer we get to our first shoot day, the crazier it gets. Everyday something comes up. Thank goodness I have a quiet moment this afternoon to get baked, blog a bit, and finally work on that one pager I need to submit to our investor. It may sound like I'm complaining but I'm actually not. A little writing time is all I really want.

I bought a printer today at Office Warehouse whilst trying to deal with a crew fallout. Wow. I thought that was tough, what about trying to install the damned printer? (It's kind of cool: an el cheapo Epson unit that eats up half my tiny desk.). I have to print stuff life contracts and script pages and whatnot. Ugh.

Julia is in Smokey again doing a walk through with O.G. Sacred. Julia and Shielbert sitting on a tree....

Hilarious. What about a romantic comedy between a Fulbright scholar and a gang leader?

Hmm. Time to write.

Digging in the Dirt (well, shit actually)

2008-11-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

Up at 6 am today. I had six hours of sleep, which could mean that I'm a crabby bitch again. But I need to keep it together. A mini breakdown is not an option right now.

Don't you just love it when you check your messages first thing after waking up and it's more problems piling up? Everyday is a battle.

It's simple: just keep finding solutions.

The film issue has been resolved. We've decided to go Super 35 instead of Super 16. It's going to look Super Amazing.

Today Julia and the Frenchies go back to Smokey for another walk through. They have a rendezvous with O.G. Sacred. I can't wait to meet him myself. I want to write about him someday.

Finally got the name and email address of the guy from Ayala Land who is in charge of the empty lot in Tondo. I sent him a nice email and I really hope they allow us to shoot the Big Kiss in the PMC Compound. It's going to look amazing. I wonder if there are more giant owls roosting in that damn field.

Meeting with potential investor went fairly well, I think. She's really cool. Sharp as hell and kind of eccentric. She asked many probing questions and basically told me that the synopsis I sent her was not good enough. So today I have to churn out a fucking awesome one pager (with a log line) that will compel her to see the beauty of our story and convince her that it's going to be a hit.

Despite all the shit we're wading through right now, we're still somehow going forward. I'm kind of tired and almost at the end of my proverbial rope, but I can't stop now. We shoot in three days no matter what.

hari om

2008-11-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

Looking at budgets this morning. I hate numbers. Thank goodness Mateo and our priceless 1st AD Dawn are pounding it out. I'm kind of useless right now.

Thank you to everyone sending positive thoughts and good energy to us today.

paging disaster management services

2008-11-24T03:16:00.000-08:00

Argh. Technology has failed me again. My phone won't charge!

And today I found out that the fucking film stock is useless. I made twelve million calls to make sure that Francois and the film would arrive safely in Manila, but Air Canada sent the film (not Francois) by mistake to Japan.

Award. For the record, I'm never going to fly Air Canada.

So anyway we had to go back to the airport to claim the film as lost baggage. Apparently the film went through X Ray over and over thus rendering it fully fogged--with waves and dots, kind of like a bad acid trip. Goodbye to our entire stash of 16 mm.

Thankfully Mateo was fairly calm today when he received the news from me and Francois. As my director sucked on his light menthol cigarettes and drank his two diet Cokes, we discussed our options. I had a cappuccino and a single puff.

Suddenly, 35 mm seems like a viable option. At this point, anything is possible.

security measures

2008-11-23T04:29:00.000-08:00

O.G. Sacred is my man. He was super nice. I've never talked to a gang member before but I grew up in the suburbs, go figure. I'm kind of looking forward to meeting him in person. Our asses are covered in Smokey Mountain. Between the baranggay tanods and the gang members, we should be okay. What do we feed the gang members, I asked Trisha. We're coming up with a "good will merienda" menu.

Mateo is having a celebratory beer and I'm dying for a celebratory burger. Sigh.

Tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett O'Hara said.

To Do List

2008-11-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

Off World team working hard on a Sunday

Things To Do:

1) Call Ayala Land and ask permission to use the empty field. According to the Baranggay Captain, Ayala is pissed because a news crew came one day to film without a permit. "How were supposed to know that we needed a permit that day?" asked the good captain. Fair enough. And what, pray tell was the news crew filming? The locals were trying to catch a giant owl in the field. A giant owl. I'm not kidding. The question remains: where is the giant owl now?

2) Call Tondo Gang Leader: O.G. Sacred. Wow. How do I address him? Sir? Chief? Boss?

3) Call IM to confirm meeting. Honestly. She'll be my new best friend if she gives us funding.

4) Watch sunset.

gloomy sunday

2008-11-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

It's a rainy Sunday morning and the cookies I baked earlier are cooling on the racks. Today is our big production meeting. To boost morale, I'm going to serve chocolate chip cookies. I'm in Alabang for a day and a half so I took the time out to do suburban housewife-y things: baking, paying bills, buying groceries, getting a manicure, hanging out with the dogs, and blogging. Soon I'm going to have to pack up my clean laundry, my yoga mat, the cookies, and drive back to Malate to prepare for the meeting.

We're making a movie! How on earth did I get myself into this?

I'm just going to take it one day at a time. Plus, I'm thinking positive.

Anyway, some pictures from the tech survey:

Interior of a building from Paradise Heights, the mass housing project at Smokey Mountain.

I've often played cooking with Danielle and Alix. I was glad to see these kids enjoy the same thing. They had plastic plates and vegetables. And a Beatrix Potter tray. I want get toy donations but I'm worried I'll never collect enough toys for all the kids at Smokey. But for sure Danielle and Alix will help me jump start the toy drive.

This is behind the trash dump. Despite the constant smoke, it looks really amazing.

Local color in Paradise Heights.

Mr. Monkey was the highlight of my day.

Paradise Heights in the distance with Juan Caguicla in profile.

The gang's all here. Well, not quite. Julia (Location Manager) was off somewhere talking to people. Francois (DOP) and his guys Gerry and Jun (gaffer and key grip) climbed the hill behind us while we put on our boots and soaked up the local atmosphere. From left: Leroy (Production Designer), Mateo (Director), Alec (2nd AD), Dawn (1st AD), Mark (Sound), Juan (behind-the-scenes), and Cayo (Sound assistant).

My room mate and I certainly get around. Two months ago, Julia and I were at a ballet gala at the Cultural Center, sipping champagne while wearing couture. Here we are at Smokey, still hamming it up for the camera and still having fun no matter where we are.

Bim-Bim, 4, and Natalie, 2, hanging out at the Co-op office. Bim sang "Lupang Hinirang" for us with additional lyrics. She's a smart cookie. Meanwhile, Natalie counted to ten and struck a pose. Too cute.

Burning wires in the trash dump. I suddenly remembered lines from Bjork's "Hyperballad":

We live on a mountain
Right at the top
There's a beautiful view
From the top of the mountain
Every morning I walk towards the edge
And throw little things off
Like:
Car parts, bottles and cutlery
Or whatever I find lying around...

Mr. Teddy Bear Soldier here broke my heart.

welcome to the edge of the world

2008-11-22T01:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we did our tech survey in Smokey Mountain. For five hours I was tramping around in the sludge with my trusty rubber boots, a diaper bag, and a 3M dust mask. Despite the mask, my allergies are kicking in today but it's a small price to pay for the whole experience.

Tondo. What a trip.

We caught sunset at the dock behind the dump site. Nothing can beat a Manila sunset. It was quite beautiful even if we were literally standing in shit.

I've been told, "You should write a blog." I've often retorted, "Oh, please." The last thing I want to do is bore people with the minutiae of my daily life. But here I am: standing in the shit and watching the sunset. It's compelling stuff. This whole experience is such a crazy ride. I might as well document it properly.