Tuesday, January 02, 2007

my 2006 (i love!)

balak ko pa naman sanang karirin ang personal yearender review ko, kaso wala nang oras. i'm leaving for work tomorrow and will be shooting out of town in the next five days. hay. still hungup over the holidays. but i really thank the good lord, because i would rather be busy Out There than be anything, anywhere else.

i love my job. i love this field. i love my cats. i love my life. i love, i love!

quickly, here are the highlights of my two-oh-oh-six:

January. filming and editing "G33-G33 at W@terin@". Joining Da Haus as segment producer at the tailend of the month.

February, March. For several weeks i was Haus-bound. Made the shift from segment produ to story ed. Hectic, toxic, emotionally taxing. One of the most, if not the most intense/intensive experiences i have had this year.

April. Da Haus arrest came to an end. I bailed (happily!) in favor of a film project that was to take me to Vietnam. Left Da Haus a free spirit, but left with a few emotional attachments there as well. Aww. Frog Princess. you will always be my human version of a Monique. for life na siguro yan.
'Twas also in April when the Vietnam adventure began. My first time in two years (first one had been to France in '04) to be in a foreign country. Spent my birthday away from the motherland for the very first time, battling a bad case of homesickness the entire time. Missed everyone, and everything connected to home.

May. Shoots went on for "Saig0n Ecl1pse", Vietnam's equally-glossy answer to our local average Star Cinema movie. Homesick pa rin. The internet and the cable TV were my only links to home. Despite my preoccupation with home, though, my Vietnam stay managed to be a memorable experience--the people, the bossings, the shoots all over Saigon, the friends i made during my seven-week stay.

June. It was time to go home sweet home. One of the most memorable moments of 2006 was my plane ride home. I was the happiest girl on that side of Saigon. The clouds never looked so beautiful as they glided past the wings of our plane, the sky was never bluer, and the bird-s eye view of Manila was never as enchanting as I could ever imagine it to be. I knew where my heart was, and has always been. Probably literally. Haha!
It was also in June when "Txt", my first movie project after Saigon, began shooting. The "Dream Team" was born!

July. I'm not sure, but I think this was the month when my labor of love for 2006, "G33 at W@terina", premiered at the C1nemalaya Independent Film Festival as finalist in the short film category. it didn't win, but we were happy enough that people liked our film. Hectic, hectic days as I juggled attending to the needs of our film with "Txt" and a music video shoot for Y@smien Kurd1. hay. i love directing. i want to direct more often.

August. "Txt" wrapped up. My month off work. Broke my heart over the most pathetic person to ever cross my path in recent years. Haha. Maybe I'll give him a prize for being Most Best-Be-Forgotten person of the year.

September, October. Thank God for "saviors". I finally found one to haul me out of my depression (haha! ampangit no? manggamit ba ng tao). New film project, new director. As far as I'm concerned, marami akong titles na pwedeng ibigay sa kanya: My Personal Stalwart of the Year, Favorite New Acquaintance of the Year. pero Savior of the Year I would rather give to someone else--although second runner up itong si Direk. Hay Direk! next to Frog Princess, you're my--how could I have forgotten this title?!--Favorite Bading of the Year. hahahaha peace!
'Twas also on this month when I started writing and preprod work (as writer/director) on a blocktimer TV show, which is turning out to be my bread-and-butter now.

November. With the landslide movie wrapped up, a new horror movie began shooting: "Sh@ke, R@ttle, and R0ll 8". 2006 is the year that has seen me work on the most movie shoots, ever. Sana ma-top pa yan ng 2007. Pray, pray wish wish!

Juggled the "Sh@ke..." shoot with more writing and preprod work for the TV show. By last week of November the horror movie wrapped up, and the heavens dropped a little yummy breadcrumb on my lap--was offered another "remnant" job racket for an indie film that was to shoot in Baguio.

From the just-packed-up "Sh@ke.." set I went straight to Baguio for a three-day shoot that was to become my most memorable 3-day shooting experience in recent years (eh kasi, nun lang ako nakapagshoot ng isang sex scene involving a threesome...at walang plaster-plaster!). At packup I left Baguio late at night and headed straight to Cavite for the TV show's pilot shoot. Huwaw. I loved the whirlwind!

Needless to say, wala akong social life. Kaya tina-try ko na ring pagsabayin ang pakikipag-"sosyalan" sa trabaho--twas the first time ever that I experienced directing a live fashion show-cum-bikini open in happy, sunny Subic. Wonderful first-time. Haggard sa simula dahil kulang sa oras pero na-pulloff naman namin, thank God. and i got to mingle with young beautiful models for a night. feeling mowdel na rin ako kahit wala sa itsura. ehe!

It was also on this month when "G33-G33 at W@terina" was screened out of competition at the C1nemanila. hindi ko napuntahan ang one-night-only screening dahil pumapaspas na ko papuntang Baguio nung mga panahong yon. pero sabi naman ng co-parent kong si Dennis, happy naman ang audience na nanood. hay, anak ko. kelan ka kaya masusundan uli?

December. Another indie film in preprod stage. Took a leap and was offered an Assistant Director (AD) position. Excited ako, kasi gusto ko na talagang mag-AD. Postproduction remnants (i.e. dubbing) for the movie projects of the past two months were in order. Dumating ang isang matinding bagyo. Crush ko pa rin si Direk. Napanood ko ang "Dr1m Nyt" ng PD@ sa Araneta (a memorable "revisiting" of a sort). Na-haggard at nadisillusion ako sa magulong sistema ng indie film na pini-preprod namin.
Indie idealist kasi ako. kung i-indie ako, gagawin ko yon dahil sa love ko sa paggawa ng pelikula. kahit maliit ang pera. pero nadisappoint ako somewhat. hay. ganyan talaga. i'm glad i met a lot of new people this year, though, and a number of those people came from the "indie" group that contracted me for the Baguio shoot. thankful ako na na-meet ko sila, kahit medyo magulo sila. hehe.
Ang gulo-gulo pa rin, too much labor na nawe-waste lang, hanggang sa dumating ang job offer from a mainstream film outfit. the direk of "txt" was making a romance film starring @ngel l0csin and rich@rd gutierrez, and i couldn't say no to him. at all. mahal ko ang grupong to, dahil part sila ng "Dream Team" from our "Txt" days. so, despite the possible schedule conflict with the indie film project, i jumped in. it turned out to be a good decision kasi hanggang ngayon, hindi pa nagshu-shoot ang indie film. haha. ngayon, ang Valentine movie nina @ngel at R1chard ang kumakain ng mga araw ko.
Editing stage na ang TV show. nagka-social life na rin ako kahit papano, after many months of being out of the circulation. crush ko pa rin si Direk, pero hanggang don na lang yon (ang cute nya with the new haircut! my ideal!). na-meet ko na ang Ideal Cat ko. nagtapos ang taon nang nakangiti ako. and for the first time, i was able to keep a secret to myself.
Well, almost. haha.
Hay. masarap mabuhay! Salamat, lord, sa 2006! sana magiging mas masarap pa ang mabuhay ngayong 2007. i really pray and wish for that. :-)

sa ngayon, kelangan ko nang matulog. alas-5 ang calltime namin for the Valentine movie shoot. Antipolo, tapos tagaytay. will be gone for five days. ang sarap talagang mabuhay! woohoo! i hope 2007 will be an even better year for all of us!

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