Thursday, October 30, 2008

finally back!!!

was so busy for a few months with my movie QUICKTRIP that i not only forgot to log on here but totally forgot my password. until yesterday i remembered an important word... and person... and finally remembered...

so much has happened. "Quicktrip" with very little publicity made good audience turn out. and if you noticed that since two years ago, a cinema in robinsons galleria, ortigas has been devoted to screening only local independently produced digital movies. it's called INDIE SINE.

but to-date, there are far too many indie movies for indie sine to accommodate so my group decided to look for venues outside robinsons.

we are now screening indie movies on almost every week in isetann cinerama, recto, quiapo, manila.

we started last september with the re-screening of my past movies like "Duda", "Bathhouse". "Bilog", "Moreno", etcetera and we did perform well at the box office. i was surprised that "duda" and "bathhouse" still brought in some market.

isetann is intending to build their own indie circuit.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

are you ready to play the game of love, online?

our first draft of our long trailer is here. its edited by my student james estrada. we've shown it already, including the full movie to some critics and they all liked the movie! hurray! i guess this is where my group has grown. finally our movie is technically ok including the sound.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008


Finally, the SISW Acting and Production Workshop Batch 2007 presents their graduation movie project: S.E.B. Cyber Game of Love, a compilation of four hearwarming, funny, bitter sweet love stories on young Pinoys and their ways of romantic dealings in the cyber space age.


SEB stars Julia Clarete, Rayan Dulay, TJ Trinidad, Justin De Leon, Marc Cortez and producer, written and directed by moi...

Synopsis

Every person will need to find four people in their lives. The First person is you. The Second person is the one you love most. The Third person is the
one who loves you most. And the Fourth is the one you spend the rest of your life with.

In life, firstly you will meet with the one you love most, and learn how love feels.

Because you know how love feels, so you can find the person who loves you most.

When you have experienced the feeling of loving others and being loved, you will then know what it is you need most. Then you will find the person who is most suitable for you, to be able to spend the rest of your life with.

Sadly, in real life, these three people are usually not the same person.

The one you love most doesn't love you. The one, who loves you most, is
never the one you love most.

And the one you spend your life with, is never the one you love most or the one who loves you most. He is just the person who happens to be at the right place at the right time. Which person are you in other people's life?

Set in present day Manila, some twenty-something guys and gals set up their eyeballs with people they just met on the world wide web. What are they looking for and who do they want to meet?

Daryl, 20 and Jamie, 20, both strangers to each other, agree to meet up with a hot guy they met on the internet chat rooms for a good time. The guy claims he is a celebrity actor. The girls both want to date a celebrity. When the three finally meet in a coffee shop and sit down, the girls begin to compete for the guy’s attention.

Menk, 22 and Dean, 26 finally agree to meet up after a year of being online sweethearts in the game “Perfect World”. But immediately after they make love, one realizes everything is a false alarm on love. How will the other take it when the partner realizes he is not in love anymore?

Khia, 25, knows she can not fulfill her duties her husband Mark. They have not had sex for two years. Khia decides to look for possible alternative partners for Mark on the internet. She finds an old love of Mark’s and asks the woman if she can do it with Mark, while Khia is watching on the webcam. The woman questions her morals and Khia explains how much she loves him more than anything else and how she just want him to be happy.

Nell, 29 and Andro, 25, are friends, and they one night realize that they have been living together as friends for many years but never considered that they may be the right one for each other.

Four situations, all about love and relationships, to give us a glimpse on how it is to be young and old, to love and break hearts, to connect and to disconnect, in the golden age of communication technology.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

what it's like to be forty

i got this request for advice from a member in guys4men.com:
From: gian [history] [block!]
Date: 03 Jun 2008, 20:18
Hi! Interesteing posts you have on your profile.

So just wondering, how's life at 40? I'm 32 and starting to feel lonely =(


and here's my reply which i'd like to share with other thirty-something's who may be feeling a little low that they are still single at their age:

its a happy place to be! because before it was too late, i was able to turn my world around from someone who's main goal in life is to find a lifetime partner to someone who makes something of his life by realizing the next (to finding a lover) thing in his life's prioritites: making indie queer movies.

I actually almost didn't make it here because i was always out there trying to find someone for me and each time i saw a glimpse or a promise of that much coveted "love", I would easily grab it, to a point where the person representing it would be choking from the intensity of my desire to be with someone forever.

Start investing in positive actions, positive seeds that you think will complete you even when there is no one else with you. This is usually the thing that you have a passion for. It is usually a "something" and never a "someone". Usually its a dream you had when you were still innocent until harsh realities turned you into a cynic.
I always believed in the power and romance of the big screen and making movies that are shown on the big screen whether people appreciate it or not, has somewhat completed me.
There is always that person out ther waiting and preparing himself but he will not come into our life as our partner if one of you isn't ready yet.
So, do the things that make you happy and invest in good quality friends.
And if someone comes your way while you are still preparing for the perfect someone, try to relax and just enjoy and support each other. When its time for that person to leave, never think you invested anything nor that you should fight for him to stay. I believe that when his mission has been accomplished, he will have to part ways with you. So do it with less drama. You will realize that you can be friends forever, if only...
strive hard to be truthful and open...
And forty will be the best years of your life...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

on raid of gay venues and your rights

Kagabi, ibinunyag ng aking kaibigan ang rason kung bakit sunod sunod ang raid ng mga blue bars at gay clubs. Ako'y tila nababagabag sa aking narinig... ahhh...kaya naman pala!

Pero, alam kong marami pa rin ang gustong pumunta sa mga ganitong lugar.

Kaya't heto ang mga dapat gawin tuwing may raid to ensure the safety and security of bar patrons and party goers, especially those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT), from corrupt law enforcers / police, and criminals who pose as law enforcers.

Unang una, DO NOT PANIC!

1. Be polite and ask, "BAKIT PO?"

2. If s/he says, "Hinuhuli kita/Inaaresto kita/Dadalhin kita sa presinto/Iniimbitah an ka sa presinto," ask again, Bakit po? Ano po ang KASO?"

3. S/he will mention the CRIME. See chart for the list of common or usual crimes. If you are NOT an offender, inform the law enforcer that you are not committing a crime.

4. If you can, GET THE NAME of the law enforcer and his/her precinct number. This is for your personal security. Remember that some hold-uppers or kidnappers sometimes disguise themselves as law enforcers.

5. Before going with the law enforcer, INFORM AT LEAST THREE OTHER PERSONS. If possible, have them take a photo of you and the law enforcer.

6. Under the 2002 Philippine National Police (PNP) Operational Procedure, remember that
a. WARNING SHOTS ARE NOT ALLOWED in police interventions;
b. MEDIA PRESENTATION OF ARRESTED PERSONS IS GENERALLY NOT ALLOWED except for heinous crime, arrests with warrants, and arrests incident to a valid search; and
c. UNDERCOVER AGENTS MUST CARRY WITH THEM THEIR MISSION SLIP.

when its time to end the relationship

a forum thread in g4m asks: "what to do when your lover leaves you?" and "why are you still single?"

here's what i'd like to share about "loosing" someone you love thru a break up...

make sure you have friends and friends make sure that you are there for each other... when a friend's relationship ends, buy him a gift... go out on a date with your friend. have a pajama party where he can cry his heart out...

and friend, wag mong iisiping mapag-iisa ka na sakaling iwanan ka ng taong mahal mo. never think that you invested anything because you did not, you simply treated him as you think someone in love should. dapat kasi sa relationship (pagkakamali ko din ito before), never think in terms of panahong sinayang or ininvest... never think that it was your fault. never think that it was anybody's fault. when its time for two persons to part ways, be they lovers, friends or families, nothing can stop them from leaving... parting ways can mean many things, but mostly for you to learn about the meeting, the once in a lifetime encounter, the lessons... it is also the chance for you to take new paths... when someone you love leaves, it should never be negative, but a positive development...

this is really hard. like yesterday i just broke up with someone ( he said he is confused about his feelings at the moment and too sorry to see me in the meantime and is asking if we can be friends muna)...

but because i made a paradigm shift and took a new perspective in life, the ritual of breaking up or off is not as painful and as too dramatic...

its partly sad and partly scary... but i trust that something good is coming my way...

it was always like that... you will soon find out...

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Do M2M Relationships Last?

A survey in one of the forums in the site guys4men asks: "Do M2M Relationships Last?"

Read the responses and most of them declare no, not for the Filipino queer community. It doesn't. Well, actually, nobody really mentioned Filipino. The answers were all in the general sense that all man to man or gay relationships don't last.

I itched to give my insights on the matter, so here goes:

"i think ang dapat na itanong ay ANO ANG UGALI NG PINOY KUNG BAKIT SA MGA BAKLA AY HINDI NAGTATAGAL ANG M2M RELATIONSHIP?

Kasi nababasa ko sa ibang bansa, for life talaga ang mga relasyon. Sa kanila malaki ang weight ng pagiging faithful and loyal.

Sa atin, masaya ka pa kapag tinawag kang putang bakla. Ang kaibigan nating ahas hindi din naman natin kinakastigo. Kakantiyawan lang tapos okay na.

Meron pa din naman sigurong m2m na nagtatagal at magtatagal pero kailangan alam ng dalawang parties na kahit anong mangyari, kapag may darating at darating na ibang taong dibersyon ay hayaan na lang nilang dumaan ito sa buhay nila. Pero maging totoo sila at huwag magsisinungaling or pagtatakpan ng mga kung anu-ano. Kung biglang may iba kang crush na iba eh sabihin sa lover and the lover must not take it against you nor take it as because he is being inadequate or becoming less attractive.

Now, kaya nagtatagal ay dahil pinaninindigan niyo ang isa't-isa. Tandaan na madaming darating sa buhay ng bawat isa. So dont force it. You can't stop them, ang mga taong may mga kakaunting mensahe at misyong dala sa buhay mo. Pero manindigan kayo ng lover or partner mo na sinuman ang dumating, kayong dalawa ay hindi maghihiwalay or matitinag dahil magiging totoo kayo sa isa't-isa.

Wag ikukumpara ang bagong dating sa dati mo nang mahal. Lagi namang hindi pantay yan kasi kani-kaniyang strengths and weaknesses. But if you compare, it will not be fair to the former lover because for sure, dahil you are more interested with the new one, the comparison will most likely be in favor of the new guy.

Understand that even feelings of love can pass specially when the honeymoon stage is over. Sometimes, one in the couple will be out of it earlier than the other. You have to deal with this cautiously. You may not be "in love" but you still love him. This is what stays: "just love".

And when a new romance comes, acknowledge but never leave your partner behind. Maybe make him a part of the process you are going through. This will hurt but he will trust you more because you are truthful and open. This way, your lover will not be left in the dark and will know what to do. If he throws up a tantrum, leaves you, then his concept of love is that he owns you. If he stays with you and becomes your friend, your most intimate friend, then he shows you that he loves you so much that even when your love fades, his stays and nurtures you in the new path your heart is taking. Who knows, when and if you are mature enough, you will know that even the new romance will fade. You will soon get through it and then you will realize that the relationship you had which has withstood time is the best for you and the one that truly makes you happy. Because you have been honest and truthful right from the start, going back to the relationship will not be difficult. Your lover knows you just had a phase.

This is very difficult. Because what it your love for your present partner is really gone? Then it will be a totally different story. Again, if you are truthful and shares your feelings, insights and even fears with your lover who should be your best friend, coming to terms with the fact that your path as partners now have to part will be less painful, less dramatic, less all the hassles of a bitter romance.

Know that everyone who comes into your life has a mission as well as you have a mission to them. And when that mission is fulfilled or over, then the crossing of your paths reveal new roads to take..."