Despite his triumph at the tills, Quark waited one long year before coming up with his follow-up flick, Keka, headlined by Katya Santos and Wendell Ramos. Believe it or not, he has been nurturing the idea for Keka since he was 15.
"When Gamitan became a hit, I told myself that it was now or never to make Keka," Quark reveals. "I’ve always wanted to do it. I never thought I’d be given the chance."
His sense of timing was just impeccable. Building on the success of his debut film, he was able to elicit crucial concessions from the studio system which permitted him to make his dream movie.
He jokes that if the budget for Gamitan was P6.5 million, he won a P6.8 million budget for Keka. "P300,000 means three extra shooting days!" he says with a laugh.
Excuse Quark if he sounds extremely jubilant these days. Keka is the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream.
"I’ve never been happier in my life," Quark intones. "When I was making Gamitan, I was depressed every single day. But here on Keka, I am always cheerful and positive. It’s because Viva is giving me complete freedom. And I was given the chance to work with people I am really comfortable with."
Still, pulling off Keka is a mighty challenge – in countless ways.
"It’s really something different," Quark elaborates.
For one thing, the eponymous female lead character is a brutal murderer.
"It’s dark comedy," he professes. "And usually the studio system is afraid of doing black comedy. Because it doesn’t follow the formula. Now, all the movies being made are either romantic-comedies or sexy flicks. And Keka is neither. It defies classification.
"I came from the independent film scene where the filmmaker has complete control," Quark says of the journey he took in the past year. "Now, I am working within the studio system."
He had to acquire new skills.
"Like sweet-talking the studio," he quips, half-jesting, half-earnest. "For example, when I was pitching Keka, I told them it was something like Maid in Manhattan." He roars.
Needless to say, his avowed mission as a filmmaker is not to educate but to entertain.
But his main goal is to present an enjoyable film that is highly original.
"I want to avoid the usual practice in the industry," he acknowledges. "Producers often ask us to make a local version of Cruel Intentions, an adaptation of Y Tu Mama Tambien. I want to make my own movie."
This quest for originality can be traced to his major filmmaking influences. Quark admires such cinema mavericks as Mike de Leon, Lav Diaz, David Lynch, Hal Hartley and David Fincher.
He adores De Leon’s Batch ’81 and Kisapmata (for being "original, for being unmistakable products of Filipino culture") and Diaz’s Batang West Side (for being "breathtaking, of not falling into the trap of clichés").
Quark looks up to Hartley because he is also a writer-director like him. "His independent movies have great scripts, wonderful lines of dialogue, like Amateur and Flirt."
Fincher, Quark seeks to emulate because "he also works in the mainstream but he tries to deviate from formulas. He makes films, like Seven and Fight Club that are unique but he doesn’t alienate viewers."
Lynch is Quark’s cinematic godfather of sorts.
"When I was 12, my father made me watch Eraserheads and I couldn’t sleep afterwards," Quark looks back. "His films stay with you talaga. Especially his latest, Mulholland Drive."
Quark owns up that during his student days, he was so taken by Lynch that he used to copy his idol. "But David Lynch’s foremost thrust is to be true to yourself," he confesses. "If I copied him, I wouldn’t be true to his vision."
Which leads us to ask – what is the reason behind the seemingly unstoppable downwards slide of the movie industry?
"Close-minded-ness," he affirms. "No one seems to want to take risks these days. I think Pinoy moviegoers are so tired of formula movies."
Being innovative and daring, he believes, can make Pinoy movies stand out in the fiercely competitive global market.
"It should be original," he concedes. "It should have an original idea. We should be able to see ourselves in that movie. Now, Korea is drawing raves in the international scene. And we are not talking of art films here. They are simple movies with exciting visuals, great dialogue. When it comes down to it, it all depends on the story."
As auteur Quark believes in the primacy of the narrative.
Indeed, Keka is written and directed by Quark and dares to go against the formula-obsessed industry with its unconventional storytelling and just as unusual characters.
Will Quark be able to beat the sophomore jinx with Keka?
Only time with tell.
But it seems Quark himself is more than pleased with the Keka rushes so far.
"I’m so happy about it," he beams with pride. "In fact, I am a bit afraid because when Keka finally opens it will cease to be my film. It will become public property already."
Keka (Viva Films) will be shown on Aug. 20 in Metro Theaters.