Direk Jerry happy with ‘light’ flicks

Since he debuted with Mara Clara in 1996, Jerry Lopez Sineneng has made a total of nine motion pictures and this makes him the busiest filmmaker at the Star Cinema camp, where other directors have a usual output of one film every two years.

"I guess I’m quite fortunate because that’s an average of more than one film a year," says Jerry, who also has the distinction of being the first Filipino to win the Best Director award at the Asian TV Festival. He got his award in Singapore last year for an episode he directed in Maalaala Mo Kaya.

Born on June 10, 1965, Jerry was taking up B.S. Biology in UP when he learned that the College of Mass Communications was offering a course on film and audio-visual arts for the first time. "My parents are both movie aficionados and I’ve always been fascinated by film, so I decided to shift to a film course. I belong to the first batch of graduates in UP majoring on film."

Even before graduation in 1986, he was already hired as wardrobe assistant in the films of the late Director Chaning Carlos. "I helped dress up the stars in the comedy, Horsey-Horsey, Tigidig-Tigidig, for Regal Films in 1985. I also appeared in bit roles in the movies of Tatay Chaning, like I’m a friend of the villain. I even played the hair stylist of Ruffa Gutierrez in one movie. Then for two years, I worked with FPJ Productions as a production assistant and I learned so much from FPJ himself. From there, I branched out into scriptwriting with the group of Director Peque Gallaga. I wrote the scripts of Shake, Rattle & Roll 2, 3, and 4 for him. When Maalaala Mo Kaya started at ABS-CBN, I sent them a script I wrote about friendship and they liked it so they hired me as a resident writer. My first script starred Carmina Villarroel and Jennifer Sevilla. It was ABS that later gave me my break as a TV director, also in Maalaala. The very first episode I directed was a horror story about a man, played by Cesar Montano, who had a love affair with a ghost. I really love doing horror stories."

But now, he is more identified with romantic comedies like Flames, Kung Ayaw Mo Huwag Mo, Labs Kita Okay Ka Lang, Videoke King, and Ngayong Nandito Ka. He gets to direct his first out-and-out comedy flick in Otso-Otso, Pamela-Mela Wan starring Bayani Agbayani and Vhong Navarro.

"The film is cashing in on the popularity of Bayani’s Otso-Otso song. At first, I’m worried because the song has already reached its peak, but it’s timely that Vhong’s Pamela song is now getting very popular. I was the one who suggested that they make a novelty song out of that Pamela nursery rhyme I hear children playing in the streets. It’s good maganda lumabas ang nagawa nilang kanta and just like Bayani, Vhong now also has his own hit song that we’re also using in the movie."

How was the film project offered to him? "Star Cinema offered it to me as a spoof of soap operas, because I’ve directed so many soaps since Esperanza of Judy Ann Santos. But it took time before we were able to concoct the right story for it. I told them soaps would be limited so we’re also spoofing movies and TV commercials in the movie. Mel del Rosario wrote the full script and we decided to focus on the idea of Bayani and Vhong playing two sets of twin brothers who were switched at birth, just like in Big Business with Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin. But when we were shooting the scenes involving the two sets of twins interacting with each other, nabaliw ako because we’re using the domino effect. I want the two Bayanis and the two Vhongs shown interacting with themselves in the same frame and it turned out to be very expensive to do it so our budget soared."

In the story, one set of Bayani and Vhong was adopted by a rich Chinese couple, giving the story a Mano Po element about Chinese families. They are called Dao and Mao, from Dao Ming Si and Mao Tse Tung. The other set of Bayani and Vhong was adopted by a poor family who Jerry describes as "jologs" and named Boy and Amboy.

"The rich Bayani is engaged to Denise Joaquin in an arranged marriage, but he doesn’t like her at all as his real love is their housemaid, Michelle Bayle, so he runs away with Vhong. The poor ones, Boy and Amboy, who are paired with Cherry Lou and Angelene Aguilar, also escape from some goons who are running after them and, by chance, they get to the province where Dao and Mao’s family live. They are mistaken to be Dao and Mao and this leads to some very hilarious situations."

Making the movie proved to be a big challenge for him. "This is my first straight comedy so nangangapa ako at the start. The first few days, I wasn’t sure what to do so on the way to the set, I’d listen to various novelty songs to help lighten my feelings and to be prepared for what I’ll do on the set. I realized that, in comedies, you have to trust your cast. In dramas kasi, you control the cast from their acting. In comedies, you really have to let them go to make people laugh. It’s good Bayani and Vhong have excellent rapport since they’ve been working together since their Super Laff In days on TV. Their exchange of repartees and punchlines, perfect timing comes out naturally. They really have the gift to be excellent rib ticklers. The movie also features two other sets of real twins: the Jaboom twins, Jaja and Boom Boom, and the twin sons of Bembol Roco, Felix and Dominic, who are both very promising."

Doesn’t he intend to make serious films? "If I’d be given the chance, why not? My most serious work so far is Soltera, for which I got nominated as Best Director and which gave Raymond Bagatsing some Best Supporting Actor awards. I presented the concept to Star Cinema, they liked it, and we agreed on Maricel Soriano playing the title role. I’d also like to do horror films and even bold films. Right now, I’ve offered Star a family drama to be shot in Vietnam, inspired by the stories of Vietnamese refugees who settled in the Philippines. I’ve already done some research and it’s not so expensive to shoot there. I also have a project about TNT’s in the US, with Piolo Pascual playing a Pinoy who agrees to an arranged marriage in the US just so he can stay there and it turns out that his bride would be Ai Ai de las Alas. In the end, they’ll really fall in love with each other. I just hope matuloy ang kahit isa in these two proposed projects of mine."