Never too late for a directing break

MANILA, Philippines – Vanessa de Leon makes her directorial debut in the Viva film Girlfriend For Hire. Opening in cinemas tomorrow, Feb. 10, the romantic-comedy features for the first time the tandem of Andre Paras and Yassi Pressman in the lead roles.

 “Actually, this (directing) is a dream for anybody in the industry. But even before I dared have it as a dream, medyo binigyan na ako ng pagkakataon ng Viva (to edit their films). So, I’m very grateful to my Viva family for taking the risk with me,” Vanessa, who’s better known in the movie business as a film editor, told The STAR.

One thing an aspiring director can learn from her story is, “To be very patient. Kung sabihin ko man na ma-swerte ako ngayon, yung swerte ko dumating at the age of 44. What I want to say is, your time will come, as long as it’s for you. No matter how long it takes, it will come. You just have to be very, very patient.”

The UP Diliman Communication Research graduate began her career as a copywriter for ABS-CBN’s promo department in 1994. In 1996, she started editing trailers for the network’s filmmaking arm Star Cinema up until in 2007.

“I was amazed at how things were being edited so I studied how it was done. I started with linear editing, then later on, I asked to be taught on non-linear editing,” she recalled.

In 2007, Vanessa went freelance. “When I was doing trailers, I was again so amazed at how the whole film was done. So what I did, I always talked to the film editors and closely observed their edited work versus the rushes that I saw.” In 2009, she was launched as a film editor by director Joyce Bernal via the hit Eugene Domingo starrer Kimmy Dora.

Vanessa has since edited several other movies such as Chris Martinez’s The Gifted and Temptation Island, Joel Lamangan’s The Bride and the Lover and Hustisya, and her latest, Joey Reyes’ My Bebe Love.

Andre Paras and Yassi Pressman topbill the young-adult romantic-comedy Girlfriend for Hire

 

It was last year when Viva Entertainment’s Veronique del Rosario-Corpus informed her that “we’re thinking of launching you as a director.”

“She called me on a Friday. I was told to come on a Monday to discuss it. Then we met by Monday. Right then and there, we did the contract-signing,” related Vanessa, who signed a 10-picture contract with Viva.

She described the transition from editing to directing as a “culture shock.”

“I had a culture shock. I’m used to the editing process wherein you don’t have anyone to talk to. You’re all by yourself. And I’m the kind of editor who doesn’t want to go to the set. I went to sets when I was still doing promo trailers for Star Cinema because that was when I would do the interviews with the stars, the behind-the-scenes, the making of the video.

“When I was editing main pictures, I also didn’t want to see the shoot itself because magkakaroon ako ng karga. For example, they were having difficulty shooting a certain movie scene. At the back of my mind, I’d be thinking I have to extend this sequence because they had a hard time shooting this. So, for me not to have those thoughts, I won’t go to the shooting so that I can edit the film as I see it fit,” Vanessa said.

A great advice she has received now that she has gone the directing route is to never be your own film’s editor. But of course, old habits die hard, so Vanessa also happens to be Girlfriend for Hire’s film editor.

Joey Reyes, on the other hand, was in-charge of the screenplay of the film, which is adapted from a Wattpad story about an orphan who is hired to be the fake girlfriend of a rich heir so as to thwart his grandfather’s plan to set him up in an arranged marriage.

To be sure, the plot is not exactly novel but when asked how the film is any different from other young-adult rom-coms, Vanessa said, “The difference of this film with other rom-coms is that the fun here is real maybe because the two actors are really full of fun. Whatever they put into the film and sa laki ng resolution ng film, medyo kakainin ka because it’s larger than life. So, the thrill, the ‘kilig’ lalabas yun, sobrang mararamdaman mo. It’s such an enjoyable and kilig movie, that it’s what you can call an experience.”

Andre and Yassi ­— both aged 20 — were first paired up in Diary ng Panget, one of the 10 highest-grossing films in 2014. The two appear in competing TV networks, but both are being managed by Viva Artists Agency. For Vanessa, their chemistry is already built-in.

“Before I got to know them, I believe they already had this chemistry. I was also a fan of Diary ng Panget. I felt thrilled watching them despite that they were the second players. What I’m saying is, whatever I had given into this film for the two of them, mas malaki ang binigay nila sa akin bilang director nila. So, thank you!”