Sisikat Din Ako!: Guideposts for stars (& non-stars) in 2016 and beyond

Noel Ferrer, manager to many famous celebrities, has created a bible for the stars — the wannabes, the stars-of-the-moment and stars who are serious about keeping their luster intact. The tome is titled “Sisikat Din Ako!: Your Guide to Making Your Mark in Show Business.” It has a Filipino version called “Mag-artista Ka!”

Unwittingly perhaps, Noel conceptualized the book to become not only for stars’ consumption but even for any ordinary person to utilize, too. Guideposts are strewn all over the pages of the book. Each page is laden with words of wisdom that can be lighthouses to those who need to see the beam of life — artista or common folk.

Noel has been in show business for 25 years and has seen stars rise and fall. As a credible witness to their stardom and their obscurity, he took the challenge to give each one of them (including the ordinary man reading his book) a spark of hope, a book to guide them through their career. The book is clear, however, that stardom is a territory of those who know how to follow the cardinal rules. If we correlate it with the common folk’s life, it proves that success is an attainable dominion of those who know how to plough the fields of life. Always, always, as the book points out, the character of the man — his luck and faith notwithstanding — is the fulcrum that balances his fate.

In “Sisikat Din Ako!,” which Noel co-authored with STAR’s Jerry Donato, Arnel Ramos and Alwyn Ignacio, five cardinal rules are set. They are simple yet these rules  require deftness of the heart and dexterity of the mind to execute them. They seem  simple that many times they are overlooked. The minute they are disregarded is seemingly the moment that failure creeps in. Here goes…

Rule No. 1. Know your strength and your unique selling proposition. “This rule is about making a self-inventory because the artist himself or herself, after all, is the product that will be packaged, sold, consumed and evaluated,” says Noel, a friend and talent manager to Ryan Agoncillo, Iza Calzado, Luis Alandy, Joross Gamboa, Marco Alcaraz, Precious Lara Quigaman, Kim Atienza, Atom Araullo among others.

Rule No. 2. Get good guidance and set goals. “It’s best to get a manager whom you trust to give you good guidance, a good career and marketing plan, and who shares the same values and good practice with you,” Noel writes in the book. This nugget of wisdom is also applicable to an ordinary employee who gets motivated because he or she works with an inspiring leader whose set of work ethics is both sound and good.

Rule No. 3. Focus, prioritize and establish your network and base. “The talent should have a very clear branding,” Noel says.

Rule No. 4. Go for excellence and then reinvent. “Even if one is already known and recognized for one’s excellence, one should not stop from learning and (doing) further talent development. Longevity in show business is sustained by well-planned and effectively executed reinvention,” says Noel, who took up masteral units in Communication Arts at the Ateneo de Manila University after finishing his undergraduate course in Philosophy from the Ateneo, too.

Rule No. 5. Show gratitude and goodness at all times. Be lucky and relevant always.

* * *

Reading through Sisikat Din Ako! proves that entering show business is like entering any job. You need skills. And when you are already “hired,” the book suggests that you need the five Ps of survival.

P1 — Professionalism. Having good work ethics is the backbone of anyone’s longevity in a job — that’s my take. Noel furthers that it is always good for the talent to be reliable and easy to work with. “Take directions well. Be a good team player” is his advice.

P2 — Patience. “The hard climb to the top needs a lot of patience. Learn from every step. This builds character,” says Noel.

P3 — Persistence.  I concur that the road stars take and the challenges non-stars experience are the same — stumbling blocks are ubiquitous. So should persistence be all-pervading in one’s heart and intellect.

P4 — Personal relations. “(Having) good public relations brings you closer to your support group in this crazy industry. Be honest and sincere, be approachable, polite and full of good will,” Noel says. Being in show business, he adds, has taught him to deal with all kinds of people. “I learn from them and discern what I would stand for. I am happy to champion the causes of the underdogs who are excellent, full of good will and talent and who have the right motivation and attitude in making a difference in this rather crazy beautiful world of showbiz.”

P5 — Positive thinking. A positive mind is the spawning ground of blessings — no matter the tests and trials, regardless if you are a star or not.

* * *

Aside from being a guidebook, Sisikat Din Ako! is partly a historical endeavor on show business if only we based it on the richness of the research aspect of the book. It gives not only a clear glimpse of how stars are made but also how the star system was born. Whether it’s good or not, please find out from the book.

The book is also a gleaming mirror of the author’s professional tapestry. Noel is a “teacher, educator and a ‘formator’ at heart.” He also dabbled in writing a column for a broadsheet before so he knows how to make many parts of the book read like a reportage. Sources are quoted properly and quotes are properly attributed to stars. It could have been more endearing if all quotes or passages that are used as book breakers are by Filipino artists. Nevertheless, the use of “soundbytes” (for I can imagine hearing those quotes while reading the book) by foreign stars and foreign figures adds to the global appeal of the book. Yes, methinks even Hollywood stars can learn a thing or two from Noel’s Sisikat Din Ako. After all, everybody — even the most professional, the most accomplished, the most successful, the most famous — needs a guidepost or two to breeze though life.

There’s more to Sisikat Din Ako! than what I have discussed. Read through the more than 170 pages of the book and find in between words, in between paragraphs, in between chapters many seeds of wisdom. Imbibe them and they will grow on you — whether you are a star or an everyman. After all, as Noel says, one’s illumination is “in being relevant, in staying relevant.”

(For your new beginnings, e-mail me at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Instagram bumbaki@yahoo.com. Have a blessed Sunday! Happy New Year!)