Jeric & Paul Soriano on Nestor de Villa, advertising, film, love & faith

Both father and son are notable directors in the world of advertising, popular for their striking mestizo looks, and known for their strong faith in God. Both may be very private individuals, but they’ve had to adjust to being in the public eye as one is often seen praying by the side of Manny Pacquiao, and the other, attending events by the side of Toni Gonzaga. Here are 10 things you should know about Jeric and Paul Soriano.

1. Jeric, on growing up with Nestor de Villa as his father: “He would look at us always and say, ‘Smile, everybody, smile!’”

Growing up with a matinee idol father, Jeric says that as much as they didn’t want to be in the limelight, they had to adapt and grow up in the showbiz world. (“The Nida-Nestor Show, we all grew up on that set.”) He shares that, because tinted car windows didn’t exist back then, when they were stuck in traffic, the passengers in the cars and jeepneys right beside them would recognize his father, a frenzy would erupt and his dad would just say, “Smile, everyone! Wave!” “I think I carried over that personality, until now. Even if I don’t know the person, I’ll greet them and be friendly,” Jeric says.

2. Jeric directed the iconic “I can feel it!” commercial with Alice Dixon. He directed only one movie, Hotshots, which starred Aga Muhlach and Gary Valenciano.

Before he became a director, Jeric was working behind the scenes alongside directors like Lino Brocka. (“I loved the way he handled people. No one was too small or too great on his set, everyone had value.”) He got the idea to make movie trailers for different directors, and did that for films like Bernal’s Himala and Brocka’s Kontrobersyal, all free of charge. His name started to spread through the industry until one day, he got a phone call from Vic del Rosario of Viva Films. “My knees were shaking, I was trying to keep my voice from shaking,” the 57-year-old pastor recalls. A meeting was set up, he was given a story, a cast of actors, music, and he had to think of a treatment. Hotshots was the product. “The movie was actually my ticket into the advertising world, it was my demo reel!” he reveals.

3. Paul lived alone in the US to study college, and took jobs at the Gap, in a golf country club, and at Blockbuster Video.

Paul was born and raised in the US, went back to the Philippines and graduated high school from International School Manila, then went back to the US, attending De Anza College then Sta. Clara University. “That was how my parents disciplined me. They said, ‘We can only support you with this much, and if you want to do your hobbies, then you have to work,’” Paul recalls. Knowing he wanted to be in film (“I wasn’t really the school type”), he worked as a production assistant for a while, before coming home to the Manila for good in 2006. 

4. Paul, on making it in the industry: “People say, kasi anak ni Jeric, apo ni Nestor. To be honest, I think it got me the meetings. But to get the job, I needed to be talented.”

Pastor Jeric and Pacman pound fists: As Manny Pacquiao’s spiritual adviser, Jeric says, “I’m not wasting my time if it’s just for politics and showbiz. Honestly, from what I’m seeing, it is the real thing.”

He says that getting into advertising was probably harder for him because he had his dad’s big shoes to fill. His first official TV ad was for Jollibee, and after that, he ended up making two more consecutive ads for them. “To get the next job, I had to do something right,” Paul says. He recently won Best Director and Best Screenplay awards in the 2012 FAP Awards for his movie Thelma. “It had a great message and I feel people really needed to see it. I don’t make films to get awards. I guess the awards just tell me that I did something good,” he shares. Thelma was a film two years in the making, but was an idea he had way back in college. “In my computer I have an ‘Imaginations’ folder, whatever I think of, I put it there. Thelma was that.”

5. Jeric and Paul Soriano in numbers:

3: Number of Soriano siblings after Paul. Patrick, 23, Philip, 19, and Parker, 17. Paul says he’s the strictest. “O.C.,” Jeric whispers.

500: Estimated number of TVCs Jeric made in his 25-year career. “There was a time I was doing 10 commercials a month, hopping from one service vehicle to another!”

50: Estimated number of TVCs Paul has done, since he started in 2007.

2: Number of weeks it took to plan and finish the “Palit” TVC, the 2010 presidential campaign ad of Bro. Eddie Villianueva that Paul and Jeric collaborated on. 

100: Number of caps in Paul’s collection. “I love wearing hats cause I don’t like fixing my hair.”

25: Number of utility knives in Jeric’s collection. “I’m just fascinated with how they put all these tools in there!”

Pastor Jeric on Pacman: “He is sincere, honest, and passionate about this new life he is experiencing.”

6. Both Jeric and Paul were brought up with the freedom to pursue their passion. Jeric’s father (Paul’s grandfather) did not enjoy the same privilege and was actually cut off from the family.

Before getting into film, Paul wanted to become a professional golfer, and his dad Jeric supported him. “Whatever we wanted to do, he would support us. I think that’s what allowed us to really open up our mind and imagination,” Paul shares. 

“My dad would say, ‘Whatever your craft or your gift is, I’m right behind you,’” Jeric shares. But he reveals that his father was told by his grandfather that he could just be either a lawyer or a doctor. And when he chose to become an actor, his father was told: “You are not my son, I don’t know any actor son.” But as the years passed, it all worked out. “When my dad made it in the industry, he gifted my grandfather who was a haciendero with a brand-new tractor. Tied a big yellow ribbon around it. That was the big peace offering.”

7. On being a spiritual adviser to Manny Pacquiao and Pacman’s newfound faith: “If it was fake or false, I would’ve left day one. I’m not wasting my time if it’s just for politics and showbiz. Honestly, from what I’m seeing, it is the real thing.”

The story goes, one random afternoon, Dyan Castillejo called him up and asked if he was available for Bible study that night. About to decline because the call came so late, Dyan mentioned it would be in Brentville, very near where Jeric lives. “It’s in the house of Manny Pacquiao,” Jeric recalls Dyan saying. “Are you sure you want me? Okay,” Jeric answered. He told his wife Marissa: “When we go to Pacman’s house, we will not do that one thing that everybody does. We will not ask for one autograph, we will not ask for one picture. Because we’re there for the Bible study.” A week after, Jeric was requested to return for a Bible study, and two days after that, Pacman asked for his cell phone number. “Pastor, kung okay ka, yung tinuro mo sa akin, kailangan marinig nung pamilya ko sa Gensan,” Pacman told him. “O, sige, kailan?” Jeric asked. “Uh, Pastor, pwede bukas? Yung first flight out?” Pacman replied. 

“You know where I think I connected with him? You will see that when I speak, I use visuals. I use slides, pictures, sound effects, it’s the filmmaker in me. And when you begin to know the man, he has a childlike heart. And he appreciates it when you bring it as simple as, say, Sesame Street,” Jeric reveals. He goes on to share that in the Bible studies they did in Gensan, the most excited was actually Pacman. “He was the one fixing the chairs and the tables, and would say, ‘Ay teka, bibili muna ako ng merienda!’” Jeric says Pacman is very passionate about The Word, looking at it as good news that he wants to share with all. 

“There are a lot of people around him,” Jeric says. “I don’t come with an agenda, because it’s important for me to be able to pull him aside and tell him the truth.” He reveals he is able to be as blunt to Manny as possible, like the times he’d tell Manny that he should apologize to Jinkee for something he said or did, and Manny would instantly realize it and go back by Jinkee’s side. “I truly believe it’s a husband and wife team, you cannot be the Lone Ranger. And for many years that was his life.” To those skeptical about Pacman’s faith, he says: “We are all a work in progress. From my perspective, he is sincere, honest, and passionate about this new life he is experiencing.”

8. On lessons learned from courtship to relationship with Toni Gonzaga: “Before I could fall in love with her, I had to fall in love with her family. Fall in love with everything about her.”

Toni talks with fondness about how Paul is so patient with her situation of having a curfew and not being able to go on trips alone with him, even if they have been together for around five years. “I guess that was the way to her heart, to show her even though her parents had all these strict rules, I had to respect that. And if I wanted to be in a relationship with her, those were some of the things I had to understand,” Paul shares.

He said he is honestly not pressured by people asking them about marriage (“My mom asks me also,”); instead he sees it as a positive question. Rather than people wanting them to break up, he appreciates that people seem to want them to end up together. “I think I’m ready,” the 30-year-old director reveals. “But we both just like to pray and when God says we’re both ready, then that’s really the best time.”

9. Paul was already seven years old when he first met his dad Jeric.

“You’re not kidding me,” Jeric quips when asked to share his love story with wife Marissa. “Actually, their love story is fantastic,” Paul smiles.

They were high school prom dates. She was the kind of woman who was looking to get married, and Jeric was not ready to offer that. Marissa met someone else, got married, and moved to the US. Years passed and Marissa and her husband separated, and she and Jeric met again in the US, and fell in love all over again. 

“The only reason why I looked for her was because when Christ came into my life and forgave me for all my kalokohans, I knew I must also forgive those who hurt me. One of those people was Marissa. I thought she had done a number on me, I thought she got pregnant with Paul to hook me, when in fact that wasn’t true. I asked for forgiveness, and in the process, fell in love with her again,” Jeric reveals. 

“I met you when I was seven, in a Denny’s restaurant in LA,” Paul says, looking at his dad. “My mom told me I was going to meet my father. Honestly, I was looking for that. I love my mom so much, she took care of me as a child. And when I met my dad, we pretty much hit it off right away.” Six months after that, they all moved back to the Philippines. 

“I had to reconcile with Marissa and we had to take Paul back to the Philippines. Because he was destined to do a film called A Journey Home. And that film has blessed so many churches, because it is about forgiveness,” Jeric reveals. “That was my first film. It was about a father who left his family and came back after so many years. The story was just actually given to me by Star Cinema. I read it, I related to it right away. It was a very personal film,” Paul shares.

10. Both Jeric and Paul strongly believe everything that happens is part of a bigger plan, part of something we are being prepared for. 

“What happened to Marissa and me, you know today, we are helping people who have the same situation,” Jeric says. “We are counseling people, because we went through it. I had no idea I was going to be in this preaching thing. But what He does is He prepares you, trains you, equips you, building you for such a time.”

“If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” Paul shares on what he learned from his parent’s love story and from life. “There’s this passage, ‘Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it is God’s plan that prevails.’” 

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Neither Jeric nor Paul are closing doors to anything. Jeric is willing to direct, Paul is willing to preach, and so many other possibilities, but they both say those will happen in His time. Unafraid to show their human sides, and that of others, they are both natural storytellers, whether through films, 30-seconders or lectures. And you will find that, directly or indirectly, all the stories they tell are about faith. And that includes their movie-like real life story — a story of love, mistakes, forgiveness, and faith that we can all learn from and be inspired by. 

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E-mail me at askiamsuperbianca@yahoo.com or follow me on Twitter @iamsuperbianca.