Later in New Jersey he was put in boarding school across the Turnpike for most of his crucial formative years, so he didn’t really imbibe the middle class atmosphere of Jersey City where communities of Fil-Ams were a microcosm of the homeland.
He became a successful producer of TV commercials, among them an obscure beer, an airline and a fastfood chain. He became involved in theater productions both on and off Broadway. It was a good life. Until one day he had an epiphany.
His folks sent him to look into some relatives in Jersey City, where he experienced some form of culture shock at the way his compatriots lived in a foreign land, including holding a beauty pageant for lolas. All this time Romeo behaved and acted like a typical white person, perhaps in denial of his skin, having been surrounded by caucasians throughout most of his waking life in the US of A.
He thought that he might be of better use if he could help Filipinos make it in the tough showbusiness scene in the US. And so the concept of the ABC-5 TV show Hollywood Dream was born.
Romeo broached his idea to ABC-5 boss Tony Cojuangco at a social gathering, and the reality program that was to showcase the best of Hollywood-potential Filipino talent had its maiden airing last July, with Joven as executive producer.
"They (actor participants) do the whole round of genres, from comedy to romance to horror to action, so there’s also a bit of song and dance," the talent agent and scriptwriter now says over the phone. It is just a few days before the winner of the final is revealed –who between Julia Clarete or Ramon Bagatsing will land that two-picture contract, a walk-on role in the long running American soap As the World Turns, membership in the Screen Actors’ Guild, among other perks that go with having a foot in Hollywood’s door.
Both Julia and Ramon were interviewed by seven talent agents, casting directors and producers abroad, who had the difficult task of choosing just one winner, he says.
Romeo says it’s better to manage just one or two Filipinos to guide them through the intricacies and dog-eat-dog of Hollywood, rather than, say, a group of 15 which, he says, would be quite dizzying.
"You’ll be hearing more from her," Romeo says of Clarete, the subsequent winner who, like Bagatsing, also has a theater background. Clarete has also been a regular in the noontime show Eat Bulaga.
Bagatsing, who has previously relocated to Australia, is a veteran of stage and film, having starred in a number of local productions.
"Even actors who start out in theater and branch out to TV and film, return regularly to the stage to touch base," Romeo says, saying it’s a totally different milieu acting in front of a live audience, where feedback is instant.
Among those who reached the later stages of the competition are Pinky Amador, Jamie Wilson, Roxanne Barcelo.
Joven says he is keen on having both Clarete and Bagatsing cast in an upcoming movie whose script he had written, a semi-autobiography entitled Wrinkles, to be produced by The Syndicate and As You See It Films.
Clarete is to fly to Los Angeles in January, and partially relocate there between jobs in the homeland. Shooting for Wrinkles begins February mostly in L.A., and will take around a month.
Like Romeo, the protagonist in Wrinkles is also a Fil-Am boy who rediscovers his roots in a Fil-Am community in Jersey City, where incidentally a grandma’s beauty pageant is held annually with the likes of Armida Siguion Reyna, Lilia Dizon and Gina Pareño participating.
"This is where the comedy comes in," he notes of the Golden Girl-ish subplot that also has echoes of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
It turns out that our Wrinkles hero is deep in debt–we don’t know if this also holds true in the life of the real Joven–and a bail-out seems possible when a Rolex watch has been entrusted to him, only that the family heirloom is at the moment being worn by an uncle visiting from the Philippines.
That’s all he will say right now of Wrinkles, which is seen to gain a further foothold in Hollywood for Filipinos after the Miramax hit The Great Raid with Cesar Montano.
Asked if The Great Raid was a breakthrough film for Pinoys in Hollywood, he says, "I hope so." But, he says, it was still intended for an American audience because the protagonist was American.
"Hollywood is still basically a white industry, so we need more Filipino writers and producers who will support them," Romeo says. Not necessarily in sunset strip terms.
He also remains faithful to 35 mm, in which format Wrinkles will be shot. But he is not unaware of the latest inroads being made by local filmmakers in the digital field.
"That’s good because it’s cheaper and people can experiment more," he says, noting producers won’t be looking as much at the balance sheets and directors can venture into new storylines other than the tried and tested formula.
Romeo, who is only 30 years old in a precocious world, also observes that the line between mainstream and independent is being blurred further, as more indie cinema is now watched by the mainstream audience, and vice versa.
"It’s all Hollywood," he says, at the same time adding that a Filipino entry winning in the Oscars is still a long shot as the competition is incredibly stiff.
"Even here in Asia, South Korea is having a resurgence in their film industry, and Thailand too," he says.
In the meantime, Hollywood Dream will continue to try and get more than a foot in Hollywood, maybe a leg, then a pelvis, hip, torso, arms, neck and head, of course all these parts still intact and in one body–or even a composite of Julia’s, Ramon’s, Cesar’s, Romeo’s –to conduct the great Filipino raid on the American movie industry.
Next month, Julia Clarete flies off to Los Angeles to begin living her Hollywood dream–for real. The winner–by one vote–of ABC-5’s reality search show Hollywood Dream, produced by Hollywood agent Romeo Joven and judged by seven Hollywood professionals, Julia will claim her coveted SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card and take on roles in two movies, Wrinkles (produced by Joven) and UN Murders, and a walk-on part in the television soap As the World Turns.
Last month, Julia and finalist Raymond Bagatsing spent a dizzying five days in Hollywood for the final auditions of the competition, imcluding training with acting coach Judy Kerr (who worked on Seinfeld and Friends), who was appropriately impressed by the two first timers. The judges–including producers Henry Capanna, Bryan Brucks and Jeff Rice, casting directors Mike Fenton and Teri Berland, director Paul Emami and agent Scott Karp–agreed that both were "natural", and cited Julia’s Asian looks as a distinct advantage.
Their Hollywood experience included living the life of struggling actors, since they were were only given $100 each and told to raise the extra money to survive the five days in the city. Raymond worked as a pizza delivery boy and a messenger, while Julia became a human ad-sandwich and took a role as cleaning lady.
"My Hollywood Dream experience has been beautiful," Julia says. "It has brought me from being utterly helpless to ecstatic. It was a major turning point in my life... On this show I found out I could be so focused it’s easy to brush aside any distractions."
And focused she will have to be to succeed in Hollywood, but she says she’s ready. "I’m willing to start all over again," she says with determination.
Producer Joven is delighted with the outcome of Hollywood Dream, admitting that it was "tough, but fun nevertheless". As early as now, plans for a second season are being discussed. Joven is also upbeat about the chances of both Julia and Raymond making it. "Even the judges agree that both will make it there (Hollywood)," he reveals. "It’s just a matter of exposure."
Julia started acting even before she realized she was doing it. "School bored me so much that I just had to get out," she shares. "I pretended to be sick." She did theater in school, including the lead in a school production of Florante at Laura.
"In theater, you act according to the point of view of the audience," she says. "The audience sits around eight feet away from you so you can’t make mistakes. On the other hand, television pays better and it allows you to be late. TV’s also hard though because the camera takes a close up of your acting."
The bright lights of tinsel town will be there to dazzle Julia, and who knows? We just might see her name in lights, and watch her walk down the red carpet at the Academy Awards one day soon. –Dina Sta. Maria