Wrapping Up Again

AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!! It’s a wrap! We finally finished shooting the movie. I’m so relieved! I actually survived my first AD job (not counting the AD trainee job in Till There Was You and interrupted AD job in the shelved My First Romance project)! Definitely, this was the most difficult shoot I’ve ever had. I mean, Dekada '70 had a more stressful environment but I was just one of the lowly people there so I had no direct responsibility to the on-set troubles. Being the assistant director this time was different. The responsibility was so huge, the pressure was so high, and I had to dodge all the bullets thrown at me. Yet I came out unscathed. I remained strong and didn’t cry (to the frustration of my director :) ) Penniless maybe (I consumed all my savings during the six-month shoot) but I’m still in one piece, thank God. Whew!

But let’s not dwell on the negative. The following are what makes the ALL MY LIFE shoot (yep!) a memorable one for me.

- Working with THE Aga Muhlach was certainly an honor. I now understand why stars like him and Vilma Santos (whom I’ve also got the chance to work with in Dekada ’70) are still on top of the business. They respect their work and their co-workers.
- The staff members who are all hardworking and easy to work with, specifically Grace (script continuity), Danica (PA), Miss Nancy (Production Designer), Miss Riza (art director), make up artist Adore, crowd directors Irene and Aye and interns Sunshine and Joan.
- Miss Elma, my favorite line producer of Star Cinema!
- Direk Lauren, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, is one of the kindest directors I’ve worked with. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity.
- Dimples Romana and Miss Ces Quesada who are both professional and intelligent actors. I thoroughly enjoyed working with them.
- The topsy-turvy one-week Star Cruise shoot, properly documented somewhere in the archives.

Let me say that I will surely miss movie production as I’m going back to writing for my next job (though I’m having doubts with that decision now but more on that later). Haay... You win Direk! I’m now teary eyed.