a tv ad

i used to do print and tv ads during my early to mid-twenties. years after studies in japan, england and australia, and after many years of teaching in diliman, i was shocked to receive an offer to be part of bear brand milk’s laki sa gatas campaign. what made the offer a bit more shocking is the fact that the campaign will also involve prizewinning actress / batangas governor vilma santos, miss international 2006 precious lara quigaman, and manila vice mayor isko moreno.

after meetings with chris cahilig consultancy founder / CEO chris cahilig and nestle philippines officials, i was convinced that the milk drinking should be relayed to more people across the country. surveys indicated that in underdeveloped communities in the countryside, parents would rather spend their money on mobile phone credits, instead of buying milk for their children.

facing the cameras again turned out to be a tedious task. i have zero acting talent and double zero projection skills. worse, i gained weight months after arriving from australia. after my photo shoot with belgian director frank hoefsmit (make-up by mickey see of shu uemura, styling by janet of propaganda), i was encouraged to lose a few pounds and stay healthy.

last 31 july, miss international lara, vice mayor isko and i shot our respective commercials in manila’s andres bonifacio elementary school, a pilot school along tayuman (between avenida rizal and abad santos), with film and television director jay altarejos (lalaki sa parola, among others). ricci chan did the styling and make-up with propaganda’s janet. ace lensman walter villa documented the scenes behind the making of the ad. pao orendain was director of photography.

direk jay’s technical staff and crew arrived at the site between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. lara’s call time was 6:00 a.m. vice isko’s was 7:00 a.m. i was expected to arrive after 5:00 p.m. because of my classes and administrative duties in u.p. diliman.

miss international lara and vice mayor isko were certified pros. they nailed every bit of the shoot. in contrast, i was shaking at every scene, mumbling lines and messing up. big time. i had sore throat and running nose. i didn’t get to sleep well the night before—i read a paper and moderated a session during the international philippine studies conference at the philippine social science center, conducted classes and attended meetings in diliman, attended the opening of the thirteen artists awards retrospective at the cultural center of the philippines (curated by prizewinning production designer / visual artist leo abaya), before jumping to a meeting with filipino-american scholars at the university of santo tomas. worse, on the day of the shoot, many streets in manila were flooded due to heavy rains that week. throughout the shoot, i was comforted by direk jay, chris and his deputies, henry and gerai. direk jay’s technical staff and crew cheered me up every time i miss out. the kids, all fifty of them, inspired me to recover. by 3:00 a.m, shooting was over and we packed up.

after rough cuts, countless brainstorming sessions and further post-production work, my ad was finally aired over many shows on abs-cbn channel 2 and gma channel 7. when i woke up early this afternoon, i received at least ninety two messages from family members, friends and former students from places like batac (ilocos norte), lubao (pampanga), pililla (rizal), santa maria (bulacan), bacolod, dumaguete, cebu and polomolok (south cotabato). thanks to the wonders of editing, chris cahilig’s vision and direk jay’s magic touch, the final cut didn’t seem bad at all.

governor vilma santos spearheaded our campaign during a well-attended press conference at annabel’s (tomas morato) last thursday. governor vi also spoke our advocacy in kamuning elementary school. lara quigaman traveled to public schools in bulacan to promote the campaign. vice mayor isko moreno began his advocacy in schools all over manila. i’ll be starting my campaign in the regions really soon.

i am very fortunate to be part of bear brand’s wonderful campaign. wonderful, it still is.

andres bonifacio elementary school in tayuman (tondo, manila)
inside andres bonifacio elementary school

with director of photography pao orendain and his team

with the fifty plus kids during the shoot

direk jay altarejos motivates the kids
cheering up the kids

listening to instructions by belgian fashion photographer frank hoefsmit

between takes

with kuya bear

with mama bear

with miss international 2006 precious lara quigaman

with manila vice mayor isko moreno

ace photographer walter villa

with film, television and advertising director jay altarejos

with gerai, CEO chris, walter and henry

styling by ricci chan and propaganda's janet

with chris cahilig consultancy deputies gerai and henry