I missed you, my child. Thank you for having me. And happy birthday. Yes. Happy birthday to Paul as well. Yes. I invited Inang because she was a huge part of how I became the actress that I am today. We never had a conversation like this while we were doing our movie in 2014,
Starting Over Again. What was your childhood like growing up? Childhood. I come from a relatively lower middle class family. Both my parents were from the province. My father is from Iloilo. And my mother is a Kapampangan from Tarlac. My parents were very traditional and ultra conservative. And my mother was a very strict disciplinarian. So me and my siblings really grew up with strict discipline. Really intense. Discipline. Yes, discipline. Wasn't there a time when you and your siblings were playing. And they asked you to direct that? Oh, it was something else. When I look back, I said, we really do have telltale signs of what
we're going to be in the future. Because when I was young, I was assigned by my mother-- I was the youngest among the girls. There were four of us. I, who was the youngest daughter, would always be the one that my mother
would give tasks to. "Teach your younger siblings." So every summer, I would teach them. I was their teacher. I was their summer class teacher. And my mother would pay me thirty pesos. So I was so bored and they were always bored. Because I was a strict teacher too. So I would entertain them by creating plays. I said I'd do a variety show. So I would write the script and I would mount it. "This is what you will do." "Pretend that there's a bus...and this is our scene." "This is what will happen in the bus." We would make tickets for that as props. Then, you could be the conductor. "This is what you will do." So, there. After high school, my mother said, "Mom, I want to be a nurse or a doctor." She said, "You just want to get married early." "It'd be a waste." "Don't be a doctor. It's a waste of money." I said, "It's not, Mom." And she said, "No my child.
We don't have money for that." "Choose a program that we can afford." So, I took up mass communication,
AB Communication, in Maryknoll College. Now called Miriam College. I was not happy. Because I really wanted to be a doctor or nurse. I wanted to be in the medical field. But, when I was doing mass comm, I said, I felt joyful. I had fun. And then one of the board of directors of
Maryknoll College at that time saw my picture. As a graduate of Maryknoll, etcetera. So, I was interviewed. Magazine of Bulletin as it was called before. It was Bulletin. So, they called for me. That was when I met Charo. So when Ma'am Charo interviewed you,
how was the encounter? You knew her back then? Charo Santos. I said, "My god!" I was speechless. I said, "This woman is so beautiful in person." Ma'am Charo? Yes. I said I just see her in the movies but I never thought she was that beautiful in person. What was the interview like? it was hilarious. I was so loud. The first question that she asked me was, "Tell me about yourself?" I said this and that. "I'm Olive, blah blah." All those things. And my voice was so loud. And then she suddenly spoke. She said, "Okay." Then she fired the next question. My god, that's when I realized
I have such a loud voice. Her voice was so soft. She was like that ever since. Whatever we see on MMK, is how she really is even as early as that time. She was very soft-spoken. But you know, she's a very strong woman. You just think she's soft. You think she's soft, but really,
the power is very tough. Very tough yet loving boss. And aren't you like that too? Oh, yes. I think you got that too. So in a way, she was the first person
who became your mentor? Yes. Charo has always been my mentor. How did you know you got accepted - after the interview?
- Right then and there, she said it. I think she liked me. Maybe she was impressed. Maybe she found my voice too loud. But she took me in. She took me in as a production assistant. So, that was how I started and as I've said, that's how I met Malou Santos. So that was the beginning of our friendship,
the three of us. The relationship. Yes. The only dream was to become
a good line producer someday. To be like Charo. You never dreamed of becoming a director? Writing and directing were never part of my dream. But when I was a PA, I would notice that Charo would always ask me
to read the scripts. I would rely on my instincts a lot
when reading scripts. I would give her my comments on characterization. I didn't even know the meaning of that term yet. I would just say, "Chars, why is it like this?" "Why does this character do this?" And then, I would also comment on the structure or the plots. The logic of it. But I would go by my gut feel. So Charo would always assign me
with the creatives. Even when making a trailer, as a PA, you're there from pre-production to promo. I would be assigned to do the trailers. What trailers did you make? Do you remember? Of course. I made the trailer versions of
Hindi Nahahati ang Langit. This is Lorna and Boyet, done by Mike De Leon. I would be the one to comment on the posters too. I'm not the one who'd make it. I never learned how to edit,
but I would write and structure the versions based on the main trailer. And then I became associate line producer. Until I was doing this movie with
Director Laurice Guillen. And she didn't feel like shooting that day. And of course as a line producer, my goal was to be on schedule and be within budget. So the director doesn't want to shoot, she doesn't want to because she said, "What the hell is this?" "I don't like this script. What kind of scene is this?" At that time, the writer was busy doing other movies. Writing for other movies. So what I did was I went to a corner- Director Rory was the assistant director. I said, "Rors, tell the director not to
pack up the shoot. Give me time." I wrote and revised it. I said, "Rors, have Director Laurice read this." "There you go! This is good!" "I'll do this." She said. So that's how I started. And then Director Laurice discovered that
I was the one who did the revision while I was paying the extras, and feeding people. That's how it started. And then after that, she got me as a
full time writer for a Viva movie, Ipagpatawad Mo. With Christopher de Leon and Vilma Santos. So that's my first full screenplay and it won. It won an award as best screenplay in Gawad Urian. So I'm very grateful to Director Laurice because if it were not for her, I wouldn't have become a writer. So I entered ABS-CBN, I joined ABS-CBN as an executive producer
of Going Bananas and then eventually of the Sharon Cuneta Show while simultaneously still line producing
for movies under Vision Films. There wasn't a Star Cinema yet? Not yet. And then later on,
Gabby spoke to Charo and said that, "You know, we need to open our own
movie outfit for ABS-CBN." And that was Star Cinema. In the beginning of Star Cinema,
it was with Regal, with Mother Lily. Co-production? Yes, co-production. So, Mother Lily was a huge part of building
and making Star Cinema. At that time, the first director of
Maalaala Mo Kaya was Maning Borlaza. And then we had Joel Lamangan. But they were also very busy with doing movies. So again, as I was saying, out of necessity, because there was a scarcity of directors. So that's how you got into directing? There you go. Who assigned you? Your Tita Malou was enraged. "Just direct already!" "You can do it!" Because she was seeing-- There was one episode with Charo
in Maalaala Mo Kaya. I know her story, so I know what buttons to press. I was on set... And the difficulty of the director was pushing
those buttons to motivate her, so she requested for me. I was on set... I motivated Charo. She and Malou saw that. Malou was saying, "Leb, you should direct already." I said, "I couldn't do it. Are you crazy?" "What are you talking about?" And that was also what happened in directing. When Director Laurice made an offer, "You could do it!" "I couldn't. Are you crazy?" "No, you can!" "You can do it." So it was Malou who would always push me. To direct. But the final would always be Charo. When Charo says, "Olive, you do that," I would do it. Finally, and the first movie that you said
yes to directing was? Maalaala Mo Kaya The Movie. This was the one with Aiko Melendez
and Richard Gomez. Speaking of experiences,
your early experiences in directing, weren't you starstruck with Christopher de Leon? Oh, yes. You couldn't direct him? Yes. Madrasta, Sharon and Boyet De Leon. I was shaking, Tin, because
it was Christopher de Leon, best actor in the Philippines. He had a scene with his son. And of course I was thinking of how to motivate
and direct an actor of his caliber. It took us 13 takes. Finally, I went up to Boyet. I said, "Yet, how can I help?" He said, "Oh, director..." "I've been waiting for you to talk to me all this time." I said, "Boyet, sorry, if I'm being honest,
I don't know how to direct you." - You said that?
- Yes. You know what, I live by the principle, honesty will set you free and honesty will save you. No matter how hurtful it may be. No matter the consequences may be, you should be truthful. So there. I shared with him. "I'm so intimidated with you." I said, "Can I direct you?" He said, "Director, I was waiting for you." So after that, "Okay, let's take a break." After that, this was the scene. So, I motivated him. It was so beautiful, Tin. Take one. What was the scene, Inang? It's his scene with his son. Talking to his son. Madrasta is a multi-awarded movie. Yeah. Grand slam. Sharon was a grand slam. Oh my god, that was such an experience because Sharon was really angry with me. Why? Because I was so meticulous and then finally,
the movie ended. So, it was being edited. It took its shape. When it was finished, Tin, I said, "Oh my god, why don't I feel anything in the movie?" Oh my god, so I had to call Sharon
and I had to explain. I had to call Boyet and I had to explain. This was the most- I had to do five scenes in one day. Four of which were confrontation scenes. 5AM to 2PM of the following day. You finished it? We finished it. Sharon finished it. After that, she cried. "I'm so mad at you." - She said that?
- Yes. What was the reason? She said, "Why did you do this to me, Inang?" Oh wait, she called me "Mama O" that time. I wasn't "Inang" yet. Because remember, I was her executive producer in the Sharon Cuneta Show for 6 years so that's how open we were. And I took it. And I embraced her. I said, "I'm so sorry." "My child, I'm so sorry." "But we have to do it." "I understand where you're coming from." "I understand your anger, if you hate me." She said, "I just have tell you, I love you so much
but why did you do this to me?" "Look at me, I'm so ugly." But my god, she was really beautiful in the film. Grand slam best actress. That's the biggest reward? Yes. And validation, consolation. It was worth it. More than me winning best director, my fulfillment for actors who win awards is different. It overwhelms me. So when you won and others won, that was intense. I was so grateful. I was so fulfilled. But the most fulfilling part for you as a director is? As a director, is when I come across people
and they come to me and say, "I'm so touched with that movie that you directed." That's what makes me cry. Because it validates my purpose as a storyteller. You know, people think that we're in this industry,
it's glamorous. It's not. It's really hard. So when they ask me, "What's your advice to aspiring directors and writers?" I say that if it's your passion,
there's no other way but to do it. But before you do that, know that it's not easy. No undertaking in life is easy. No job, work is easy, Tin. You work hard for it. It takes a lot of hard work especially
when you're directing or writing because you always deal with your ego. It hurts. You're always being critiqued. It really hurts. So, how do you handle your ego, Inang? I'm so blessed with the ability of being
able to confront myself. I have to always get to the point that I'm face to face with myself with all honesty. "What were you thinking?" I could tell myself that. I could go to the bottom of things
and then simply realize, "It's just my ego." "So what's the greater purpose, Olive?" "How much can you endure?" "What's the bottomline?" "So if it's like that, could you do it?" "If you could do it, take it already." "Take away the ego." One of my mentors, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, told me, "Our responsibility, Olive,
as a storyteller is to touch hearts." I live having that in my heart as a storyteller. Always remembering that. As head of creatives for the longest time,
there's always that thing about-- You have a certain struggle because
you're also a director, a writer. You have a struggle as to deciding if
you'd give it or not. Would you teach it or not? All your secrets. Will you mentor? Will you share? You're always questioning the amount of generosity that you'll be able to afford to give. I will admit that I'm also visited
by bouts of insecurities. By bouts of self-doubt. By bouts of fear. Because you're mentoring this person, but this person may usurp
your position in the future. Can replace you. Can replace me. But for me, what I always keep in mind, Tin,
is that God is so generous. And that the more you give,
the more that you will be blessed. And that He will always give it back to you. I always think of the generosity of the great men. The great geniuses like Ricky Lee. Marilou Diaz-Abaya. My mentors. Charo Santos-Concio. The genius of Enrico Santos. Those are the people I truly admire
because they are really brilliant. And yet, they were always generous. I always say, "My god, so Olive, what are you afraid of?" "And you are here, what is your purpose?" "What's your real purpose?" You're head of creatives, of ABS-CBN Films. Are you going to keep that all to yourself? So one of my fulfillments as a mentor
is when I see them succeed. I helped them, like Director Rory Quintos, just as she has helped me in becoming a director. Cathy Garcia-Molina, Mae Cruz, almost all of the directors and writers of ABS-CBN. And always, I would say that God
was always so generous to me. When it is my turn to write, to do a project,
He always gives it to me. There's always an outpouring of creativity. So, I am never in lack with God. That's beautiful, Inang. Inang really has a gift in motivating people. Even when she's not directing,
she can really touch the buttons in your heart that can make you feel inspired, encouraged. And perhaps that's why she's called Inang. She's so motherly when she takes care of her actors. Where did you get that, inang? You're so motherly. First is Congresswoman Joy Tambunting. She called you Inang? No, it was Mommy O. Mommy O. She was my executive producer in Going Bananas. I was supervising producer. And everytime she would cry and have problems, I would give her advice, and she would always say, "You're such a mom.
I would call you Mommy O." That was how it started. So Mommy O was the first that was used in ABS-CBN. Even Sharon calls me Mommy O. And the whole Sharon Cuneta Show staff. And then, Kelly came along, I worked with them too. She works with Loren Legarda. She said, "Mommy O, Mommy O." She's a country bumpkin, Waray. "I can't call you Mommy O, it's too posh." "Can I call you Inang?" I said, "Of course. Call me whatever." "You can call me Olive, Leb, or
anything you want to call me, it's okay." Inang, and that caught. That stayed with you? That stayed with me. Everybody called me Inang. They always say this-- I call people "anak" or "my child." Yes, everyone is your children. All of us are your "anak" or children. Even the guards in ABS-CBN call me Inang. It's very handy with me. Because I have a bad memory,
and I often forget names. That's why "anak" is useful. "Anak, anak..." Whenever I direct Piolo, I'd ask, "what's your name?" "Piolo." "Okay." So from then on, I'd say, "Anak, here." It takes out the pressure to know all the names
if I call them anak. And then at some point,
there was one day that I woke up. I would have that thought that pops in my head. When I woke up, I said, "I would never have children of my own." "I would be single forever, and that's okay." I go down to my mother. I said, "Ma, we'll be together forever." "I won't have kids." That was just one day when you woke up? Yes. I have those moments, Tin. There would be messages from above. Divine intervention. I remember, Lea Salonga asked me, "Olive, how do you do it?" "I have a problem with crying." "A lot of directors couldn't make me cry." in Sana Maulit Muli. "But my gosh, you push the right buttons,
so how do you do it? Lea Salonga was so fluent in English. What is this? This kid speaks so fluently. How do I answer her? I said, "Divine intervention." Then I walked away. Sometimes, a divine inspiration
just suddenly strikes you. Concepts, stories, things like that. Sometimes I would have those under the shower. A random concept would come along. Or sometimes, in the middle
of a conversation, "Viola!" There. Starting Over Again, Carmi and I were talking. Just chit-chatting. And then Anj Pessumal came. And then Anj came out with this thing
about letter later. Email yourself in the future. There you go. We were able to create Starting Over Again
because of that. And then for Hello, Love, Goodbye. Originally, it's for LizQuen. The one with Kathryn and Alden? Yes. LizQuen, and then it became Kathryn-DJ. And then Kathryn-Alden. It was supposed to be for LizQuen
but Liza was doing Darna at that time. So we gathered. I gathered the creatives. "Let's think." And then, there was nothing. I was about to stand up, and before that, I thought of something. "What's our next Milan?" "What's our next Anak?" "What's our next OFW story?" "What if..." And the rest is history. "What if there's this girl..." "Goes to Hong Kong..." And then Carmi was shouting already. And then it just happened,
we were able to put the story together. And then everyone rejoiced. That's it. You know what, Inang, one of my favorite films
that really stuck with all of us is, I think it's the first rom-com of Star Cinema, Got To Believe. That was a classic. - Got to be.
- And to this day, it garnered the highest DVD sales, right? Yes. How was Got To Believe born, Inang? Got To Believe was originally Lauren Dyogi's movie. Directorial film. Yeah. Written by Mia Concio. And that was the first time
I handled Claudine Barretto and turned her into a comedic actress. Yeah, 'cause she came from soap opera at that time. Yes. Teleseryes. Right? And Claudine was really for drama. So I said, "Let's do something new." Let's change the game. Let's change you. What I love about my actors like you and Claudine, I'm so blessed that I'm able to gain your trust. If I say this- Claudine at that time, I'd say,
"Here's what we're going to do, anak." In real life, Claudine Barretto dresses up
like an old lady. Yes. She was still with Rico, she was so conservative. We changed that in - Got To Believe.
- Yeah, she became provocative. Oh yes, because that's the character. Starting Over Again... always talked about. Star Cinema was always about happy endings. So I'd make one without a happy ending. That's why I fought for that. That was the first romcom with an unhappy ending that turned out to be a blockbuster. It's amazing when you take the risk. You listen to your heart and you listen to your gut. I learned so much from you, anak. About God, yeah. In Starting Over Again. And the way you live your life Tin, very inspiring. You know in life, it's not so much a matter of making the right or the wrong choice. But always, it's a matter-- To me, it's a matter of being able to live
with the choices that you make. You are like that. You stand by your decisions in life. In life, Tin, you just have to take it. Learn to roll with the punches. And then, learn to choose your battles. Have the wisdom to know which battle
you're willing to lose to win the war. That's so beautiful, Inang. And then at the end of the day,
when you have done your best, be still and let God. That's it. That's what I hold onto in life. Because I will always give my 100%
in anything I do and I commit to. But at the end of the day, Lord, I surrender. And it's that point where we all seem
like we're part of a movie. Our lives are like in the movies, right? It is always at that point when we reach
our darkest night of the soul, and it is when we surrender. It is when we feel the hands of God pick us up.
