Profiles: Paul Soriano

[Music] [Music] this week on profiles we step into the world of award-winning director producer and screenwriter Paul Soriano find out how he harnesses the power of imagination and uses images to capture the human experience from the inspiring coming-of-age dramas salman kakuna foo see novena vomiting Lagoona Caliban to the stunningly photographed char Gao Paul Soriano is raising the bar for Filipino films and the art of storytelling he's earned an impressive slew of awards and nominations locally and in the international film circuit his most recent box-office hit first love is a dream come true for Paul it took many years of hard work patience and unwavering determination to get it done but he seems to be the expert in turning dreams into reality Paul congratulations on your most recent project a box-office hit oh yeah thank you thank you first love yes finally it's it's it's it's for all to see and you said that was the biggest challenge yet it was it was it was the biggest challenge yet only because of course we were working with two of the biggest stars of you know Philippine cinema history Agha moola I mean exactly I mean from imagine how many years and how many films I mean he's worked with the greatest directors the greatest actors and then you know for me to get that opportunity was a dream come through I've been dreaming of working with you know viago moolah for the longest time ever since I saw his film hotshot which was actually the first one that my dad directed despite knowing Agha since childhood it was only in 2014 that Paul finally mustered the courage to approach him for a project I matured as a filmmaker and as I got films under my belt I was like maybe I can approach a guy I didn't want to approach him now Allah come get our device I had you know handful of films already and I said take it maybe you know then of course I'll go go see I don't concept not if you have a concept well message me let's let's talk it didn't take long for them to meet again and talk shop come on 2015 he actually came here to my office is this fairly new but he came so we talked about concept he just said policy a let's work on the concepts I didn't feel anything yet yeah but if there's something I wanted to go I want to work with you finally the concept of first love was what he wanted to do first love a story about two Filipino migrants who find themselves in the middle of a bitter sweet romance also stars pea Alonso mom I lived in Nagoya the whole poignant wants to grow their businesses the task of directing a box-office legend like Agha seemed daunting at first but Paul's fears disappeared as soon as he got deeper into the project how did it feel directing him because your father directed him for hotshot situations where you are directly what does it like well before we got on set we hung out a lot right developing reading the scripts the stories he was very very collaborative and he would call me we would talk for hours on the phone about certain scenes specific things about his character it was the kind of intensity that I liked because he only meant well for the film he wanted the film to become better he wasn't like a burden or it wasn't like a hassle yeah I embrace that so when we got on set we were very comfortable now with each other he made it very very comfortable we were almost like kind of like brothers it helps that Paul is a hands-on filmmaker making sure that all aspects of his films get his full undivided attention his films also benefit from his personal experiences you're also a screenwriter so I guess you've changed things as you go along do you draw a lot from your own experiences from very involved in all my films actually all the eleven films that 1017 P has produced very hands on when it comes to the story and that's why I think whatever II feel may only get better because my experience is much more in this particular case to tell kind of a full-on love story this is really my first time to dabble into that I think it was the right time because I'm my life is full of love through my wife I was able to experience this first kind of just unconditional true love with Savi my son and so you know hopefully I was able to translate that into my storytelling graphically gelug of course you do but also there's the depth I mean there's so many love stories it really captures your heart yeah that's what we tried to do me working with baya who's equally intense you know and equally experienced and one of the best actresses of her generation to put those two together and then you know for me to just witness their greatness a telling story and creating character was it's very humbling but I'm really really happy and proud of the film Paul admits that first love reflects certain aspects of his life with his wife actress and TV host Tony Gonzaga I think for me if there's really one thing that first love paralleled with my own life is that Tony and I always try to do things for the first time we tried to find new things and you know we've been married for three years I've known her for 10 years so we're still trying to find those firsts to do yeah it's very romantic thank you you know what you and Tony so you're in the same industry on different sides of the cameras do you often consult each other do you find that you know you seek her advice she seeks your advice that's what I guess a home does you know we go home to each other we have no choice now just great so we cannot see each other the whole day it's usually at night where we kind of put everything aside and then just talk about life we're very honest with each other you know it's very constructive in the house why she'll tell me like it's nice but you know same thing with me yeah that's that's interesting what about this himself anniversary this lesson better we streets being here sound learning process and I just admire his money [Music] you took up acting classes in film school right I did I did my curiosity led me to why don't I take up some acting classes so I signed up for a year of Meisner technique which is kind of like a Sanford Meisner and his philosophy is kind of just being in the moment and drawing inspiration from the now so it's kind of also how I live my life and in general I don't like really too much on dwelling on past experiences but more of like who are you today and what can you do with that to bring to bring yourself forward creativity imagination and storytelling were pretty much part of Paul's playground growing up on the sets of his grandfather 50s matinee idol Nestor Davila as well as his father commercial director Jarek Soriano was born in Los Angeles I moved here when I was about 7 years old and that's where I kind of got introduced to the world of filmmaking our show business if my lotta love bringing me through his tapings to his shoots and same with my dad after school I would just run to his set so yeah so I was always I literally grew up behind the camera as well so you found yourself drawn to it did they ever encouraged you to also get into it no there was everything there was never any pressure from from my lolo or my dad or anybody to get into filmmaking I think it just kind of naturally happened I'm really happy that when I got into the industry that I was able to kind of now make a name for myself because my lolo and my dad knew this at the bar high this bike being showbiz royalty Paul had his share of detractors particularly those who thought everything was just handed to him on a silver platter he was inevitable but I think I took it as a challenge right everyone kept saying when I entered oka say enough alumni jeddak or little nasty nester dilemma so maybe I always say got me the meeting maybe it got me the the first job but to get the second the third the fourth means I had to really work hard at my craft yeah and to be here now from more than 10 years shows that you know I'm doing something right I always have this attitude of never stop learning so I continued absorb that's why I like to do different things as I got into producing you know I got into writing because I wanted to kind of see what that experience can teach me although fully immersed in the world of filmmaking at an early age Paul had other prospects in mind even as he enrolled in a communications course at Santa Clara University in California USA that was kind of kind of my broken dream my loll already taught me how to play girls I fell in love when I was playing golf since the age of seven but the the passion and the heart was with filmmaking I think you know I couldn't stop I couldn't ignore the fact that I wanted to get behind the camera and tell stories I did three years of college I did the the cliche kind of Hollywood movie thing I packed my bags and I drove to to Los Angeles and for two years I just did a lot of PA work I worked in Blockbuster Video which today doesn't exist anymore so I did all that I did a lot so watch a lot of film I remember watching this Quentin Tarantino interview he also said that I didn't go to film school but I went to films all right the best way to learn cinema is to watch cinema and and that's what I did so I watch all films I'm the Notting Hill Rome to your 2001 Space Odyssey I try to watch everything I mean if you want to go in local terms I watch my scandal films right then I will watch the films of lino Baraka and Mike tele on pause love affair with filmmaking began early in his childhood the moment he sat inside a movie theater and witnessed Steven Spielberg's et magic ad really for me is the first memory of me actually experiencing that cinematic experience for the first time it was through easy and not only that but the story just really kind of just touched me my child was a little bit dramatic also my mom was she she graced me alone single mom I only met my dad when I was seven years old so kind of same thing with et and Elliot oh yeah it's about a broken family et for the first time taught me that there's this thing called imagination that's the business I'm in now I'm in the business of imagination turning that imaginations into reality I remember walking into a memorabilia store I think it was in LA at the time and then they had an et poster signed by Steven Spielberg literally had goosebumps because as I cry the closest I got to Steven Spielberg was his you know he signed it after doing odd jobs in the States Paul eventually returned to the Philippines in 2005 he started his career directing concerts events corporate and music videos inevitably he ventured into directing TV commercials just like his father Jerry you are a commercial director also the first time you got into movies why did you make that jump making movies which really wasn't what I wanted to get what I wanted to do right but I had to go through advertising it's still it's storytelling in 30 seconds the discipline of advertising I think is what I take into my films done in 2009 Paul released his directorial debut a journey home it's a sobbing um post uh good diet you know I don't know this was followed in 2011 by the critically acclaimed Thelma you wrote producer it is n it won Best Director that's right won Best Actress Award do you think the or did it push you to want to really get it different well for me I always say I never make films for awards but awards kind of just gives you that affirmation there are people out there that love your work yeah but thalma for me this is this is kind of like that another turning point in my life but after I made a journey home you know I thought you know the director know I mean anyways people liked it good reviews and stuff like yeah and then nobody called me you know no nobody was calling me yes I was back to doing commercials I mean not that that was a bad thing but I wanted to do movies again so nobody was giving me another chance no so I said you know what I gotta create the opportunity I just got to make it happen myself right so you i co-wrote it with Froy my writer and then I produced it very proud of thumb for me it's the I made this happen you know it was just all me it wasn't given to me I had to work hard I imagined it and then I had to work hard in 2013 Paul marked another milestone in his career producing a film of a first-time filmmaker it was a big risk that he's glad he toe heat up Sonny transit was a life-changing moment for me Honus BIA this direct yeah she was a director of transit I met her at a pitching forum I felt her passion I I loved their story it's about the OFW plight in Israel were they about the child migration and they have to kind of hide their children we were in Tel Aviv for almost a month so that experience was life-changing for me because all the money that I saved up in advertising and just working hard for how many years 80 90 percent I just took a gamble on that film I I funded everything myself people said you were crazy to do that yeah and but but that's why I like doing these things the more you say I'm crazy the more I'll do it so don't say I'm crazy did you ever regret anything about it looking back no it could have gone the total opposite right but it succeeded that it brought me to so many countries around the world and I got to meet some Hollywood executives because of the film [Music] he's a master collaborator he allows everyone to speak their mind and to you know I mean everyone that everyone has something to bring to the table it and he knows that he takes advantage of it and so it becomes this team instead of just one person in 2016 legendary slow cinema director lav Diaz got together with Paul to collaborate on lav 17-year old script the result the eight hour long cinematic masterpiece he'll asahi wagon copies it was a project that completely changed the game for the young filmmaker laughs Diaz is a master in his own right and what I admire the most about love Diaz is that he sticks to his voice and his vision no matter what I signed on to produce that film because I just wanted to learn from him you know to be honest I didn't know what I was getting into another crazy project project that became an eight hour film right I mean that's really unheard of but that was just a wonderful experience was a masterclass he comes here to my office drops off the hard drive but he wanted to meet me at like 7:00 in the morning okay so interesting right so I was your 7:00 a.m. he came in here we thought for a bit gave me the hard drives and he was bought eight hours on movie so now I know why you wanted to meet me at 7:00 but when you work with studio sometimes there's compromise that's right but with 10-7 in the-- where director giving of course it's collaboration but at the end of the day I want the director to sign off he wanted eight hours okay so we watched it and it was just really an immersive experience it was it's love Diaz at his best soon after the Berlin International Film Festival invited Paul to submit helic for competition and because it was eight hours long the organizers asked Paul to cut it down to four hours I said of course I'm not gonna cut it I mean if that's loves films I email them about it the Berlin will take us in competition but you need to cut about three hours he wrote me back a poem about how we need to you know fight for our voice stand up for what is right and that he doesn't want to cut it it's eight hours no compromise no compromise so I said I respect that and of course a week later of course everyone knows the story they took us anyway at eight hours they took everyone the Alfred Bauer prize the Silver Bear for love and that just proved to me how how love is just a master you know he just didn't compromise and the tidbit there is we got to meet Meryl Streep who was the jury president at the time versus knock you out right she met love and then eventually I was introduced as the producer and then she says also you're the crazy one so when Meryl Streep says you're crazy it means that's a great thing oh yeah I think that I need it today Paul imparts his wisdom to the youth and aspiring filmmakers daring them to not just dream but to dream big so you get 10x talks and in one of them you said that your imagination should scare you you don't have to pay to imagine right and everybody can imagine I always say that you need to kind of exercise that right to imagine big now the challenge is making that come true right so I still have big imaginations in my head now there are bigger films I want to do but it scares me and I feel good about that what do you think it really takes to make a great thing what is it that drives you for me number one it's passion there's gonna be many steps there's me many many challenges along the line to the point where sometimes you just want to quit and give up but you always go back to the passion and I'm very strong and commitment you know especially with the team that I work with you know because it's so easy to say yes Singapore let's do this let's tell this story when you're now facing the challenges do you still have that same attitude what do you think about filmmaking in the digital age where anyone can be a filmmaker how do you keep the beauty technology's great always use it to your advantage but I guess for me the question is is everyone a storyteller filmmaking is like cooking you know I mean everybody can have the same ingredients but is the final product gonna taste the same it's it's all in the execution because you can have a great story but if you don't know how to cook it could become a good taste bad right so so learn the craft learn the discipline make sure that when you compromise it's still for the betterment of your vision and your story as a local film industry continues to move forward and Filipino filmmakers find themselves in the spotlight at international festivals Paul's sights are set on making films that are more relevant globally let's talk about this dream project you had tell me about this film that you've been wanting to me and I've had this story ever since I was in high school about president Quezon you know saving over 1,300 Jews from the Holocaust by bringing them to the Philippines for refuge amazing not many people know that exactly not many people know that but it's a big project I mean it's possibly millions of dollars in projects we're recreating you know the 1940s right but for me why I want to make that film because for me it's the true definition of the Filipino spirit and that's we are always there when someone needs a helping have our gene was always Hollywood I think it's it's corny but you know just to break the boundaries in terms of like oh you're a Filipino film company you just want to be a company that makes folks whether we were based in the Philippines is that's awesome but that's it just breaking the boundaries you're gonna dream dream big yeah well why not it's free to dream right now the challenge is making that dream come true and most of the time we get there but I'm also a big believer in failure that's how you learn it's not easy dealing with failure and success but learning to manage that helps keep Paul grounded while constantly reaching for the stars the young director producer screenwriter is definitely set to deliver more magnificence our way this star keeps rising in shining brighter as he continues to imagine learn and evolve Paul doesn't only bring magic to our screens by transforming his vivid ideas into film he also transforms lives through his brilliant storytelling [Music] you

Channel: CNN Philippines

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Length: 19min 46sec (1186 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 23 2018