On February 28, Monday, Kapuso filmmaker and TV director L.A. Madridejos paid tribute to the late blockbuster director Wenn V. Deramas through a scene in his latest project, First Lady.
The series is the sequel for the hit teleserye of GMA Network First Yaya. This time, Sanya Lopez, who plays Yaya Melody in the first installment, has become the First Lady after marrying Gabby Concepcion’s President Glenn Acosta.
In the clip, Yaya Melody (Lopez), now the First Lady, was seen getting cheered on by several churchgoers. She tried her best to shush them down to which the crowd did, and they whispered, “First Lady, First Lady.”
Madridejos in his Facebook revealed that the scene was his way of honoring Deramas.
“Ginawa ko ito in honor of direk Wenn. Sa kanya galing ang gantong joke. Ginawa nya sa Tanging Ina nung hinahanap ni Miss Ai-Ai (delas Alas) si Tenten.”
The Kapuso director added, “Direk, sana napangiti ka namin.”
In another post, he shared that he will continue using the late director as his motivation.
“6 years. Lagi kitang naaalala direk. Lagi kang magiging inspirasyon.”
Deramas, at age 49, died on February 16, 2016, after suffering from a heart attack.
Amid the controversial “world-class” statement of director Andoy Ranay in 2021, Madridejos also looked back on how Deramas perceived criticism.
“Sabi n’ya, ang nagsasabi na basura yung gawa n’ya eh yung mga taong hindi makagawa ng gawa nya. So ang ending, lalaitin nalang nila. Ang importante daw kay direk Wenn, sigurado s’yang marami s’yang viewers na napapasaya… at madalas kumita ng more than 100M ang mga pelikula nya.
“Sabi pa nya, hindi daw n’ya kailangan manlait ng gawa ng iba para patunayan na mahusay sya. Lalo na at maliit lang ang industriya namin. Pero marami din syang inokray ng patago. Haha.
Naalala ko lang. namiss kita direk Wenn.”
Catch First Lady on weeknights, on GMA Network, GTV, and Heart of Asia.
