The Darna director expressed optimism for future screenwriters to work under better working environments or conditions and attain “greater” success.
In that effort, Mique has been making small but earnest steps to sow seeds of hope and inspiration to future screenwriters. A part of it consists in helping them secure resources for their passion for writing. On March 12, the Darna director gave away laptops, to select young writers, for free. It looks like it is going to be an annual activity. Apart from it, Mique is also committed to guiding them, as they navigate their dreams of joining the TV and film industry, as new writers.
Mique recalled the times he became instrumental in the realization of other writers whom he similarly helped before. “Now they have stable jobs, stable careers. Let’s give opportunities to others, ” he shared, noting the difficulty that aspiring young writers go through in order to penetrate the industry.
The director admits that one of the reasons why many of these young writers easily get discouraged to push through in joining the business is the fact that bullying is rampant inside. “But they get frustrated dahil hindi man lang nakapasok yung feet nila sa pintuan ng industry. There’s a lot of bullying inside, ” he added, as he also recognized the many numbers of graduates who fail in their attempt to become professional writers.
Be that as it may, Mique is a self-aware bully, one who isn’t like the usual ‘bully’ at work we know. “I’m a ‘bully’ but I just want to test them. My type of bullying is to find out how far you can get. Sobrang higpit ko sa script. You have to love the craft,” he explained, noting that sacrifices must be done to become better at the craft.
“Marami nagpapasa lang ng ganito at ang pangit. Hindi papasa sa akin yun kasi I have so much respect sa craft ng scriptwriting and filmmaking. You really have to earn it..if you push someone to the limit, doon sila magsa-shine, ” he added, reiterating on the need for tough love to survive the industry.
Mique gets the nod of award-winning film and screen writer, and National Artist, Ricky Lee, who is also a mentor and a long toime friend. “Si Ricky hindi siya mabait sa akin. Umiyak ako nung nagcomment siya sa mga unang script ko. Sabi ko, ‘ganun ba ako kabobo?’ Doon ko na realize that I have to be very, very good. Pero si Ricky, mabait din naman ito. Lenient siya eh, ” he recalled.
The director recognizes the fact that gathering funds for such a noble effort will cost him much, and he also thought of looking for sponsors to fund the activity. “It was a good thing I had the opportunity to earn good money when I co-directed for Darna, So, I told Ricky, I would push through with my plan,” he said, explaining why he opted to get the fund from his pocket, instead. Lee whom he shared lent him a huge sum of money a long time ago, to help him print his scripts, could not recall the time Mique borrowed from him.
Mique now works on a brand new ‘passion project’, titled Maple Leaf Dreams and starring Kapamilya actors, L.A. Santos and Kira Balinger, both of whom he already directed, via Jane de Leon’s Darna. He expressed optimism for the senior filmmakers and writers, to become enablers of a better future for the younger generation. He is hoping that such a new generation will be better than them and have bigger successes on a much bigger stage.
“I hope the next generation can do better than us. They can have better careers and better situations kasi we believe we set the path,” he shared.
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Maple Leaf Dreams is set to be produced by Mique’s own production company, Lonewolf Films, in collaboration with ABS-CBN Entertainment unit, JRB Productions, and Star Magic. Both Santos and Balinger are contract stars of the Kapamilya talent agency.
