How Avel transformed the Carrot Man into a ‘model’

It has been a short but fruitful journey for the Carrot Man (real name: Jeyrick Sigmaton) from the Mountain Province with a sack-ful of carrots on his shoulder to the huge Boardwalk billboards that will add color to the Metropolis soon, wearing the creations of Avel Bacudio collectively known as The Carrot Man Project.

According to Avel, the pre-ordered items will be available by May 6. Starting May 16, 16 styles will be available for online orders.

“The sales of the shirt are grabe,” said Avel. “Mataas ang demand ng mga fans.”

How was Jeyrick during the pictorial?

“Surprisingly, he acted like a professional,” said Avel who also groomed and dressed Alden Richards as Boardwalk model some five years ago when Alden, as Avel put it, “was not as popular as he is now.” “Napaka-pro niya. Magalang, palaging may ‘po’ at ‘opo’ kapag sumasagot. Just like Alden who, up to now, is still respectful; he hasn’t changed even if he is today’s biggest and most popular young actor.”

But at that time, Alden was different from Jeyrick because he did have ramp experience since he had already competed in the Ginoong Laguna contest which he won.

“I should say that Alden already had puhunan (investment),” explained Avel. “It took time bago siya naging Alden Richards. In the case of Jeyrick, he rose to popularity overnight, thanks to social media that wasn’t very active yet during Alden’s early years.”

Did he see any “talent” in the Carrot Man?

“Uhm,” hesitated Avel, “it’s too soon to tell. He needs more training, although I could sense that he is not so inclined towards showbiz,” even if he has already signed a one-year “build-up” contract with GMA which is putting him under speech training and probably making him undergo an acting workshop.

Avel’s first meeting with Jeyrick was at the Boardwalk office when Jeyrick, 21, signed the contract accompanied by his father (“May hitsura din like Jeyrick,” noted Avel), his grandfather and his handler. Their second meeting was a few weeks later during the pictorial and by then Avel has already finished the clothes he specially designed for Jeyrick.

“I made sure that some of the pieces retain the Carrot Man look,” said Avel, “you know, yung may hood. But I saw to it that the hooded shirt is made of cotton para hindi masyadong mainit. In the Mountain Province, the people can wear thick hooded-clothes because it’s very cold there, unlike in Manila where it’s hot.”

The collection features casual tops, hoodies and shirts named after the municipalities where the Carrot Man is from. Jeyrick hails from Kadaklan, Bauko, Mountain Province.

Even the make-up was applied in a way that wouldn’t change Jeyrick’s look that has endeared him to the public, patterned after his natural complexion.

“But we took time fixing his hair because he didn’t want to have a haircut,” added Avel. “It took us almost two hours to make his hair look like ginupitan siya.”

During the shoot, Avel recalled that he noticed that the necklace Jeyrick was wearing was showing under his shirt.

“I told him, ‘Iho, puede tanggalin muna ang kuwintas mo?’ He politely said no, kasi daw he has to wear it all the time. It has a little anito as pendant. That’s how much he respects the Igorot tradition. The necklace was a gift to him from his grandfather.”

Avel and company fetched Jeyrick and company in Mountain Province and brought them back after the pictorial.

In-between the shoot, Avel did small talk with Jeyrick.

“Medyo malalim ang bata,” observed Avel whose next Carrot Man Collection consists of Igorot-inspired attires.

Will Jeyrick be wearing G-string?

“I don’t know,” smiled Avel.

Raymund Gutierrez’s Imago in Cannes

Imago, directed by Raymund Gutierrez (left in photo, with Brillante Mendoza), 23, is competing for the Short Film Palme d’Or award at the 69th Cannes Festival in May, against nine other entries from Europe and Latin America. Also written by Gutierrez, the 15-minute film set in a slum community is the story of Inday (played by Ruby Ruiz), a single parent to special child Inna (played by Inna Tuason), who works as a funeral agent at midnight. Gutierrez is from Oas, Albay, who finished B.S. Multi-Media Arts & Sciences at Mapua Institute of Technology.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected].)