This charming man

I’m thinking of starting my own blog,” says Wincy Ong, professional musician and commercial scorer, award-winning fictionist, film director, and intrepid human being. “I am just truly inspired by the writings of Lourd de Veyra right now, that I want to start aping him.”

But for the time being, he’s busy putting the finishing touches on his debut feature, San Lazaro, which will be premiering at Cinemalaya next month. It’s a horror film starring the one and only Ramon Bautista. Shot over the course of a year, on weekends and holidays, the movie is wickedly fun to watch (which means, of course, it won’t win any awards.)

We caught up with the filmmaker and strapped him down long enough, Alex-like, to answer some questions.

YOUNG STAR: How did this movie come about?

WINCY ONG: San Lazaro started out as a short film exercise that I wanted to do with friends. The last time I shot a narrative was when I was in college. I bumped into Ramon Bautista in Makati, and he asked me when would we get to collaborate. Then I told him my script idea for the horror film, and he said that he’s game to act in it, co-write and co-produce it. Personally, I also took inspiration from local directors who’ve recently produced their own works, like Arnold Arre and Quark Henares (whose Rakenrol is the closing film of this year’s Cinemalaya festival).

Bianca King in a star turn

I’ve also worked too long in the TV and advertising industries, and I was getiing more and more frustrated. Though the financial rewards are okay, I felt like I needed to do something more personal, and something I could call my own. There was also the horror of turning thirty, and not having fulfilled my dream of making my own movie. So consider this movie an exorcism of this artistic need of mine to finally create a movie.

You’ve described the movie in various ways to several reviewers, how would you describe it now?

Seeing the near-final edit, with the sound design and Jazz Nicolas and Mikey Amistoso’s music, it’s so far from what we imagined it from the start. It’s a quirky little horror movie. Very small in its scope; it’s pretty much three people off to see a wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of San Lazaro. It’s quite talkative for a horror movie. The protagonists are a bit chatty (something that I’ve always wanted to see in horror movies).

Some reactions were iffy about Ramon Bautista being the star of a horror film. (But that had always been part of our vision from the start.) But the tone is consistent. The humor is consistent. Everyone who worked on it was clearly making the same movie I had in my head. It’s also very much different from the horror-comedies Star Cinema produce. And also we all tried to avoid the tropes of Asian horror cinema, which I think is such a stale genre nowadays, and pretty much empty of promise. I think what we have now is a horror film that has characters with deep psychologies, and not just pretty women in their underwear being chased by bogeymen.

How was the relationship between you and your star, Ramon Bautista?

I cannot take full authorship of the entire project because Ramon had been such a creative force in the project. He changed a lot of ideas from my initial script. From a beer salesman, he turned his character Limuel into a veterinarian. He changed my character Sigfried from a karate instructor into a con artist wanted for estafa.

And yes, I admit it here, that there are scenes which Ramon actually directed himself.

You have a number of well-known people appearing in the movie, how’d you convince them to do it?

The people who have contributed to the movie are all friends that I have worked with before in my six years in film production. Ely Buendia was game for it, since he told me he’s always wanted to play a detective. And he really got excited that he’s one-armed in the movie! He even brought a set of fake moustache stickers on the set. Julia Clarete has been a long friend of mine. Bianca King, too, who also happens to be a big fan of horror movies. The rest of the cast I have met through the cult TV5 show Rakista. It’s like a reunion of the Cubao X Artist Alliance. Sven, Flame and Kinabukasan.

Most memorable experiences while shooting?

The most fun I had was my scene with Ely Buendia, as Rex de Leon, my eccentric older brother and one-armed private investigator. We shot it on a rooftop along Buendia Avenue. And Ely had so much fun with his role, that I had a difficult time editing it because all of his takes were hilarious. He has this Johnny Depp-way of delivering his lines.

Julia Clarete is as shocked as Ramon Bautista

You recently wrote an essay about being “un-Pinoy.” Was that serious or a satire?

It was a serious piece, not a satire. I suddenly realized that being an Atenean all my life, I have this insecurity towards the truly talented people from UP. (Not that I belittle Ateneans.) There’s just something that The Eraserheads had that the APO Hiking Society didn’t. And from the reactions I got from that piece, I still argue that there are artists out there who are more Pinoy than others. My works as a director have skewed more towards aping American directors whom I worship. Whereas other filmmakers just tell stories that they witness on the streets of Manila. I realized that I’m not that kind of filmmaker. I’m a bit culturally uprooted.

What’s more satisfying: music or film?

I’ve been in bands since I was 17 years old, and though I truly love music, I’m not the type of person who can just listen to everything. I listen to only around 20 musical artists, and I’m not too keen on others. I’m very selective. And yes, I suddenly feel old. Turning 30 is the death of rock ’n’roll. I can’t picture myself gigging in SaGuijo when I reach thirty. But directing is something you can do until you’re eighty. It’s an old man’s job.

We should mention that Spot.ph listed you as one of the cutest directors in the country…

(Laughs) I’m the ugliest of the bunch. I was number 10, which meant, konti na lang, eliminated na. And no, I personally don’t think I’n cute. I have the sex appeal of a librarian.

Who are, of course, the sexiest people I know.

(Smirks.)