Pinoy Showbiz News, Celebrities, Movies
Jade Castro, A New Breed of Filmmaker
By Excel V. Dyquiangco
It doesn’t hurt to be in the right place at the right time as in the case of new filmmaker Jade Francis Castro, who helmed his first short film Hopya Love Me Too in 2000, and which participated in the Cinemanila International Film Festival and even won the Kodak Award that year.
At such a young age of 28, he has always loved movies, cinema and films. It’s in his innate ability to communicate different stories that mirror reality to a wider audience which gave him that chance to speak out his mind. When he got into college, he immediately pursued a degree in Film at the University of the Philippines.
From then on, it was fairly easy for Jade to get into the film industry with a lot of his friends in similar fields getting him to do a lot of things at the same time, particularly working for both commercial and independent features and shorts, television, and music video in numerous abilities.
“The people you meet in film school may be more important to get your career started than the actual learning,” he says.
He co-produced the Cinemalaya entries Sarong Banggi and Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros and has written various film reviews for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Pelikula Journal. After writing the screenplay for First Day High back in 2006 and co-writing the screenplay for D’Anothers back in 2005, he believed it was time to settle on another path.
He finally landed on his first feature-length film, Endo, a finalist for the Cinemalaya International Festival this year. The film revolves around the story of Leo, who keeps on handling odd jobs one after the other and hasn’t been able to stick to a permanent job. The question that follows Leo’s terminable contracts is: Will he be able to give security and permanence to his love affair with the spirited dreamer Tanya? The movie stars Star Circle Quest graduate Jason Abalos and veteran actor Ricky Davao.
Asked what he calls his style of filmmaking, Jade is more character-driven. “It is a balance of allowing the actors freedom to do what they wanted with their characters and specific detailed instructions.”
How is directing a film different from directing a music video or a commercial?
“It takes longer to shoot, obviously. But also takes longer to prepare. Studying a film script alone takes a lot from the director. It requires deeper analysis and understanding,” he says.
At this point in his life, all he really does want to do is to direct and direct films of all genres. He would like to be known for as a director who makes good movies.
That’s Jade Castro, a new filmmaker to look out for.
Tags: Jade Castro, Philippine Filmmakers, Philippine Entertainment News
About Excel Dyquiangco: Excel V. Dyquiangco works as a writer for an advocacy and consultancy firm in Makati City. During his spare time, he writes stories for children, writes for various magazines catering to different topics, writes textbooks for elementary and highschool students and formulates scripts for television and movies. He also teaches English to Korean, Burmese and Indonesian students. He was recently featured in Reader's Digest Asia, with the headline CASH NOW: SECRETS OF SUCCESS, which discusses his work as a writer..
30 Jul 2007 Excel Dyquiangco
hi excel, im just wondering if you still remember me, rovs here. naging mag classmate tyo nung college sa cmc. bigla ko lng nakita tong write up mo about jade, eh fan ako ni jade eh hehehe. tapos sabi ko sa sarili ko kilala ko yung writer ah. nice to know lng kung saan saan n yung mga dating kakilala nung college days sa UP.