‘My heart is with the industry’

Philippine STAR readers should be familiar with her column Rendezvous, which comes out in the Travel page every other Sunday. Aside from writing about her exciting trips here and abroad, Christine Dayrit is also VP for public relations of the family-owned jewelry business, Miladay.

Last month, she was also appointed chairman of the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB), the body that gives tax rebates to local films (100 percent to Graded A movies and 65 percent to those Graded B).

Although travel and jewelry are not related to film, Ms. Dayrit isn’t exactly alien to moviemaking – having finished masters in film production at Boston University. (Prior to that, she took up mass communications at Assumption.) In the ’90s, she co-produced a string of films with Viva and made about 50 tele-movies for GMA 7.

Personally, I’ve sat as a co-member with Christine in the CEB and I can vouch for her love, passion and concern for local movies.

Below, the new CEB chairman talks about Philippine cinema and her plans for the Cinema Evaluation Board.

You produced five movies (and over 50 telecines) in the past. What was the experience like?

It was a challenging, enriching and learning experience. I believe film is a collective process, a collaboration of art and commerce that involves so many people and various talents.

For the movies, my involvement was more on the financial aspects – disbursements of funding, budget allocation and collection on return of investment. In the telecines, it was a hands-on experience being executive producer and line producer at the same time.

Before producing any project, my main concern was to have it pre-sold. Thus I negotiated with GMA 7 and Viva TV which agreed to purchase the telecines after they were produced. As in a symphony, I served as the conductor who orchestrates the project.

One person out of tune can greatly affect or wreck the performance. In the filmmaking activity, all schedules and budgets must strictly be adhered to. Any deficiency will consequently affect the quality or the profit margin of the picture. The producer must be able to control these variables and factors.

For Four Aces I was associate producer for Isla, Virgin People, Lihim ni Madonna directed by Celso Ad Castillo; for Viva, my film company Christine Films co-produced Andres Manambit and Hiram na Mukha.

I also apprenticed with my dad, Ting Dayrit, who produced two international movies Striker and Final Mission which my Tito Cirio Santiago directed. These movies bought by a distribution company EMI Thorn of London for $800,000 were released on worldwide video. When I was studying in Boston University, my classmates found copies of the films at Tower Records and we viewed them in class.

Would you consider producing movies again? What about directing one?

Perhaps after my term as CEB chair, I will produce again. I also intend to direct my own script which I wrote as my thesis, a full-length screen play about culturally-forbidden love, for my masters degree in film production at Boston University.

When did your love for local movies begin?

Ever since I was in grade school, I have always loved watching Tagalog TV shows like Sinesiete and movies like Dyesebel by Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions, Lollipops and Roses starring Nora Aunor and Cocoy Laurel, Darna and comedies like John en Marsha by RVQ Productions and Facifica Falayfay.

In fact, I even joined and won the Bulilit Announcer contest of Tito Pepe on Club House 9 when I was in kinder till Grade 1. I love watching Guy and Pip, Kalabog and Bosyo, Dance-o-Rama, Ibong Adarna, Baboy Kora and Tuko sa Madre Kakaw.

My classmates were calling me baduy but that didn’t bother me. I believe the best way to learn more about our culture and heritage is to watch our own. Because of my love for Filipino films, komiks, and the vernacular, my average in Filipino when I was in grade school was 98 percent. In Colegio San Agustin, where I graduated top of the batch, I won a writing and speech contest in Tagalog.

I even won the title Prinsesa ng Timpalak Bigkasan, an oratorical contest for Linggo ng Wika, besting students from public and private high schools.

Honestly, do you prefer local films to foreign?

Yes, any time of the day! But I also watch foreign films to learn from them so there’s a cultural exchange of ideas and technology.

What are your functions as CEB head?

I chair the board of the CEB, the governing body mandated to give tax rebates to quality Filipino films.

The CEB is under the Film Development Council of the Philippines which develops and implements an incentive reward system for producers based on merit to encourage the production of quality films.

One great trait my late parents Ting and Mila Dayrit taught me is that time is gold and responsibilities must be balanced accordingly. Time management is key.

In spite of the fact that you took up film abroad, people may still ask: What business does a jeweler have running a board that is all about movies?

My heart is in Filipino movies although I also studied gemology and jewelry appraising. I handle the collections of Miladay Jewels and helping the FDCP in collecting tax rebates will be a bigger but similar challenge.

Having studied the Jewelry Industry Bill which gives a lot of incentives, tax breaks, support to the industry for economic viability, a bill of this kind for the film industry will be beneficial since economic viability of the film industry is the major thrust of our FDCP chair Jacky Atienza, an expert economist from Wharton School of Business who produced a lot of award-winning films for Bancom.

What changes do you intend to make within the CEB?

The CEB board is composed of the most distinguished, most talented, creative and lively bunch of people whose sincere desire is to uplift the film industry and encourage the production of quality films.

Perhaps I would initiate more opportunities for the CEB board to bond together to thresh out what can be done to better accomplish our goals.

Is the CEB able to monitor if producers of graded films really get their tax rebates? What is the process here? Is there a problem in the collection?

The FDCP facilitates the collection process and distribution of tax rebates to the producers. Sometimes, in some places, collection is delayed. A more efficient collection process will be effectuated.

How do you assess the performance of the current board? Are the members too generous? Have the standards been set too high? Too low?

I salute the performance of the current board. I thank them for their dedication to give their valuable time and highly distinguished services.

There is expansive deliberation about the elements of filmmaking such as direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing, production design, music, performance and more before we come up with our evaluation of the film. In the words of National Artist for Film Eddie Romero: "We must encourage competent effort, artistic endeavor and originality."

Do you see the coming of the another Golden Age in cinema in the next few years?

An industry that does not prepare for the future is destined to live in the past. The dying trend is slowly but surely being resuscitated. Government has extended magnanimous support to the film industry, but these resources have to be managed properly and more efficiently to ensure economic viability.

With the advent of the digital film, it is not a far-fetched idea to welcome another Golden Age. At one point in time, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, on a per capita basis, Filipinos watched the most number of films annually.