From indie to mainstream

Three years after his dream film, Keka, was shown, young indie filmmaker Quark Henares is back working behind the cameras. This time, he goes mainstream with the commercial release of Star Cinema’s horror-suspense, ’Wag Kang Lilingon. In the twinbill presentation, Quark works at the helm of the episode, Uyayi, which stars Anne Curtis. The other episode, Salamin, is directed by Jerry Sineneng and stars Kristine Hermosa.

It took quite a while for Quark to follow up Keka because "I did everything I wanted in that film and I believe I’ve given my best shot for that," he says. Keka, about a disgruntled call center operator (Katya Santos) trying to get over her boyfriend’s death at the hands of five fratboys, was even shown in international film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Taiwan and Italy.

After Keka, Quark worked on TV commercials and music videos. In 2004, he entered into negotiations with Star Cinema, which commissioned him to work on a youth film, Raid, which was supposed to be a follow-up to the outfit’s previous youth-oriented flicks, Trip and Jologs. Raid, as the title suggests, is about a house that gets raided and how the characters’ lives are changed after that event.

However, Quark had to shift to another Star Cinema project after the death of Nginiig director Luigi Santiago last year. Luigi was supposed to make his directorial big screen debut in ’Wag Kang Lilingon, but after his death, the project was offered to Quark.

"Initially, I was hesitant to accept the project because Luigi is my friend," Quark discloses. "But one of the reasons I accepted the film was Ricky Lee, who was the one who offered it to me."

The episode Uyayi was meticulously completed, with the script undergoing several revisions as filming progressed from February to September this year. "It was a 14-day shoot throughout seven months," Quark says. "We really went through a long process to finish the film."

Admittedly, Quark found a new challenge to work for a major production outfit like Star Cinema. "I’m still known to be an indie filmmaker," maintains the 26-year-old Quark. "It’s a new environment for me to work under a system. I appreciate the fact that (Star Cinema) people do care where the film was going and we all wanted to come up with a good film. Even the budget was great. When there were particular lights I wanted to use for a certain scene, I got what I wanted."

Quark says Star Cinema allowed him to experiment and gave him a free hand to create the look of the film he wanted for his episode. "It’s good to be able to make an entertaining and concise film," he avers. "I’m grateful to Ricky Lee because he guided me throughout the shoot. It was a fun shoot. The hardest part was sacrificing some of the good scenes we shot during the editing."

In terms of treatment, Quark’s big inspirations for Uyayi were Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and a TV show in Denmark entitled The Kingdom, which also had a remake in the US.

"We did a lot of experimenting with sound, design and score," Quark grants. "I wanted to make something that is not just scary but disturbing as well. I didn’t want the film to be a mere screamfest. My episode is stark and bleak, while the one of Jerry’s is classic horror. I was pleasantly surprised with the film when I saw the final cut."

Quark has nothing but praises for his lead actress Anne Curtis, with whom he works for the first time. "Anne is such a darling. She is the sweetest girl in showbiz for me. She is very easy to direct. Whenever we had adjustments in the script and in her role, she would do it without complaints. We would always sit down, study and discuss a particular scene. She’s a thinking actress. She takes things to heart."

Quark is anxious about how his first commercial film will fare in its theatrical exhibition, considering all the pressures that go with the release. ’Wag Kang Lilingon comes on the heels of Star Cinema’s blockbuster horror-thrillers, Feng Shui and Sukob, which both made over P100-M at the tills.

’Wag Kang Lilingon is also preceded by a recent spate of other horror-thrillers like Txt, Barang and Pamana. Moreover, the Nov. 15 playdate is up against a big Hollywood release, Casino Royale, the latest and touted as the biggest James Bond film.

"That’s really daunting if you would think of all that," Quark says. "But I know we made a really good film and I’m happy with it. Of course, it will be more fulfilling for me if the film makes good box-office."

After ’Wag Kang Lilingon, Quark has another commercial project, Super Noypi, which is one of Regal Films’ official entries in the Metro Manila Film Festival come December 25. The super-hero fantasy comic book flick written by Fairlane Raymundo stars Mark Herras, Jennylyn Mercado, John Prats, Polo Ravales, Sandara Park and Katrina Halili.

Then Quark expresses his desire to return to his indie roots and work on a film, Saging at Rambutan, a comedy about behind-the-scene gigs in a pito-pito movie similar to his earlier film, Gamitan, which starred Maui Taylor, Wendell Ramos and Jordan Herrera. Quark wrote the script back in college at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he finished Communications Technology and where he now teaches film production.

He has another indie project, Rock ’n Roll, which Regal might also finance. He wrote the script with Sandwich Band’s Diego Castillo, also his co-host in the weekly radio show, Let’s Fun, Tuesday nights on NU 107.

"I want to produce these two indie films out of the earnings I will make from my two commercial projects," Quark says. "I have a lot of other projects in mind which I want to do, but I consider myself fortunate because I was able to fulfill my dreams earlier on in life."