Unsung heroes in the movie industry

Wasn’t it only last month when we had the last of the award giving bodies (was it the FAMAS or ENPRESS) honoring outstanding achievements on film for last year?

In less than two weeks, expect another set of winners from the movie world to be gasping their thanks when the Metro Manila Film Festival stages another Gabi ng Parangal most likely at the Aliw Theater.

But while directors, actors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, film editors, production designers, musicians and soundmen build a collection of trophies from these awards bodies, there are unsung heroes in the movie profession who are never rewarded for their efforts and contributions in the making of a film. Sadly, there are no awards for Best Assistant Director, Best Production Manager and Best Line Producer.

JoAnn Banaga, who is now a producer (her most recent project was the CEB Graded A film, Ang Pamana (The Inheritance), rose from the ranks – starting as assistant director, then production manager and eventually line producer. She laments the sad fact that the efforts of the assistant director (AD), production manager (PM) and line producer (line prod) are never recognized during the awards season because their work and contributions supposedly "do not have aesthetic values."

But each field is important – every film practitioner would acknowledge that. What are these positions and why is it important for a film production to have an AD, a PM and a line prod?

An assistant director, says JoAnn, is in-charge of "tactics, scheduling and war plans." An AD basically makes life easier for the director. He or she is in control of the set – "kasi labu-labo ’yan," points out JoAnn. "All the stars want to be ‘shot’ first so they could leave early, but that’s not possible." This is where the AD comes in to decide which shot should be done first – usually depending on the availability of the stars because here in the Philippines the star system is still very much enforced.

"In most cases, the stars would come straight from the taping of a TV show, a recording – something that is not related at all to the film the star is shooting," relates JoAnn. And yet it is the film production that suffers.

But something has to be done to maximize the time so that the day is not wasted – all because the star is not fit to work yet. This is when the assistant director comes in. While waiting for the star to at least have a couple of hours rest, the assistant director would have to assemble those who are available and shoot whatever scenes could be shot.

JoAnn did not experience this kind of scheduling problems during her early days as AD because she began her career in international films – starting with Eddie Romero’s A Case of Honor, starring Timothy Bottoms and John Philip Law. As AD, she also worked with Aussie actors Gary Sweet, Siegfried Thornton and Jacques Perrin (Cinema Paradiso) in Love in Ambush. JoAnn is listed as the first Filipino assistant director to work with Wong Kar Wai in Days of Being Wild.

In time, she became production manager for a lot of local films. The production manager is "the producer’s representative on the set."

Here in the Philippines, the PM also doubles as location manager. But that is not a PM’s biggest headache. According to JoAnn, since the PM is also in-charge of feeding the people, there is constant problem on the set at mealtimes. This happens when a star has a pretty large entourage.

For breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner (and even during midnight snack), the production, of course, has to feed everyone involved in the shoot. Even the star’s PA (personal assistant) and driver have to be fed – charged to production.

In a lot of cases, the stars’ parents and siblings – plus a coterie of other relatives and friends – come along and all of them end up getting fed by production. In some instances, even the fans get to visit and during meals they line up at the buffet table and they are included in the headcount of the caterer. How to control this situation becomes the problem of the PM, who – more often than not – goes over budget because of hangers-on.

Sometimes, the PM has to shell out money from his or her personal funds when the star or even the director requests for special food on the set. "You can actually say no," states JoAnn, "but you’ll end up with a bigger problem and spend more if the star storms off the set just because you didn’t give in to his or her little demands."

Those are just some of the little problems the production manager encounters daily on the set of a movie production. The big problems can be bloody, swears JoAnn.

(On Tuesday, JoAnn Banaga will talk about life as a line producer and will give a list of the cooperative – and non-cooperative movie stars she has worked with in her profession.)