Line-producing is no walk in the park

Last Saturday I wrote about the unsung heroes in the movie production ladder: the assistant directors (ADs) and production managers (PMs) and how they are not accorded the importance they deserve – especially during the awards season because there are no categories for Best Assistant Director and Best Production Manager.

As resource person, I asked producer JoAnn Banaga (she rose from the ranks – starting as assistant to Jesse Ejercito in the late ‘70s until she got to her present position) to explain the duties, responsibilities of assistant directors and production managers and the problems they encounter during a movie production.

It turned out that there is another person in the production who has to face bigger problems than everyone else and this is the line producer.

The job of a line producer begins when the investor hands over to him or her the budget allotted for a film. "The investor will tell you, ‘Here’s P18-M. You make a film. Pagkasyahin mo ‘yan,’" explains JoAnn.

From then on it is already the responsibility of the line producer to budget everything and sees to it that everything goes well – and on time – during the entire production calendar. "As a line producer, you have to be very efficient – seeing to it that you don’t exceed your budget," points out JoAnn.

The biggest nightmare of a line poducer is when shooting is packed up for the day – like when an actor calls in sick – and you have a scheduled big scene. Rescheduling alone can cost you an extra P100,000 to 200,000 because you have to pay actors (those on a per day basis) who reported on the set (but were unable to work – although through no fault of theirs) and equipment that were not used.

As line producer, JoAnn Banaga has experienced all the headaches and heartaches that come with the job: directors having tantrums, stars walking out and even bad weather, which is the most dreaded because – at least – with a movie star (even with the most prima donna ones) you can reason out and plead and beg for him or her to return to the set. But how do you argue with nature?

When she was still line producer, she has also experienced being called all sorts of names: bitch, monster, witch – because you have to be all that in order to put things in order on the set. "Ikaw ang taga-sigaw," sighs JoAnn, "but you can’t help but do that because you have a responsibility to the investor," she adds. "If you don’t complete all your scheduled scenes for the day, that’s additional cost."

JoAnn Banaga actually started her career as line producer on television – in a drama anthology entitled Dear Teacher. (In the movies, she credits Douglas Quijano and Joey Reyes for backing her up in Regal where she line produced countless films for Lily Monteverde.) Her first star was no less than Susan Roces and the director of the series, the late Ishmael Bernal, was so impressed with JoAnn’s convincing powers. (The Queen of Philippine Movies had always been known to be very choosy with projects – and she had long earned the right to do so.)

Oh it was a beautiful working experience JoAnn had with Ms. Roces, who is Ms. Cooperative and Ms. Professional combined.

JoAnn grimaces, however, at the memory of those movie stars who were such a pain while on the set. One would walk out if she didn’t have mineral water. Most difficult were those who were in love and would leave the set without notice. "Watch out when you change locations because they don’t ever come back," warns JoAnn.

When reached on the phone – if they answer their phones at all – these stars would claim to be sick. "You just have to take their word for it," JoAnn says, shaking her head. "What if they’re really sick? If you force them to report for work, something can happen to them and that will be your responsibility.

In most cases, some stars are such great actors they feign illness so well, the line producer end up feeling guilty for making everyone work so hard.

Now that she’s already a producer (and about to embark on a big project next year), she already has made a mental list of the stars she’d never work with again. To her relief, the list of stars who proved to be professional is longer. One of her top favorites is Judy Ann Santos. Judy Ann would come to the set – in the words of JoAnn – "lupaypay" after taping her ABS-CBN drama series. "You see her asleep and being dragged out of her van. When she’s being made-up, that’s the only time she’d be able to rest and yet she would go on working – gising na gising when the camera starts to grind, but with nary a complaint," relates JoAnn.

Zsa Zsa Padilla is also in her list of favorites because the singer-actress will never, never complain even if she has to wait long for a scene to be set up or if a co-star is late.

Lea Salonga, however, tops her list. They once worked together in Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal? Lea’s call time would be at 1 p.m., but at 11 a.m., she would already be there – to the production people’s embarrassment because they are still setting up equipment around that time.

At the end of the shoot, Lea Salonga even wrote her note that said: "Thank you very much. You are a rarity in show business."

She may not have won a trophy as assistant director, production manager and line producer – only because they don’t give awards to these people – but that note from the Tony Award-winning actress is enough compliment for JoAnn Banaga to treasure for all the hard work she has poured into this business.