Wenn swings both ways

If box-office returns could translate into acting awards, Wenn Deramas would no doubt be one of the most awarded directors on film and TV today. Most of his projects — from the Tanging Ina series to movies like Praybeyt Benjamin and Girl Boy Bakla Tomboy and the afternoon action-drama Galema, which recently ended its successful run on television — have not only been varied in terms of genre, but have also done very well, and established Wenn as one of the busiest and most versatile directors in the industry today.

I am personally amazed by the fact that Wenn can bounce back and forth from comedy to fantasy to drama and from one project to another, hardly stopping to rest in between. After ending Galema, he will soon start another show, this time a television remake of the iconic Inday Bote with the young loveteam of Nash Aguas and Alexa Ilacad.

Asked where he gets his incredible energy, direk Wenn replied that he is a workaholic, so he’s used to having a busy schedule. “Ang totoo n’yan, malungkot ako ‘pag hindi ganun ang schedule ko,” he laughs. “Na-de-depress ako ’pag nagigising ako ng two to three days na walang ginagawa. Yung iba kasi, parang ang sarap magpahinga; ako, OK na sa akin yung mga dalawang araw na diretsong pahinga tapos trabaho na ulit. May pahinga lang. Hindi naman sa wala talagang pahinga, basta may pahinga lang. Pero ayoko ng mahabang pahinga.”

Although working so hard can sometimes leave him physically tired, direk Wenn can’t help but push himself. He also looks forward to working on different projects and trying out different genres. He welcomes a project ending, because he knows it means that another one will be starting up soon. “Kailangan ganun eh. Kailangan may bago akong ginagawa or else mabuburyong din siguro ako kung puro ganun ng ganun na lang. Like ang Galema, fantasy siya na drama, so malayo siya sa ginagawa kong comedy naman sa pelikula. Kailangan talaga may variety. At masaya ako dahil napagkakatiwalaan ka na ng ganun.”

Years ago, he even tried his hand at doing drama-horror in Maligno. Direk Wenn is grateful to his bosses at Star Cinema and Viva for giving him the creative freedom to pursue his dream projects and to do with them as he sees fit. Direk Wenn is known for sometimes making up gags and skits on the spot. These gags eventually find their way into his scripts. But never once did his bosses tell him to rein in his tendency to do such. Rather, they let him do as he wants. “Maganda ‘yung may mga nagtitiwala sa iyo, ‘yung nagsasabi na kung ano ang gusto mong gawin, gawin mo,” he says.

In the case of Galema — and some of his other projects — Direk Wenn says it all stems from being a fan. Direk Wenn is a fan of Zuma, the original komiks novel which inspired Galema. “Ako talaga yung nag-pursue na gawin itong TV series,” reveals direk Wenn. “May pagiging fan sa akin na hindi ako titigil hangga’t hindi ko ’to nagagawa eh. Naniniwala talaga ako at napapatunayan ko naman.”

Direk Wenn was a child when he first fell in love with showbiz and the medium of film. “Sobrang passion talaga,” says the box-office director. “Ako talaga, three years old pa lang, nanonood na ng pelikula at TV. Six years old, kasa-kasama ako ng nanay ko, di ba Nora Aunor nga, at lahat ng pelikula nga at Noranian ang nanay ko — at 11 nanonood ako mag-isa, grade six ako, ang unang-una kong pinanood nga ay Grease ni Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. Tapos nung pumwede pala, yun na, eh P3.50 lang naman dati ang sine, P2.50 ang orchestra. Di ba? Magkano ang baon ko dati, 50 tapos 15 ang pamasahe. So talagang iniipon ko yun para makanood ng sine.”

He became a big fan of superhero and fantasy movies featuring characters like Zuma, Darna and Dyesebel. For now, says direk Wenn, as long as there are stories to be told, he will keep on making movies and TV shows. With him, it’s a passion that will never grow old.