Life can sometimes be a routine of clichés repeating itself. It just so happened that my attention span for blatant boredom (PhilStar columnist Tweetums Gonzales call it the”enemy”) is zilch. I look at boredom in the eye and stab it three times. And then I use the blood that oozes out to create some form of artwork.
Of course I don’t mean that in a literal sense, as I am strongly adverse to any form of violence. Here at Supreme, I always remind every contributing editor, columnist, writer, photographer, stylist, subject and whoever else that we get to collaborate with that it’s all about teamwork. I know dealing with oneself is already an excruciating exercise — so when dealing with others, why not make it harmonious? You never know what an open mind and an open heart can bring forth from within.
Last Supreme Saturday was a revelation to some of us (well, myself and Pepe Diokno to be exact) as we took charge of Supreme’s open call for writers. We were looking for free thinkers who had something to share. Again, as we stated before, in a nation of people who all can read and write, we wanted to find the ones that had something not just to write, but something that is worth reading. For you, dear Supreme reader.
Pepe Diokno is himself a product of an open call. We called for one when we were still in Super! and asked the candidates to come in costume. (We had delusions that we were the Drama Department.) Pepe came in a trench coat (Clark Kent, Inspector Gadget — we forget already, because it wasn’t what he was wearing that was important — it was what he wasn’t wearing... Wait, that didn’t sound right.) We got a cross section of people — some brilliant artists, some buffoons pretending to be artists and some who want to be all out artistas (wrong open call). But in the end, we were still able to find gems.
“Overwhelming” is an understatement to describe last week’s turnout. At a time when you’d think freedom of expression was limited to a 140-character count, the people who heeded our Supreme call didn’t want their voices to be limited to their status messages alone. They wanted to probe deeper, observe longer, live livelier. There were published authors, students, bloggers, young mothers, doctors, call center agents, a comedian, entrepreneurs, balikbayans, nurses — all from very diverse fields bound by that common thing that makes us human. They wanted to express.
In the Supreme spotlight
And so, express themselves we definitely had them do. With on-the-spot writing exercises that made them display what’s in their bag of tricks to what’s deep in their hearts, they wielded their pens and waged war against the blank sheet of paper. Task one: Write a manifesto of what you believe in. Task two: Look inside your bag and write about that one item that will make my life better. Task three: Look to your right and left, do an interview and write a feature on that person.
Every 30 minutes, Pepe and I would go inside the room and collect the papers. While they were busy fleshing out the next assignment, our eyes were glued to every concoction these wordsmiths had blended for our Supreme discernment. And then, the moment of truth: the group, composed of more than 150 applicants, was divided into two. The first group was asked to continue to be in touch with your favorite section via feedback@supreme.ph and were let go earlier.
The second group — well, we just had to grill them. What we were left with at the end of the grilling (which, I must say, made for one more than satisfying, nutricious and well-rounded meal) we will serve to you guys in the next couple of weeks, months, years — exclusive to Supreme. “New blood, yay!” was Pepe’s tweet. New blood, new ideas, new life! There are so many stories out there — and we want to tell them. All it took for us was to listen. I suggest you try it — you’ll learn even more!
To be honest, this has been the best turnout (in terms of talent and variety) in the many years I have been conducting open calls. A lot of good generic styles — and that’s not a bad thing. But I feel that to succeed in this world now, you really must be different. There are already too many that just look and sound like everyone else — just watch TV and you’ll know what I’m talking about. The core — that’s what we are looking for in Supreme. A voice and essence that is entirely yours, and your alone.
So while you’re at it, don’t be the pirated version of yourself — or worse, others. Be the “you” that you’ve always wanted to be. Fight for it. This is why you are here. Welcome to the team — you are SUPREME.
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Supreme thanks Dusit Thani Hotel for hosting our open call. Dusit is located at the Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila. Call (632) 8673333 for more information.