A Personal Touch

Director Mike Tuviera became a household name when he directed the romantic 2007 flick, The Promise and the action-packed hit TV show Lupin. But there’s more to this director than the projects he is known for. Text by Alula Love M. Dela Cruz. Photos by Jason S. Lim Last year was the year for this young and promising director. This year Direk Mike Tuviera starts 2008 with a new project for GMA's sinenovela series. To start the season off, he's at the helm of Kaputol ng Isang Awit. During the press conference of the show Direk Mike was asked about his sentiments on moving to a Dramarama slot after being a Telebabad director for two years. “What most people don’t know is that I did afternoon [soaps] for six years. I started with Kirara, Rio Del Mar, yung mga TAPE soaps in the afternoon. I started as Assistant Director, then second unit. So talagang I really started directing sa afternoon” reveals Direk Mike. For Direk Mike, starting in the afternoon soap slot has its advantages, especially in the aspect of mentoring his stars. “When I started primetime with Mars Ravelo's Captain Barbell. I noticed [that] yung focus ko same as the afternoon which is acting, hindi ako ma-explosion, fire and lasers.” With six years to back him up, he admits that he’s interest in directing lies on the enhancement of the material and the performance of the actors; this is something Direk Mike enjoys even after he switched to the primetime scene. On Soaps and Telefantasya For Direk Mike, his biggest challenge as a director is getting a project that has a popular franchise, “You feel pressured pag pre-existing material, for example [Mars Ravelo] Captain Barbell. That was my first primetime show and I was terrified.” So how did Direk Mike put his personal touches on shows with an already large fan based? Direk reveal his secret, “I follow the same approach I teach my actors; find something in it [that is] very personal to you.” For Mars Ravelo's Captain Barbell, it was the love story that made it personal. “The lure for me had always been the love story. Who hasn’t been in love with someone in high school na crush na crush mo and never knew you existed. Or meron kang best friend na secretly in love with you all along.” So for Direk Mike, he’ll tape a day filled with action packed sequences but it’s the characters personal story that thrills him, “The relationships not just the romantic lang. Father [to] son, which for me became more exciting pa than the fight scenes.” This directing style was very prominent in his next prime time gig, Lupin which is another pre-existing material with a foreign background, “We borrowed straight from the source material [and] we focused on the original (French) version and made our own, adjusted it sana, na talagang for Filipino taste.” In his new soap Kaputol ng Isang Awit, Direk Mike finds the music to be his ultimate connection to the show, “I really love music, I’m a music person talaga. [And for] its run we’ll do several na pre-existing songs and several na original,” smiles Direk Mike. For this multi-talented director, the challenge is to make every project have that certain Mike Tuviera originality regardless of the inspiration, “We treat the original movie, theme song, minsan idea or comic book, and we treat it like a seed. Then it’s up to [us] to take care of it and make it grow.” Watch Kaputol ng Isang Awit weekdays on GMA’s Dramarama sa Hapon!