High on life

It has been said many times before that doing something you love doesn’t become work. This is precisely the case for director Mac Alejandre, who, despite his hectic schedule, still manages to share nuggets of wisdom with the iGMA team. We listen intently, absorbing every word he says. After all, we’d want our lives to be as gratifying as his. Text by Jillian Q. Gatcheco, with interviews by Jason John S. Lim and Mitch S. Mauricio. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. ’One True Love’ “High ako dahil at my age, I still am given the opportunity to be in the league,” he shares, imparting that he has seen the world because of his work. “I’ve gotten to know myself better; I’ve given the people I love a comfortable life because of my work. What is there to complain about? Nothing -- absolutely nothing. Production problems? That’s a small prize to pay! Just another day at the office. Intriga? All in a day’s work. ‘Wag dibdibin.” This Joaquin Bordado director is now working on his next project under GMA and Regal Films: a movie starring Iza Calzado, Dingdong Dantes, and Marian Rivera, tentatively titled One True Love. “I’m very, very excited. It is a love story that is very compelling, it is a love story that takes a progressive [stance], it is a love story that is very conceptual. Sometime in September ang break date niya,” he says. He adds that this is the first love story he’ll be directing that questions a lot of things -- something that he is so enthusiastic about. “Ang artist, laging nagre-recognize ng status quo, tapos laging nagku-question ng status quo. If you do not question it, why create [at all]? You question it! That is one thing I am so excited about in this movie. And the things it questions are the most normal things; the most basic human emotions.” He continues, “Siguro, 70% of the films I’ve done are love stories. But these are love stories that cater to the fantasies of the audience of falling in love. That’s not bad; that’s good. But there’s another way of making a film, and I think this film gives me the opportunity to express the other ways of looking at love. It is a very progressive premise, [yet] it’s an ordinary story. Gustung-gusto ko yun. Alam mo naman ako, pag normal, dedma!” Dream projects Aside from films and TV series, direk Mac also does commercials. “I enjoy the hopscotch from movies to advertising. As I’ve always said, I feel so blessed that I am given the opportunity to work in different [kinds of media]. It poses not only an opportunity to express myself, but it gives me the opportunity to earn more, which I really like!” he remarks with a grin. He stresses that he has no favorite medium; as long as he’s directing, he’s happy. “I enjoy directing all these [kinds of media] because [each one] serves different objectives, and it exercises my creativity in different directions…. I find enjoyment in it. It is my world. “And part of the gratification is not only the process of creating and seeing the final product, but the benefits that come with it. I am such a practical person. I am dreamer, but my life has also taught me to be practical. It is the manner in which I recognize when to dream and when to be practical, which serves me very well.” He brings up the subject of having a magic baul, a treasure chest of dreams that every person has in one form or another. This box contains all the unrealized things you have set out to do since you have begun dreaming. “All directors have dream projects. All directors have these projects they have thought of since they were young, na nakatago sa baul -- preserved and taken care of. I don’t think I am excused from that dream. And it’s not a dream project, usually it’s dream projects! At this point in time, when a project is given to me, especially if I have an emotional connection to it, I make sure that somewhere along the way, it will become a dream fulfilled. Directing is ownership -- it’s a claim to a territory. And when you claim a project, you make sure it is the best it could be. “Maybe it would not be as compelling when you first heard about it, but little by little you try to make it a dream, you try to enhance it, [and] in the process of honing it, you put a lot of yourself into that project. So I will now contextualize dream projects as the projects you really want to do, you’ve thought about [them], conceptualized about [them], without anybody touching [them], but it doesn’t mean that those are the only kinds of projects that become dream projects.” Has he ever done a dream project? “I haven’t done any project that came from my magic baul that I have kept since college,” he admits. “They’re still stored there, locked up there, waiting to be emancipated from their prison! “But with all the projects I’ve done, I try to make them work. I’ve tried to create my own territory. I tried to give it a ‘spank,’ I tried to make it a huge part of me. And a lot of times, at the end of the day, naging dream come true siya. Maybe naging iba objective niya, maybe hindi kapareho ng mga storyang gusto kong gawin noong college ako, pero…marami namang ibang objective, di ba?” And that is how direk Mac’s mind works. Despite set backs and twists on the road, he is still ever-determined to arrive at the destination. “I think I am given the gift of being flexible,” he notes. “I think bahagi ng pagmamahal sa akin ng langit [yun]. Creativity is expansive. Hindi yan limiting, di ba? A matchstick is a matchstick, but give it to Andy Warhol, [and] it will become artwork! A matchstick can be a dream to somebody else. Somebody else’s junk is the next person’s art.” His advice What can direk Mac recommend to those who still have to figure out what they really want in life? “Ako, lagi kong sinasabi sa mga batang katulad niyo [na] dream big. Pray hard, then, work harder,” he advises. “Lahat ng mga bagay na hindi niyo ma-control, tulad ng kalikasan, aba’y wag niyo nang pangarapin kontrolin. Wala na kayong magagawa doon. Pag gusto ng langit umulan, uulan yan. Pero lahat ng bagay na kaya mong kontrolin, kontrolin mo. “At ano ang pinaka-kontrolado ninyo? Sarili niyo. Utak ninyo, puso ninyo, damdamin ninyo, katawan ninyo—kontrolado niyo yan. Ang greatest tool ninyo, puso ninyo at pananaw ninyo. Minsan hindi nga talino, e. Talino mahalaga siya, pero minsan tinatalo ng magandang pananaw. “The first big step is to dream. Magdi-dream ka rin lang, bakit ka magdi-dream nang small? Dream big! Ganyan ako mag-atake ng mga projects. Pag kinuwento sa akin [ang] isang linya, oh my God! Yung isang linyang yun, may nobela na sa isip ko! Yun yung ibig kong sabihin. “I enjoy every minute of it—you [too] should enjoy the process of creating. Be it to sell a product, to make a statement, to build up a star.” And of course, part of being blessed is sharing your gifts. “Habang tumatanda ako, lalo kong nabibilang ang mga blessings na ibinibigay sa akin ng Diyos. And habang tunatanda ako, bahagi ng pag-recognize ng mga blessings na ito ay ang pagiging generous. Generous sa maraming mga fronts. And part of that generosity is recognizing a lot of things, and sometimes the things that hindered me from doing, from being better in the past, are the same things that push me to be better today.”