At 19, he was supposed to be learning the basic fundamentals in school, but fate had a different plan altogether and threw him a curve ball.
He was drowning in his academic studies when multi-awarded film and TV director-writer Joey Javier Reyes picked him to write a movie script. Although unsure of his abilities, he couldn’t just say no. Last May, Mark Gerald Foliente debuted as the scriptwriter of Walwal, a movie about today’s youth; their lives, struggles and dreams.
“Direk Joey was one of my professors and happened to like my submitted works. When he found out I was attending the writing workshop of Sir Ricky, he requested me to write for him.
“He said he needed a writer who’s a millennial because he can’t write about it. So he messaged me, asking if I was ready. Even though I was lacking in confidence, I said I was ready,” reveals Foliente. At that time, Regal Films was looking for teen movie to produce and tapped Joey Reyes for the project. And just like that, Foliente had to step up and juggle his time between academics while scriptwriting on the job.
The shoots for school requirements drag on for days, but he still managed to find time to write at night for the film project. “Direk Joey was quick with his revisions—that was the hardest part. Moreover, I missed school. I missed out a lot of the student life, having to skip school activities, festivals. I felt those moments just passed by me. But then I also realized this experience, this process, I’m going through at my age, I know will work for me somehow in the future. I felt it was worth it.”
It’s all about timing
Foliente started writing as a staff of Sandigan, the official student paper of San Antonio National High School in Makati City.
When indie film director and screenwriter Sigfried Barros Sanchez came to his class and talked about filmmaking, Foliente got hooked. “That made me interested. It was the right timing too, because I was deciding on what to do later in life. I used to watch old local movies on TV when I was young. I remember wanting to tell my own stories and here I was, I’m already into writing.”
As a scholar, he eventually applied to the Digital Filmmaking program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and proceeded to join Ricky Lee’s writing workshop. “That’s when I realized I wanted to be a scriptwriter, more than anything else. Mas feel ko yung pagsusulat.” (Writing is more to my liking.)
It’s all about learning
It was in March to July 2017 when Foliente joined Ricky Lee’s screenwriting workshop and was introduced to the great talent. Ricky Lee is a veteran and multi-awarded screenwriter, journalist, novelist and playwright. He is best known for his screenplay such as “Himala”, “Sa Kuko ng Agila”, “Muro Ami”, “Jose Rizal”, and “The Flor Contemplacion Story.”
During the workshop, “I got to know Ricky Lee as a person and I admired how he overcame many difficulties and wrote so many scripts. I was able to watch many of the movies he wrote, not knowing it’s already a part of his anthology.” It was then Foliente found out that he was not there just to learn how to write, but to learn how to live with himself as a writer.
“Ricky Lee is more about the heart of the story; where is it coming from. He doesn’t care if the concept is already old, or not commercial enough. All he asks is how true you are about your story; where you’re coming from? Is it really your story? It’s the authentic to you?
“In writing, I get to share emotions and share experiences. I find it satisfying when a reader remarks, ‘Ah, yes, I also felt that way.’ Somehow I stirred their emotions and that reminds me that I’m not the only one who felt that way, so in a way, I’m one with that person.”
Foliente’s realization, that a writer exposes his identity and the truth he knows about himself and the world he lives in through his stories, comes with a price, though.
“In storytelling, it’s hard to hide the fact that it’s about yourself. I started trying to hide behind my work, my characters. I would try so hard just so that the readers wouldn’t figure it out that it was me in the story, but it slips out, and the readers get it.
“I was afraid to show (to the audience) how I think, how I feel. I felt embarrassed. At first, I was being too careful, at least I thought I was being careful, but I was taught to just write, to follow my stream of consciousness, to let a part of me come out, and there’s nothing was wrong with that. Now, I’m no longer sensitive; to reveal one’s self is part of writing.
“The workshop also taught me that there’s a time to tell your stories and work your difficulties (in writing). You have to share and let others read your work to gain feedback and improve on it.”
That workshop gave birth to Foliente’s first full length movie screenplay: “Window Seat.” The story involves an old couple, a subject he discovered he’s fond of in the process. Old people’s joys, challenges, and journey fascinate and intrigue Foliente, and his stories are his attempts to unravel their lives. In “Window Seat,” the old couple find themselves in limbo, where they will settle with their love, believe that there’s something that lasts forever, that it’s not too late to end up together.
It’s all about practice
The following year saw Foliente with fellow students Alsen Estrella and Neil Reyes entering the Cinemandirigma: University of the East-Caloocan Inter-School Short Film competition. They co-wrote and co-produced “Ang Kaibigan Kong Alien” that competed with works from aspiring filmmakers in high school and tertiary levels in Metro Manila. “It dealt with loneliness and does not really have a structured story. The character likens finding a friend to finding an alien. He knows he’s there, but he just can’t find him,” shared Foliente.
The entry bagged the Best Short Film, Best Original Story, and Best Actor awards.
“It was a class project, but we decided to enter it in the competition. I guess the hanging question in the end made an impression with the judges. ‘Here’s my alien friend’ he says. At first, the audience couldn’t understand the film, but they definitely felt something afterwards. It’s the same even with us. We weren’t sure we have delivered what we wanted to say with the film, but the feel is there. We were surprised that it won. I guess it’s more about invoking emotions rather than telling a story.”
Interestingly, it was Foliente who won as best actor. “I think I was the sole nominee,” he said with a chuckle. “A lot of people were amused as I am (with the win).”
It’s all about the future
As of this writing, Foliente is busy completing his thesis and preparing for its defense, for the completion of his course in March 2019. For his film submission, he wrote and created a character that he says is close to his heart: a writer lost in search of a particular word.
“A writer couldn’t find a certain word and gets upset about it, that’s where the story begins. He looks for that word, he goes out and looks for it everywhere. He meets different people along the way, but couldn’t connect with them. Visually, it has a theatre treatment with people interacting behind the main character.
“In the end, he doesn’t find the word at all. Instead, he finds himself not being alone because the characters are there for him, he saw his characters are his family. I didn’t reveal the lost word, I’ll leave that to the audience. Hopefully, they’ll find it themselves through my movie.”
While his thesis material deals with one’s search, Foliente looked like he’s already settled with his life’s endeavor: to find his voice as a screen writer.
“People says otherwise and tell me to look for something else, but I feel this is what I want to do with my life because I can’t think of doing something else. I know it’s early in life to be this definite on this, but somehow I feel lucky that I already have found what I wanted to do.
“After graduation, Direk Joey wants me to write for him again. Yes, I want to be in the film industry and I want to be involved in production, but most of all, to continue writing.”