Maverick

Someone asked me why I have such diverse interests and how am I able to have so many pursuits.

I haven’t heard that question in a while and like that critic in Ratatouille who had an epiphany after sampling Remy’s fare I went back to an old place back in time.

Back in grade school, the two clubs I wanted to join were Hobbycraft and the Camera Club. I got to join Hobbycraft after a couple of years but never did get in the Camera Club. Those model airplanes, tanks, and cars (Tamiya is the only brand that I remember) were expensive and my folks didn’t give me money for that at first. And if those scale models were a no-no then what more a camera?

During breaks and after class, I would collect soft drink bottles and get the deposit. I’d save them and add it to my small allowance to buy those scale models that I later used at Hobbycraft. At a young age I taught myself to be self-sufficient and resourceful.

Before I got into Hobbycraft, I joined the Art Club that appealed to me just as much. Back then outside school, I used to attend art classes in Makati and at the CMLI in Quezon City. My mom was very good at art and she did paint seriously for a while before going back to the corporate world. She (and my brother) joined the Repertory Workshops and came out in a few plays later on so you can say she was an influence when it came to the arts.

During those elementary years, one of my friends asked me if I’d like to co-author an article he wrote for the school newspaper The Eaglet. I said no since I didn’t write it and wasn’t good at it. He said that it was no problem since he already wrote it and he wanted to share with me the credit for the piece as I was his best friend. I still said no but eventually relented. Imagine at that age I learned how to play hard-to-get. Bwahaha.

I still have that newspaper and although I treasure it with its brown pages, I swore that next time, I’d do some writing. Little did I know…

My love for art continued. I won awards in several Com-Arts exhibits later in high school.

While at the grade school, my mom pushed me to try theater and public speaking. I loved the former but not the latter. Like I had a choice. I became a back up for a classmate (Kokoy Palma) in those Elocution Contests but the only time I won a speaking contest was in 4th Year high and I was just as surprised as anyone that I did.

Even then what interested me the most were the arts and sports. I have to admit that I didn’t want to sing for Charlie Valencia or Godo Arreza but totally gave my best under Ms. Linda Sy. My teacher crush was Ms. Rodriguez okay? Bwahahaha.

It was in fourth year high too that I sort of lost interest in illustration as I shifted to music and well, girl watching. Watching only ha? Let’s be clear on that.

Writing wasn’t even on the radar until one incident that made me think. I crammed for my English subject under Mrs. Esperanza Chee Kee (the mom of Parokya ni Edgar’s Gab) and wrote an essay in under ten minutes that I swear was filled with utter bullshit.

When the paper returned to me three days later, it was marked “F” in red ink with a note to go see the Principal. I went up to Mrs. Chee Kee and asked why. She said that I copied my homework from some magazine or had someone else write it for me. No way could a high school student write like that, she said. Honestly, I wasn’t even flattered. I was nervous because that meant a one-week suspension and a blemish on my conduct card. I blurted out to her that my homework was BS. I don’t know if she was shocked if I said a bad word or that I said that I wrote it myself 10 minutes before class.

My topic? George Herman “Babe” Ruth of the New York Yankees. I completely made up everything in the essay. The only thing that was true was he was the then Home Run King and that he played for the New York Yankees. Everything else was made up. I said that if she verified everything I wrote she’d find out that none of it was true. She did and was embarrassed because I said I’d tell my folks and she’d be in trouble.

She reversed my grade to an “A” and gave me the next test off.

Jumping later to advertising. I was a copywriter and my first account was the Philippine Basketball Association. I did the first ever PBA Trivia Contest writing all the mechanics and researching the questions etc. As a reward, they gave me my first PBA campaign to do. Even then I thought visually – something they teach in advertising. Unfortunately executing it didn’t work out they way I envisioned it. Of all the PBA cagers I got to work with it was only Tony Harris who was the cooperative one. I guess it didn’t help that we asked them to pose for print ads and act for television spots after practice when all they wanted to do was get out of there. The first ad of that campaign was terrible and I received a severe tongue lashing from the President and from Vintage. A more senior copywriter was given the plum and I felt crushed. I was only able to do one more PBA ad with Hurricane Harris and although it didn’t come out the way I wanted it still was okay.

My headline read: Hurricane coming. And Tony was supposed to be driving towards the basket with this intense look and storm clouds behind. But the Art Director didn’t want to listen to a young buck like me and the layout was different from the way I saw it. I have the ad in my portfolio. I did a PBA jingle for one season that was used as a tactical ad but I was soon off the account.

But I went on to better accounts as Apple Computers was something I handled. I cut my first ever radio commercial as a voice talent (I co-wrote the commercial with ad legend Lito Pagayon) and I thought it was cool to hear myself on radio.

I got to work on some Magnolia products, Uniwide and some sardines stuff after that. I remember we were asked to come up with name studies for a juice drink that Magnolia was planning to put out and I submitted my name studies. We all liked one name study “Daybreak” and I wrote a jingle using Barry Manilow’s song of the same name (I still have the lyrics and the cassette of the demo now whether that plays I have no idea). We cut the song in a studio along Ayala Ave in a few hours. But for some reason, it was killed internally before it even reached the client. I felt bad because I knew we had a winner. I was learning about politics and that sometimes even the best ideas don’t fly because some people don’t see it otherwise. I guess it’s also about following directions.

I would also scribble rough layouts of ads that the Art Directors didn’t like because that wasn’t my job. I should stick to writing copy (despite my protestations because I always thought of myself as an art guy) they said.

It was frustrating I have to admit. I had all these ideas in my head but they never were approved or went anywhere. Patience and timing was something I was learning real fast. The agency president thought that I could write so he asked me to also do extra work in our PR division where I did a lot of work for one Taipan and a top businessman.

It provided extra money but I didn’t enjoy it because I was forced to churn out lies and half-truths. That continued until I transferred agencies where I had a Creative Director who gave me so much leeway in coming up with campaigns. At this time I had Philippine Airlines, Tanduay, Mazda, BMW, and BPI (direct marketing). My illustration skills began to atrophy and I limited myself to thumb nail sketches for storyboards. Along with the senior copywriter (who was a fellow Atenean), we put out a lot of stuff. I felt I was on top of the world because we did so well that year that I was given an extra month’s bonus (that the others didn’t get). It became a joke that I “ate JO's – job orders – for breakfast.”

And my CD thought that it was rare to have a guy who did both copy and art. With all the work we had it was encouraged because we couldn’t cope with the demands. PAL alone was a killer and frustrating account but we got a lot of good work done.

When I was asked by Avellana to transfer I had PLDT, Equitable Bank, Suzuki, and many other accounts.

For PLDT, our client was Antonio “Tony” Samson or AR Samson to those who read Business World and his Blue Eagles stuff on ateneo.edu. I did some great tactical work for the account but never got to work on a major campaign until a year into my tenure at Avellana. Why so?

I prepped a campaign with my team; something everyone in the agency thought was a great one; a possible award winning one too. It’s amazing that I still have everything. I saved storyboards, compres, etc. I’m such the scrapbooky-type?

During our presentation in Tagaytay, it was the only campaign out of four that was shot down. Everyone was shocked that it wasn’t approved. Some of the other CDs wanted to defend it but since it wasn’t their team’s work they couldn’t speak out. I was crestfallen and in tears and had to endure the long ride back to Manila in silence and humiliation. Imagine, a Php 500 million account and I had no part in it? I wanted to do commercials, win awards, and travel abroad for post-prods too! A big account and an approved campaign gave all those opportunities.

I had a great team. We totally enjoyed working with one another. Sometimes the Art Director wrote the copy and sometimes I did the layouts. It was whoever had the best idea. We checked our egos at the lobby when we got to work.

The following year, right before the PLDT presentation, we came up with a campaign for its sister company the Yellow Pages. The concept and execution was inspired by the X-Files that was back then the hot new television series. I did my research and came up with some intriguing facts and figures that formed the basis of the concept and execution. My CD thought it was brilliant but our Division Head killed it. I pulled my CD aside and said that we both knew it was the right campaign for the client and that we should find a way to present it. He agreed but said that we could both get fired for disobeying orders. We both thought it was worth the risk and luckily during the big presentation, our Division Head was late and the other Senior Writer whose work was chosen internally got sick leaving their Junior Writer to present it in their place. When our turn came up, client was so impressed with the preparation, research, facts, figures, and concept that he interrupted my spiel and said that this was the best presentation they’ve ever seen. It was approved and although we had to change the X-Files feel of it along the way, the campaign was a success and they used it for three years even when I had left Avellana for a brief brief stint with J Walter Thompson before shifting to client side. That started a string of won bids and approved storyboards.

As for PLDT, I made sure the following year I was ready with a great campaign that would be impossible for Tony Samson to say no to. He approved it and more as I got to do more stuff for client. Tony and me are very good friends today in case you want to know and it has nothing to do with me getting the nod on the campaign.

But it wasn’t like I was on a win streak. I had to literally pick a fight sometimes.

There was a time when we were supposed to prep tactical ads for the upcoming elections and one print ad we conceptualized used the headline: “Okay lang kay teacher gumamit ng kodigo.” It reminded voters to bring their list to the polling place. Internally my team got chewed out for a number of so-called clever ads. “That’s what’s wrong with the kids of today,” spat the president of the agency. “You have all the wrong values – using kodigos. That’s associated with cheating!”

I was shocked. “Isn’t that what it’s called – a kodigo?”

“Not in Ayala Alabang!” he thundered with choice expletives (Whether this is true or not the only thing I can say is “Shit coño!”).

So we changed our whole line of tactical ads to lame-o ones and when Tony Samson saw them, he said, “Ah, this is so pedestrian… do you have anything that plays on the election process to catch people’s attention? Yung mga kodigo at iba pa?”

The President had a cow and meekly said, “Ah yeah sina Rick and his team prepared some of them. Why don’t you get them for Mr. Samson?”

If looks could kill then that guy would have been deader than dogshit and in pain that even his ancestors would feel it. Bwahahaha. I was insolent I must say.

I had developed a rep for being a maverick -- offbeat and with an eye for visuals and photography. I’d also credit that in part to Direk Cholo Laurel who took me aside one day and said that he noticed how I would watch everything that goes on during shoots. There was a mania to learn and do more. So he made sure that I was in on the entire prod and post-prod process. Later, I sat beside other directors like Matthew Rosen and Neil MacDonald to learn about directing and the DOP’s cinematography. As always I had these ideas percolating inside my head but many of them never went anywhere because no one could interpret them. I realized then that I had to work doubly hard to get things done before I got to the level where I could dictate directions and styles. And it has been a long and arduous process.

The unfortunate casualty was my drawing skills that deteriorated badly as I shifted to marketing and on the side (although it would later become a career) writing.

I left advertising for two reasons: one, the workload where I had no weekend, and two, for financial reasons. It wasn’t fun to have clients calling you at midnight to brainstorm over the phone or having the agency’s messengers hunt you down inside a movie theater because they had a quickie ad that needed doing. Mind you it is fun and really great. I just had enough of it and wanted a change of pace. I was so makulit when it came to strategies and objectives. My mania for detail was something my boss and clients liked so they asked me if I wanted to double as a Senior Writer and an Account Executive. I jumped at the opportunity and I thought that it was the best thing to happen in my advertising years because I learned about balance and looking at things from a focused perspective.

Jumping back to my grade school days, I once saw a classmate of mine conferred a special award one day for his service in the grade school’s social work. I didn’t like that guy and said I could do him one better. So I dedicated myself to working harder than him and putting longer hours. I didn’t get any award and it didn’t make me feel bad at all. I started out for the wrong reasons but gradually found myself immensely enjoying it and feeling satisfaction in helping others. Perhaps even better it was nice to keep a low profile. It was lesson I learned and one that I would later remember at work. After all those early frustrations, I decided to buckle down and just work hard without any fanfare.

It was an important lesson in advertising because it is an industry of egos and a “me” attitude where one’s worth is measured by his awards. The lessons of early disappointment fueled a drive and rage within me. And well, I learned to deal with it better. But those lessons of staying the course and persevering have paid off.

Life is a constant pace of disappointment and adapting to change. Once in a while I take out a sketchpad and doodle, sketch, or paint in an effort to rediscover what I lost. I still make use of thumbs to show what I want and have others render it. In photography, I’ve been fortunate to take part in an exhibit or two and take some really great photographs. I guess one of the take-aways from that was seeing a locally famous photog copy the shot.

And that brings me to working with people and organizations that is a pleasure to be a member of. Fabilioh and the Guidon people are just a few. My crew at Rebound, Halikinu Radio, and OGBD are others. It’s really fun to be a part of these teams.

I do these things not because it’s a popularity contest. That was never the plan or the objective. I always saw myself being a creative guy who can never be chained to a desk. Even if you ask my officemates, you cannot make me sit in a cubicle the whole day. I’m the sort who needs to get out and be on the go. I didn’t have exemplary grades like my parents, siblings or cousins who were in the honors section. The closest was being in the English Honors Section but that’s it. I always wanted to be the non-trad guy. I wanted to get into broadcasting and be a conflict reporter something I am only getting into now. I wanted to do films and documentaries which is something I’m able to do now. My dad wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer but in a house that celebrated music and the arts – uh uh.

I wish I had this mindset when I was younger. I always had to do what others wanted. I guess it’s all part of the learning process. Took a while to get out of my Padawan stage.

When I conduct training seminars – on creative thinking, writing, or presentation skills – I always tell kids of today that they are lucky to have so many avenues for expression. I am fortunate to be in the know but they have the advantage of youth.

One thing is for sure – I am having fun.

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Sometimes I would walk from where I worked on East 86th and Lexington all the way to midtown. I loved going through Museum Mile. I loved MOMA but the Museum of Natural History was and still is my favorite. I always think of what Jessica Zafra wrote -- "Fish boring. Dinosaurs now!" I feel exactly how Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) does with all those dinosaur bones. I would also spend hours watching people paint by the museums or in Central Park or even along Times Square. I usually hung out in the Great Lawn or in the Angels of the Waters (the Terrace) to write or read. It was -- and will be again -- my hideaway. I recently started with water color again. Seeing once more Jon Jay Muth's work on Moonshadow made me want to start doing art again.