THE PHILIPPINES, SEPTEMBER 13, 2011: After two years of research, writing and re-writing, and production, Paul Soriano’s second film, the much praised “Thelma”, finally hit the theaters nationwide last September 7.
From his domain of TV commercials, Soriano first dabbled in movies in 2009 with “A Journey Home”, an independent film produced for the 10th anniversary of the Youth for Christ Ministry, which had a one-day-only screening at three cinemas.
“Thelma”, about a reluctant but talented runner, came a little short of two years later. It saw not only a much wider release compared to the budding director’s debut film, but also much more acclaim – the Maja Salvador starrer was given an A rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board.
Soriano said that his venture into film is similar but (it’s) also different” from his daily grind of TV commercials. “I’m able to take my discipline of advertising, the preparation, the work ethic of advertising, I was able to bring it to cinema,” said the director, who is also a member of the in-house team of Abracadabra Production House.
“From pre-production to production to post-production, I treated it like a big commercial,” the director said during a quick conversation with adobo. “I’m thankful to advertising because I’m able to bring my discipline into the world of movies,” he concluded.
Soriano has directed ads for Western Union, Skin White, Jollibee, Nestlé, Nokia, Globe, and Chevrolet, aside from a number of music videos and station IDs.
