By Stephen J Pedroza
Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA) held a three-day screenplay writing workshop with Carlos Palanca Awardee and 1998 National Centennial Literary winner Rodolfo “Rody” Vera on July 11-13 at Xavier University AVRs 4 and 5.
The event, participated in by budding filmmakers in Northern Mindanao and secondary teachers of DepEd’s Special Program in the Arts (SPA), centered on the basic principles of screenplay writing, career prospects, storyline development and its format.
“The screenplay is important because it sets the vision and the foundation of the film. … It is the blueprint. It actually describes not just the genre that the film will take but also the atmosphere; it’s almost a film on print,” said Rody on the role of the screenplay in a motion picture production.
His long list of credentials include “Niño,” (directed by Loy Acenas) his first solo film script which won the Best Film at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, “Senyor Pasyano” won the 2nd Prize at the National Centennial Literary Awards in 1998 and recently, Rody has co-written “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan” (directed by Lav Diaz) which has reaped several international recognitions including the Festival de Cannes’ official selection to Un Certain Regard.
On the other hand, his Palanca-winning works which deal with socio-political and historical themes were “Paalam, Sister Soledad,” “Ismail at Isabel” and the film script “Death March,” among others. He also penned the critically-acclaimed television series produced by GMA News TV, “Bayan Ko.”
Rody is currently the head of the Writer’s Bloc and one of the pioneers of the Virgin Labfest, an annual festival of fresh works for theater.
“The main reason why we set up this festival is to provide an avenue for new, original works to be recognized and to create a new generation, a new breed of playwrights who will be bankable enough in the future,” he said.
XCCA’s screenwriting workshop was also aimed at discovering and nurturing the talents and skills of aspiring playwrights coming not just from Cagayan de Oro City but also in Northern Mindanao.
Although Rody has received a rundown of accolades, when asked what is the formula for an award-winning screenplay, he candidly answered while eliciting a laugh, “There is no formula for it.”
However, Rody said, one has to be open to revisions and criticisms. “There are instances that when I give the script to the director or to the producer, there’s a possibility that the story might be changed and sometimes it’s beyond my control.”
Rody described his workshop participants as “very responsive and willing to plunge into the writing exercises.
True enough, each of the participants wrote a short film script and had an individual critiquing with Rody at the end of the event.
This introductory workshop is part of the Cultural Education Program (CEP) of XCCA’s 7th cultural season “Siete Artes” as its response to the challenge of establishing a screenplay development platform in the region.
“To complement the annual Cinemagis Digital Short Film Festival, we want to put up a series of screenplay writing development program in Northern Mindanao,” said Hobart Savior, XCCA director.
“A film is never complete without the story. Although the film is a visual language, still the visual language there lies with the screenplay.”