The Carver's House

It's been more than six months since I posted. I blame the time-sucking black hole that is social media. :-) Here are some of the highlights from last year: 1) "I Heart Davao," the 40-episode television series aired on GMA 7. I was given the opportunity to write a number of episodes for that show, but I insisted that I could only do ten. My primary reason was that I had never written for television before, so I didn't want to dive headfirst into unfamiliar territory. Our headwriter was Chris Martinez, and the writing team had me, Dwein Baltazar, and Eljay Castro Deldoc. Our director was Marlon Rivera. I wouldn't consider my experience as representative of what really goes on in television writing in the Philippines, but it was an eye-opener. I never imagined that I'd be able to write more than two hours worth of script (five episodes) in two weeks. It was thrilling, to say the least, seeing how the script was brought to life in the finished product. ...

There are a lot of people who want to make comics, or have tried to make comics but end up frustrated. I certainly struggled some when I started out, and it's no secret that there have been bumps on the road now and then. I'm just curious to find out from you: What aspects of making stories and comics do you find yourself struggling with? If you write your questions in the comments section, I'll see if I could answer it. Game?

For the 2017 digital edition, I changed the cover. Back in 2001, when social media wasn't a thing yet, I self-published my first comic book called "One Night In Purgatory." It's a simple story about a gay guy and a straight guy--best friends--who spend a night talking about a turning point in their friendship. That 56-page story earned me my first book award citation, a finalist slot for a Manila Critics Circle National Book Award. I wasn't able to earn back my investment, but it gave me a taste of going about the whole comic-making biz on my own. Now, 16 years after I first released it, I converted "One Night in Purgatory" to digital format. If you want to have a copy (in either PDF or CBR format), you can get it for the ridiculously low price of Php60, or less that $1.30. You can get it through Gumroad . No registration necessary. All they need is your email address and payment information. Once you've made payment, you will receive an em...

I wrote this post as a note on Facebook. Surprisingly, it was shared 160 times as of this writing. I'm copy-pasting the text here. - - - - - - Let me begin with a story. Yesterday, I met with the organizers of Komikon, and during that meeting we talked about the challenges that local comic book makers are currently facing. Suffice to say, there's a lot. Later that day, I was in a coffee shop and ran into a couple of dear friends I haven't seen in a long time. During our conversation, one friend talked about a medical procedure he had gone through, a procedure that cost him quite a bit of money. After we parted, I began to wonder what would happen if I suddenly had an emergency and I needed a significant amount of money. Money that I didn't have. And when you reach a certain age without a retirement fund, without a backup when something goes wrong, things become very scary. This is the reason why I thought of quitting comics. Sure, I've had great succes...

Thanks for dropping by! If you're interested in getting your own giclée print of the Zaturnnah artwork that appears on one of the October covers of Esquire Philippines, please read the information provided below. A giclée print (zhee-clay) is a fancy term for an image printed on archival paper using one of those huge top-of-the-line inkjet printers that most of us can't afford. Those who specialize in making these prints will tell you that the color quality is supposed to last for decades. Professional artists and photographers turn to making giclée prints to sell and share their work. The "Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Cover Girl" print will be exclusively produced by Giclee Manila. For the  Zaturnnah "Cover Girl" print , there will be four sizes. Size A:  18.5" x 27"  Price: Php 3,000 Size B:  15" x 22"  Price: Php 2,250 Size C:  12.5" x 18.5"  Price: Php 1,800 Size D:  10" x 15"  Price Php 1,450 ...

So this happened. How often does a superhero make the cover of a men's lifestyle magazine? The October 2016 issue of Esquire Philippines is also their anniversary issue. It will be all-illustrated, and will have five covers. Four of them will feature the works of some of our finest artists, namely Annie Cabigting (painting), Blic (street art), Gary-Ross Pastrana (sculpture), and Derek Tumala (video, available as a special e-mag cover). I was also fortunate to have been asked to illustrate the fashion section, too. All 12 pages of it. There, I managed to sneak in Zaturnnah, Ada, Dodong, and Gwyneth among the "models," wearing clothes from high-end brands like Valentino, Lanvin, and Bottega. As far as I know, they won't be named, but here are their headshots. When I was first approached by Esquire to do this, I told them that I wanted a project that would "feed my soul." It sure did, despite the tight schedule. For the cover, I took a cue...

I never thought the day would come. Yesterday, I submitted a sequence treatment to a film company. This is my first commercial screenplay project. I don't consider the Zaturnnah movie as the first as I'm only credited for "story," and I've only gone as far as making dialogue suggestions for that. A few years ago, I did write a full-length screenplay for an animation company, but they didn't intend for it to be released. How did I get this new project? Back in 2013, when my one-act play "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady" was being staged at the Virgin Labfest, I'd be chatting with director Chris Martinez about the possibility of writing for film. It was one of those it-would-be-nice-but-I'm-not-sure kind of things, but Chris was very encouraging. I even got a call some time later if I was seriously interested, but I had to turn it down. I was busy, but I was also iffy. Writing the Leading Lady musical script in 2014 gave me the experie...