MANILA -- Hearing the names in international filmmaking who inspired and influenced budding director Ten Monteverde, one knows she is in for a long and serious haul to make a name for herself and find her niche in filmmaking.

There are Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, French director Agnes Varda, writer-director Celine Sciamma, English filmmaker Edgar Wright and even the Coen brothers Joel and Ethan.

To begin with, the only daughter of producer Dondon Monteverde and the granddaughter of Regal Films matriarch Lily Monteverde made sure she got into formal studies in filmmaking. She enrolled at the prestigious New York University (NYU) and graduated magna cum laude only recently. She also have a double minor in psychology and art history.

From the very beginning, Monteverde made it very clear with her family that she wanted to study abroad and live half way across the globe away from her family.

“There was certainly an adjustment period,” Monteverde told ABS-CBN News. “I’ve been away for four years, going back during the summers and winter breaks for Christmas.

“That was what I wanted and that was very clear from the very beginning that I wanted to study abroad. It wasn’t too difficult and I think it was a very transformative experience.

“It really helped me gain that sense of independence and forced me to come out of my shell. It was a great experience overall and I think it has made me who I am.”

It was probably a no-brainer that Monteverde would also pursue filmmaking. Since she was a young girl, she was constantly exposed to attending premiere nights and being in a room with actors and directors.

As she was discovering avenues to tell a story, film just made the most sense in terms of the type of visual language that she wanted to pursue.

“You dabble into so many different things,” Monteverde said. “It’s more than still image because you’re working with people, actors, your crew.
“It’s collaborative, which I love. It’s more than just you as a director. It’s everyone around you that’s making your vision work.”

Painting and journalism

Monteverde transferred to NYU from Parsons School of Design also in New York when she was a sophomore. Originally, she took a double major in painting and journalism, her initial track. After only one year, she shifted to filmmaking.

“Naturally, for me, it was a matter of finding who I was outside of my family,” Monteverde said. “In that case, I was drawn towards other media at first. But I think I was always a creative person.

“From the very beginning, growing up, it was solidified for me that I would eventually end up as a creative and doing something in the arts. But I think it wasn’t until after freshman year in college that I decided to
become a filmmaker.”

Initially, Monteverde admitted she was a little bit indecisive.

“I just wanted to explore all the avenues that were available,” she said. “To me, growing up which I found in the form of playing instruments or painting or writing.

“I think my proximity to my family and what they did also very much influenced me wanting to become a creative even though it didn’t necessarily mean I would end up in film, but I’m always just creatively driven.”

When she moved to New York and the more she thought about theatrical art form itself, Monteverde fell in love with the film language and realized it’s any other medium she had explored.

“The longer I thought about all the stories I wanted to tell and how I wanted to tell it, I jumped in and decided not to run away from it,” she said.

Family business

Naturally, her family was very happy about the young Monteverde’s decision. “The first person I told about the shift was my dad,” Monteverde shared.

“Even before I left the Philippines and moved to New York, he was the first one who found out I got into Parsons. He was very happy. There wasn’t any pressure about carrying on our family business. There was joy in the fact that I found the thing I love.”

After that important decision, Monteverde realized there’s someone to uphold their family name. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that I would take over one day, but more on the fact that there is now a director in the family.”

That led on Monteverde to eventually tell her grandmother, Mother Lily, about her decision. “She was very, very happy,” the young Monteverde beamed. “She wants me to be making films in the Philippines.

“She is very supportive of me exploring what’s outside of it and not seeing limited to just that. I was in New York and I know she did a lot of traveling when she was younger and explored the world. She was very happy essentially.”

Just because her family is already in the industry and filmmaking is already what they are doing, for Monteverde, it really boiled down to the fact that film is unlike any other medium she has ever worked with.

“At first, I wanted to pursue painting, which has its similarities, but it’s nothing like film. It has still images and trying to convey meaning out of texture, form and composition. I feel like in terms of filmmaking, it’s more dimensional.

“You’re working in so many different elements, departments and it’s collaborative. It’s a whole lot of things. I totally fell in love with it when I moved to New York. And after my freshman year in college, I wanted more to tell stories.

“I could do that best with a moving camera and so that was what I was attracted to the most. It’s definitely a plus that my family has already exposed me to that world from a very young age.

“It was definitely a big advantage being able to be on the set with all the professionals doing what they do best. That really equipped me when I decided I was going to go into film school and developed my taste as a filmmaker.”

Gap year

Monteverde attended the Immaculate Concepcion Academy (ICA) from kindergarten to her grade school, then went to International School Manila for high school.

She took a gap after graduation when she was very undecided. “I was still exploring. Once I settled in painting, I realized I wanted to have that shift.”

When Monteverde, who is the youngest and only girl in a brood of three, received the acceptance letter from New York University, she was alone in her room here in Manila.

“I started crying my eyes out because it was like a dream come true,” she shared. “I went down the stairs and started crying in front of my dad. I said, ‘Please let me go. Please let me go to New York.’

“For my dad, there’s an attachment involved. As a parent, there were all these thoughts and fear that comes with sending your child off out into the world and in an unfamiliar territory. I’m sure it was very hard for him.”

Monteverde was only 18 when she left the Philippines for New York. “I was very young but I was very excited and passionate,” she said. “After my gap year, I was ready to get out there, explore and make a discovery outside the Philippines.”

Starting her film directorial career with Regal Films or her father’s Reality MM Studios, Monteverde remains open.

“Who knows?” she mused. “I will love to do that. I think it will be great to collaborate with my family as producers. That will be very exciting for all of us and we’ll see what’s in store.

Sure, she also wants to work with other people. “It’s a collaborative art,” Monteverde said. “At the end of the day, you don’t want to be closed off to all the possibilities of working with other people.

“I certainly know that my family is supportive of me and I know that we will create something great together. We’ll see what’s in the works.”

Working with JK Labajo

Monteverde’s first work as a director was with singer-actor JK Labajo, who debuted with his hit single, “Buwan,” in 2018. Recently, Labajo released “Gabi,” with the music video directed by Monteverde.

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“I had been familiar with JK ever since I was in high school, so it was sort of a dream come true that I had this project with him and was able to work with him on it and collaborate with such an amazing artist.

“He is an incredible musician. He knows exactly what he’s doing and clearly everyone agrees because his songs have been so successful. There was a little bit of pressure working on JK’s ‘Gabi.’ It was my first project after I graduated.

“I wanted to establish my own voice through that project, create that balance where I was creating something that would match the song very well with the visuals that would accompany the song itself and try to inject my visual style and my visual language.”

She also intended to apply what she learned at NYU into the first music video that she directed. “JK made it very easy for me,” Monteverde said. “There was no pressure since he gave me a lot of freedom on how I could make the music video.

“He really trusted me with it, especially someone who just graduated from school. No questions asked. We just went with the flow and he loved it. He saw that I was very passionate about the craft and that was enough for him to ask me to direct the music video.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better experience post-college. It was an amazing first directing gig for me. I was very lucky. JK is an amazing musician, very smart and creative.

“That was someone I really aligned with in terms of my own directing and the quality of work that he’s playing out, that’s the same thing I want to be doing for myself. The quality of work, JK was happy with it. Overall, it was a great experience working with him.”