Ramona Diaz: Pinoy filmmaker in the US

LOS ANGELES - Ramona Diaz is a free spirit who is curious, adventurous and daring when it comes to her films. She has done the controversial "Imelda" documentary and is currently working on "The Learning" which is a documentary about the Baltimore school system’s experience with teachers from the Philippines. The petite producer-writer-director based in Baltmore described herself as a Filipino “in every way possible." The big break She narrated how she got into show business: “During my junior year at Emerson College in Boston, they had this wonderful program where you got to spend the summer in Los Angeles interning for a major production company. I landed at the now-defunct Mary Tyler Moore (MTM) Productions on the CBS/Studio City lot. These were the years they were producing golden television – Hill St. Blues, St. Elsewhere – groundbreaking shows. Then, of course, there was the fun show, Remington Steele with Pierce Brosnan. This was his breakthrough role. I got to know people working on these shows. A year later, after graduating, I went back to Los Angeles because Remington Steele had an opening for an assistant position. And that’s how I started." 'Princess Nice' “I came here already in my mid-teens after having lived all of my life in Makati and going to school at Assumption. So being from a homogeneous (or so it seemed to me) environment, I did not think of myself as being less entitled, if that makes sense. In fact, for better or for worse, I felt very entitled," she confessed. “So when I started working in Los Angeles, I was just me. This meant that there were certain things that had an “ew" factor to me – like getting coffee, or lunch, or their dry cleaning, or taking their car for a carwash (which as you know is big in LA) – that I just made clear I didn’t do. And the other assistants would be like “you said no?" But I think I got away with it because of how I look, I am petite and people do not feel threatened by me. They thought I was ‘cute.’ She continued, “And I got dressed to the nines everyday even though there was no dress code. In retrospect, I think that helped. And I also said no jokingly and in a very Pinoy way – meaning I was still sweet even as I said no – I tell you nothing beats nice. “So much so that I was teased as the princess from the Philippines. And the executive producer of the show would always come to my defense and would never ask me to do anything that I felt was not my job so that sent a signal to the rest of the producing and writing staff. The importance of being humble “Now, of course, the question is, how then would they take me seriously, right? I remember there was this writer on the show who was not a very good grammarian if you can believe that. I would look over his script and actually change stuff to make it grammatically correct and by the time the script was published, it was in correct form. He knew I was doing it but I did not make it a big deal and advertise it to the world. But he knew and he was grateful and then, of course, we formed some kind of bond and he would start asking me what it was I really wanted to do, what I thought of this movie, this book, etc. And then he would tell others on the staff what I said about this and that. He respected my opinions and vice versa so that’s how I transcended the mire that I might have gotten myself into." Among the people who inspired her, she said, was “this woman who worked for human resources at the now-defunct MTM who told me to always make it clear to people I worked with what it was I eventually wanted to do – be it write, produce, direct, edit. Whatever. To speak up, to let your dreams be known. She was also the first one who ever told me that a ‘no’ is never a no, it’s always a maybe." Persistence Ramona admitted that she does not have an ultimate goal in her career. She explained, “It’s all a process for me and truly the journey to get someplace is infinitely more exciting than the arriving. So I would answer this by saying just as long as I can keep making films that are dear to me, that I have a stake in emotionally, I would be very happy." Asked if she ever got star-struck, Ramona confessed, “When I met Robert Redford at the Sundance Institute I think I got star-struck." She explained, “When I was in 7th grade, I had watched “The Way We Were" a dozen times with my best friend and we had memorized the dialogue to that film. Redford was at the height of his powers then and we would cry every time Barbara Streisand would comb her fingers through Redford’s hair. How corny no? But hey, I was 7th grade. “So when I finally met him, all I could think of was “you’re Hubbell Gardner" (his character’s name in the film). My publicist warned me to act ‘mature’ and that I am now a colleague and not a fan because at that time, I was at the Institute working on ‘Imelda.’ For those who want to break into Hollywood, Ramona advised, “First of all, know what it is you want to do in Hollywood. You cannot just say break into Hollywood, you have to define for yourself that what that means. Do you want to act, direct, write, sing – what? And once you have done that you have to move either to Los Angeles or to New York. I think there is a lot of work to be had in New York for aspiring actors especially. And once you are at these cities, go out and meet people. Attend film festivals, go to panels, and put yourself out there. And always be you in all ways – in attitude and in look. Do not try to look like what you think is the look of the moment." “I remember reading an interview with Ang Lee and he was asked what he told his casting director when he was casting the female lead for ‘Lust, Caution’ and he said that he told her that he wanted the woman no one else wanted – meaning the woman who didn’t look like everyone else. And I would add the same thing that that woman at MTM who told me eons ago – never take no at face value, always just think of it as maybe. Be persistent and your own best advocate, no one else will be." - Philippine News