MERYLL SORIANO OPENS UP ON DIRECTORIAL PLANS, RELATIONSHIP WITH DAD WILLIE REVILLAME

MERYLL SORIANO FEELS THAT everything she has gone through in her showbiz career and life in general — from her mental health journey to motherhood — has prepared her for the next step: directing.

- NATHALIE TOMADA

“We've been working on it and hopefully, first quarter of next year — the short first, and then the fulllength hopefully will follow,” she confirmed to The Philippine STAR her forthcoming directorial debut during an intimate press event hosted by her management team CreaZion.

Her first short was supposed to be a full-length one, but upon the advice of industry colleagues, she was encouraged to begin with the shortfilm, have a feel of the process first and find her “template.”

“The topic was also very controversial at that time. It’s about postpartum psychosis and it needs a lot of research, and up to now, we're still researching for the script. I'm happy that Mark Meily is helping me write it,” she said of her director in “Donor,” the 2010 Cinemalaya Best Picture winner that also earned Meryll the Best Actress award.

“It was such a long journey to find a writer until, of course, upon the advice of Sir Ricky Lee (National Artist for Film), to just write it. And when I did, I still wasn’t happy, so I asked for help... Just know your strengths and weaknesses. So, I’m just really happy I have people around me to support me on this.”

CreaZion, which also manages the acting careers of Dolly de Leon and Charo Santos-Concio, will serve as a co-producer for these films.

“Matagal na,” Meryll confessed when asked when the dream to direct started.

“Since 2010. But I just felt like I didn’t want to be a director yet kasi parang gusto kong umarte... hindi pa ako tapos. I wanted to do so many things.”

There was a time before, Meryll further admitted, when people around her were already pushing her toward directing. “Parang may pressure before. But I had to wait for my own time — yung sa tingin ko na ready na ako.”