MEET Alco Guerrero, young and dynamic, who soon might even earn the title “Director for All Seasons.” ABS-CBN has tapped him to direct all five episodes of the TV special of Batangas Governor Vilma Santos, also known as the “Star for All Seasons.” The special is titled “Vilma: A Woman for All Seasons” and will be aired on all Saturdays of August. Direk Alco confessed he has always been starstruck with Vilma. Listen to him narrate his first encounter with the actress:
“She (Vilma) made me a director before I even knew I was one. “As a teen in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, I would tag along with my mom (the famous Chit Guerrero, who used to produce Vilma’s musical shows on GMA 7. Chit is now the special projects director of ABS-CBN) for a number of ‘Vilma’ shows in the US. With the family handicam around my neck and Vilma Santos right in front of me, I did what any starstruck teen would do – I pointed and shot. I followed here everywhere, shot everything.“And later on, back at home, my mom and her staff saw that the footage was good enough to air as behind-the-scenes footage for the Vilma Santos episode of the US shows. “ I got paid with a pair of nice leather shoes for the job.”
Now two decades later, Direk Alco proudly revealed that the shoes are still with him. And so is the job. But with a big difference now. While Direk Alco happily admitted that his handicam still hangs around his neck, he has acquired enough credentials to be able to give him a decent career as a director.He was head of such projects as “U Can Dance Version 2,” “KC in Paris,” “Sharon, The Mega Story,” Globe Telecoms’ Iphone launch and the spiels for “Maalaala Mo Kaya.”
When Alco started working with ABS-CBN in 2000, he was a writer for “Martin Late Nite.” He has been the director for the biannual Araw Values Awards – an awards night for the advertising industry that celebrates Filipino values in advertising. He has always been directing the annual Gawad Geny Lopez Bayaning Pilipino awards as well as a number of advertising-related TV materials, including that of Globe Telecoms, J&J and Clear. Well, Chit G., take a bow for being the mother of a would-be great TV and, hopefully, movie,director.