Jerrold Tarog

Early life

Jerrold Tarog was born in Manila on May 30, 1977, and grew up in Canlubang, Laguna. He was an only child of his parents Jose, an OFW from Bicol, and Aurora, who hails from Leyte. At age seven, Tarog was forced to take piano lessons but was already knowledgeable in playing the drums at age six.

Tarog graduated from the University of the Philippines Rural High School in Los Baños, Laguna for his primary education and spent two years in the University of the Philippines Los Baños to study agribusiness management for his secondary education; he withdrew from the latter school having performed poorly. He later shifted his major and transferred to the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he graduated from the university's College of Music school with a degree in music composition. He briefly attended the International Academy of Film and Television in Cebu City.

Career

While a student at the UP Diliman, Tarog became significantly interested in filmmaking since the university's College of Music hall stood nearby the UP Film Center and he began taking film classes. He recalled watching classic films that were directed by acclaimed directors Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen. After graduation, Tarog was a drummer of a heavy metal band, having played the drums in college.

In his early filmmaking career, Tarog assumed different names on separate occasions. As a screenwriter he was Ramon Ukit, a Filipinized name of his favorite American fiction writer Raymond Carver. As an editor, he was Pats R. Ranyo, an anagram of the character he played in his own film Confessional, Ryan Pastor. As a sound designer he was Roger "TJ" Ladro, an anagram of his complete name. He has described his filmmaking expertise as "self-taught".

2000s

In 2002, he landed a job as a musical director of the film Agimat starring Bong Revilla Jr. Subsequently, he worked for independent film director Dante Mendoza to compose the score in his films Masahista (2005), Manoro (2006), Tirador and Foster Child (both in 2007). His score for Masahista earned him a Young Critics Circle award for Best Achievement in Aural Orchestration in 2005.

In 2006 Tarog began his directorial debut in a short film entitled Carpool, which he also wrote and edited. The following year he directed his first feature film, Confessional, a political thriller mockumentary shot in Cebu City; he starred in it assuming the name David Barril. The film was the first installment in what Tarog has dubbed the Camera trilogy, explaining: "It's three films wherein the protagonist in each movie has a camera, and it's about the contrast of life and truth in front of the camera and behind it. The stories of the movies are different from each other, they're not related, and they just have common plot elements." It garnered a total of five awards at the 24th Star Awards for Movies, two of which were given to Tarog—Digital Movie Director (shared with co-director Ruel Antipuesto) and Digital Original Movie Screenplay. In 2009 he directed the drama film Mangatyanan (also known as The Blood Trail), starring Irma Adlawan, and was the second installment in the Camera trilogy. The film was an entry to the 2009 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival where it won the Best Production Design award.

2010s

In 2010 he directed Senior Year, a coming-of-age romantic drama film which tells the story of ten high school students during their final year in a private school in Manila. The film was partly inspired by Tarog's experience as a music student at the UP Diliman. The same year he was tapped by Regal Entertainment to direct a segment in Shake, Rattle and Roll 12, the twelfth installment in the Shake, Rattle & Roll horror anthology franchise, which marked Tarog's transition to mainstream Philippine cinema; his segment is entitled "Punerarya".

In 2011 he directed Aswang, a remake of the 1992 horror film of the same name directed by Peque Gallaga, which stars Lovi Poe, Paulo Avelino, and Albie Casiño among others. The same year he directed another segment in the Shake, Rattle and Roll franchise in its thirteenth sequel Shake, Rattle & Roll 13, entitled "Parola". The following year he served as composer in the fourteenth installment Shake, Rattle and Roll Fourteen: The Invasion, and returned to direct a segment in the fifteenth installment Shake, Rattle & Roll XV entitled "Ulam" the following year. In 2013, Tarog collaborated the second time with Lovi Poe in Sana Dati (also known as If Only), in which Poe starred opposite Paulo Avelino, who have also previously worked together in Aswang. The romantic drama film (the last installment in the Camera trilogy) was an entry to the 2013 Cinemalaya Film Festival where it garnered seven awards during the festival's Awards Night, of which Tarog won Best Director.

In 2015 Tarog co-wrote, edited, composed, and directed Heneral Luna, a historical biographical film which chronicled the leadership of General Antonio Luna of the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the Philippine–American War. The film was a commercial success in the Philippines, having earned ₱256 million nationwide (about three times its production costs). More so, it garnered praise for its cinematography, writing, acting and plot, as well as critical acclaim from Filipino professional critics and historians alike. It has since been regarded as both the Philippines' most expensive epic historical film ever made and highest-grossing film of all time. Esquire Philippines has referred to Heneral Luna as Tarog's breakthrough film due to its successful run.

In 2017 Tarog wrote, scored, edited and directed Bliss, a psychological thriller film starring Iza Calzado. Tarog pitched the idea for the film right after Heneral Luna's Philippine commercial release and was accepted. It took him roughly three to four months to pen the screenplay, and three weeks to compose the film score. The film competed in Japan at the 12th Osaka Asian Film Festival from March 3 to 12, 2017, and received critical acclaim during its run. Accordingly, Calzado garnered the festival's Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer.

Prospective films

After the success of Heneral Luna, Tarog said that he has prepped another trilogy composed of biographical films about significant Filipino historical figures. He said the second installment will be about General Gregorio Del Pilar (portrayed by Paulo Avelino in Heneral Luna), and the third will be about Emilio Aguinaldo, the first President of the Philippines. The second installment entitled Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, has entered production by January 2017, with Avelino reprising his role as the eponymous character. Likewise, the film is expected to shoot by the end of May and would take more than 50 days.

In December 2016, Tarog announced that he and screenwriter Jade Castro (co-writer of Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington) had been developing a screenplay of a film adaptation of The Mythology Class by Arnold Arre, to which he said that "hopefully [it] materializes". Plans for an adaptation of the graphic novel was first made by Tarog in October 2015 after a successful pitch meeting to the producers of Heneral Luna, and Castro was already tapped as co-writer then. He has envisioned the film as being divided into two cinematic parts. Tarog has praised The Mythology Class, saying it "remains potent and exhilarating" since its first publication in 1999, as well as complimenting Arre as someone whose "imagination and creativity soar to dizzying heights." Owing to its success, he hired Arre and his wife to design the poster for his film Senior Year.

Personal life

Tarog has cited Se7en, Taxi Driver, The Silence of the Lambs, and Bullets over Broadway directed by Woody Allen as some of his favorite films. On the other hand, he has cited The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Freaks and Geeks as his favorite television shows. Career wise he has cited Crying Ladies, and Tanging Yaman by Laurice Guillen as films that prompted him to become a director, although he had admitted not being a patron of Filipino films as a college student. Tarog is a fan of film scores composed by Alfred Hitchcock's longtime associate Bernard Hermann.

Tarog professes irreligion. In regards to his relationship status, Tarog has said that he is much more "overjoyed" being single.