Jerrold Viacrucis Tarog[1] (/dʒɛˈrɒld/;[2] born May 30, 1977) is a Filipino film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and composer. He is best known for directing Heneral Luna (2015), Bliss (2017), Goyo: The Boy General (2018), and the upcoming film Darna. His first feature film was the independently-produced Confessional (2007), followed by Mangatyanan (2009) and Sana Dati (2013). He directed segments for the Shake, Rattle & Roll horror series.

Jerrold Tarog
Tarog on November 19, 2019
Born	Jerrold Viacrucis Tarog (1977-05-30) May 30, 1977 (age 45) Manila, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Other names	Ramon Ukit Pats R. Ranyo Roger "TJ" Ladro David Barril
Alma mater	University of the Philippines Los Baños (withdrew) University of the Philippines Diliman International Academy of Film and Television
Occupation	Film director screenwriter producer editor composer
Years active	2002–present
Website	jerroldtarog.com

Early life and education

Jerrold Tarog was born in Manila on May 30, 1977, and grew up in Canlubang, Laguna. He is the only child of Jose, an Overseas Filipino Worker from Bicol, and Aurora, who hails from Leyte. Tarog learned to play the drum at age six, and the piano at age seven.[3][4]

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 studying agribusiness management for his secondary education. After flunking all subjects in the agribusiness course, he changed his major and transferred to the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he was a scholar and graduated from the university's College of Music school with a degree in music composition.[5] He briefly attended the International Academy of Film and Television in Cebu City.[6]

Career

While a student at the UP Diliman, Tarog developed an interest in filmmaking and began taking film classes at the UP Film Center, which is located near the College of Music building. He recalled watching classic films that were directed by Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen.[3] After graduation, Tarog played the drums for a heavy metal band.[3][4]

In his early filmmaking career, Tarog assumed different names on separate occasions. As a screenwriter he was Ramon Ukit,[lower-alpha 1] a Filipinized name of his favorite American fiction writer Raymond Carver.[7] As an editor he was Pats R. Ranyo,[lower-alpha 1] an anagram of the character he played in his own film Confessional, Ryan Pastor.[7] As a sound designer he was Roger "TJ" Ladro,[lower-alpha 2] an anagram of his complete name.[7] He has called his filmmaking expertise "self-taught".[8]

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).[3] His score for Masahista earned him a Young Critics Circle award for Best Achievement in Aural Orchestration in 2005.[9]

In 2006 Tarog began his directorial debut in a short film entitled Carpool, which he also wrote and edited.[4] 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.[3][10] 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."[11] 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.[12] In 2009 he directed the drama film Mangatyanan (also known as The Blood Trail), starring Irma Adlawan,[13] and was the second installment in the Camera trilogy.[11] The film was an entry to the 2009 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival where it won the Best Production Design award.[14]

2010s

In 2010, Tarog 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.[15] 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;[3] his segment is entitled "Punerarya".[16]

In 2011, Tarog directed Aswang, a remake of Peque Gallaga's 1992 horror film of the same name, which stars Lovi Poe, Paulo Avelino, and Albie Casiño among others.[17] The same year he directed another segment in the Shake, Rattle and Roll franchise in its thirteenth sequel Shake, Rattle & Roll 13, entitled "Parola".[16] 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,[18] who have also previously worked together in Aswang. The romantic drama film (the last installment in the Camera trilogy[11]) 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.[19]

In 2015 Tarog co-wrote, directed, edited and scored 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).[20] The film garnered praise for its cinematography, writing, acting and plot, as well as critical acclaim from Filipino professional critics and historians alike.[21][22][23] It has since been regarded as the most expensive Philippine historical epic film ever made.[24] The Philippine edition of Esquire considered Heneral Luna as Tarog's breakthrough film due to its successful run.[25]

In 2017, Tarog wrote, directed, edited and scored Bliss, a psychological thriller film starring Iza Calzado.[26] 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 write the screenplay, and three weeks to score it.[27] 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.[28] Calzado received the festival's Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer.[29]

Prospective films

In December 2016, Tarog announced that he and screenwriter Jade Castro had been developing a screenplay for an adaptation of Arnold Arre's The Mythology Class,[30] to which he said that "hopefully [it] materializes".[5] 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 onboard as co-writer. He has envisioned the film as being divided into two cinematic parts.[30] 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."[31] Owing to its success, he hired Arre and his wife to design the poster for his film Senior Year.[30]

In October 2018, Tarog was announced to replace Erik Matti as the director of Star Cinema's film adaptation of Darna, which is based on the eponymous comic-book superheroine created by Mars Ravelo.[32] The film began principal photography on January 19, 2020.[33]

Personal life

Tarog has cited Se7en, Taxi Driver, The Silence of the Lambs, and Bullets over Broadway as some of his favorite films,[27] and The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Freaks and Geeks as his favorite television shows.[34] He credited Filipino films Crying Ladies and Tanging Yaman as influences in filmmaking,[34] although he had admitted not being a patron of Filipino films as a college student.[3] Tarog is a fan of film scores composed by Alfred Hitchcock's frequent collaborator Bernard Hermann.[34]

Tarog is nonreligious, but has said that he does "trust evidence, reason and the broadening of knowledge".[35] In regards to his civil status, he has said he is much more "overjoyed" staying single.[5]

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film credits of Tarog

Title	Year	Functioned as					Notes	Ref(s)
		Director	Writer	Editor	Producer	Composer
Agimat	2002					Yes		[36]
Lupe	2004					Yes		[36]
Masahista	2005					Yes	Also known as The Masseur	[37]
Manoro	2006					Yes	Also known as The Teacher	[38]
Kaleldo	2006					Yes	Also known as Summer Heat	[39]
Carpool	2006	Yes	Yes[lower-alpha 1]	Yes[lower-alpha 1]		Yes	Short film Directorial debut	[4]
Tirador	2007					Yes	Also known as Slingshot	[3]
Kadin	2007					Yes		[44]
Foster Child	2007					Yes	Also known as John-John in France	[45]
Confessional	2007	Yes	Yes[lower-alpha 1]	Yes[lower-alpha 1]		Yes[lower-alpha 2]	Directed with Ruel Antipuesto Score composed with Arodasi	[50]
Astig	2007	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes[lower-alpha 2]	Spin-off short film of Confessional	[51]
Mangatyanan	2009	Yes	Yes[lower-alpha 1]	Yes[lower-alpha 1]		Yes[lower-alpha 2]	Also known as The Blood Trail	[52]
Senior Year	2010	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Also sound designer	[53]
Faculty	2010	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Short film Also sound designer	[54]
Emir	2010			Yes				[55]
Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria	2010					Yes		[56]
Shake, Rattle and Roll 12	2010	Yes				Yes	Segment: "Punerarya"	[4]
Niño	2011					Yes		[57]
Aswang	2011	Yes	Yes			Yes		[17]
Shake, Rattle & Roll 13	2011	Yes	Yes			Yes	Segment: "Parola"	[4]
Eksena sa Gubat	2011	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Short film Spin-off for Sana Dati	[58]
Sun Dance	2012	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Short film	[59]
Agusan Marsh Diaries	2012	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Documentary film Also sound designer	[60]
Aparisyon	2012			Yes			Edited with Vincent Sandoval	[61]
The Healing	2012			Yes		Yes		[62]
Shake, Rattle and Roll Fourteen: The Invasion	2012					Yes	Composed with Carmina Cuya and Von de Guzman	[63]
Sana Dati	2013	Yes	Yes[lower-alpha 1]	Yes[lower-alpha 1]	Yes	Yes[lower-alpha 2]	Also known as If Only Produced with Jose Mari Abacan and Daphne Chiu	[64]
Pagpag: Siyam na Buhay	2013			Yes				[65]
Shake, Rattle & Roll XV	2015	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Segment: "Ulam" Written with Zig Marasigan; edited with Ben Tolentino	[66]
Heneral Luna	2015	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes		[67]
Buy Now, Die Later	2015					Yes		[68]
Angelito	2017	Yes					Short film	[69]
I'm Drunk, I Love You	2017					Yes		[70]
Bliss	2017	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes		[71]
Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral	2018	Yes	Yes					[72]
Write About Love	2019					Yes		[73]
Darna	TBD	Yes					Postponed indefinitely	[33]

Awards and nominations

See also

• Cinema of the Philippines

Notes

References

External links

• Media related to Jerrold Tarog at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Jerrold Tarog at IMDb
• Jerrold Tarog at AllMovie