Michael Carandang:
Proud Pinoy in American TV
 |
| On the biggest struggles of young Filipinos growing up abroad: “It’s finding your own identity and being proud of your heritage, and it’s hard because all you want is for people to like you,” says Michael Carandang. |
Pinoys were beaming with pride when the gorgeous designs of
Dubai-based Filipino designer Michael Cinco were featured in a challenge in
Cycle 16 of America’s Next Top Model (AMTM). Soon after, LA-based Pinoy designer
Oliver Tolentino, retail giant Bench, and locally based Francis Libiran were
also featured on the hit reality show.
The very man responsible for introducing Filipino talent to
the world via Tyra Banks’ model search is an Emmy Award-winning Pinoy producer
who was once an OJT in the now-defunct noontime show MTB.
Here are ten things you should know about Michael Carandang:
1. He got rejected
when he initially proposed to feature the designs of Michael Cinco on ANTM, but
just had to keep trying until the concept was right for Filipino talent.
“If I’m going to pitch a Filipino designer then it better be
an outstanding designer,” Mike says. He started his post as a producer on Cycle
15 of ANTM (taking one step down from his show producer position to associate
producer because “It was the only thing open and I wanted that job”) and when
he pitched Cinco’s designs, the group said it looked good but it was not fit
for the show.and Oying Carandang, holding the Emmy Award I gave them.”
“You don’t give up at the first no; as a producer, you have
to think of other ways,” he shares. Until Cycle 16 came and a photo shoot at a
dumpsite was lined up. The production was worried that no designer would lend
their clothes for fear of smelling, staining, and getting destroyed, and that’s
when Mike said, “I bet you I can get somebody who can do couture and
eco-friendly or whatever we want to do for the show.” Cinco went on to do the
highly anticipated finale show of the 17th Cycle for the ANTM All-Stars.
2. Mike’s first
experience of production was when he was an OJT for noontime show MTB, then he
went on to work his way up the ranks from production assistant to producer at
The Jerry Springer Show.
His family did not have TFC (it was too expensive) but they
got to watch local shows like MTB and ASAP by renting VHS tapes at the Filipino
store. He came home specifically to experience TV production in Manila, having taken up Telecommunications at Indiana University. When he went back to the US, he sent his
resume to The Jerry Springer show (“I would skip school to watch Jerry!”) and
in a short span of time went from entry level to producing a whole episode. He
says he wasn’t always good in telling stories and speaking publicly, but it was
in The Jerry Springer Show that he “learned how to communicate and how to
listen.” The most bizarre story they featured? “One woman was married and
pregnant, and her husband was sleeping with her mother, and was also sleeping
with the sister. The sister had a boyfriend and was pregnant and they didn’t
know who the father is. Crazy family story!” He clarifies that none of the
stories are made up, they are all real.
Mike was 13 when his family moved from Tanauan, Batangas to Indiana, USA.
He says that back then his only impression of America
was what he saw on TV, which for him looked like a Malibu paradise 3. On the biggest struggles of young Filipinos growing up abroad: “It’s
finding your own identity and being proud of your heritage, and it’s hard
because all you want is for people to like you.
where everybody was beautiful and friendly. “You get there
and you forget that they don’t look like you, you think that they’re going to
embrace you, they’ll welcome you but they don’t know how to react to you
because you’re completely different from them,” he recalls.
He says that he would never admit it at that time, but now
he openly shares, “I hated the fact that I wasn’t white, I grew up in a
neighborhood where everyone was white. I was treated differently.” He would
attend events of the Filipino community but would never really socialize with
them, and when out in public places he would rather stand with a group of
Americans rather than with a group of Asians because he “didn’t want to stand
out that way.” He wanted to fit in but at the same time understand what being
Filipino means, and says, “I realized you shouldn’t care what other people
think.”
So when was the turning point that he became proud to be
Pinoy? “You know what helped me was coming out. I felt what it feels to be
loved for who I am.”
4. His advice to
those who want to come out about being gay: “Don’t come out just to come out. I
came out when I was ready and because I had a purpose, because I felt so
complete and happy.”
As soon as he had his first relationship, he decided to tell
his family he was gay. He was 17 then. His initial fear was that the only image
of gays when he was growing up was that of the parlorista, and he was sure he
didn’t want to dress up as a girl. He says that younger Pinoys now are lucky
because they have the likes of Boy Abunda and Vice Ganda to look up to, which
he didn’t have when he was growing up. He also had this fear that he would live
to meet other people’s expectations of him, that he would marry a woman, have
kids, but eventually cheat on his wife… with a man. He did not want that. He
dated girls but never had any serious girlfriend. When he had his first
boyfriend, he says, “It made my future positive, I was ecstatic, I can have a
full life!”
Mike says that you need to be strong enough and prepared to
“come out,” because you will need to face all the obstacles that may come your
way. “The one thing you cannot have is shame. For me, to come out and for my
family to accept me for who I am, hindi pwedeng may kahit isang bahid ng
kahihiyan,” he opens up. He says that if the people that surround you love you,
they will eventually learn to accept it and be happy for you because you are
happy. “If you live in the closet and you live in fear of everyone, you’re only
doing injustice to yourself.”
5. Mike Carandang in
numbers:
3.08: weight in kilograms that their Emmy award weighs. Mike
and his The Tyra Show colleagues won the 2008 to 2009 Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Talk Show. “I felt that all the hard work, late nights in the
office, and missed family events paid off.”
168: hours it takes to prepare for one episode of The Tyra
Show. “And I need every minute of it.”
5: number of magazines in a collection he recently started:
signed copies of covers that he values.
12: times he has been home to the Philippines
since he moved to the US
in 1993.
18: hours of television he watches when he has no work and
is just home.
6. People have told
Mike that he is an inspiration and that his family must be so proud, but the
real hero for him is his brother Ace, the soldier.
Mike is the eldest of three siblings, his sister Michelle is
a nurse and his brother Aurelio Jr. a Purple Heart hero. His brother went
through difficult times in his life and “needed something to save him,” which
was when he signed up for the military. “Obviously, we never expected that we
were going to war,” he says of probably the toughest time his family had to go
through. He remembers how the war brought his family closer together: praying
every night, that feeling of not knowing when he was going to call, and being
clueless of what was happening in Iraq. Ace was shot in his behind,
but luckily he came home safe. “What’s really inspirational is what he’s done
with his life. I’ve never reached the bottom, and he has. And he lived through
that and survived. He’s a better person now, he’s a father and husband, and
he’s the pride of our family.”
7. His secret to
getting the job you want: “You have to show up. They have to fall in love with
you.”
When I asked Mike what it is in his resume that gets him
hired all the time, he humbly but assertively says, “It wasn’t the resume, it
was my interview.” He doesn’t believe in phone interviews because he says that
you have to sell your personality to the employer so that they would want to
work with you. For The Tyra Show job, he flew himself to LA because as he says,
“why would they fly me if they have thousands of aspiring producers in LA?” And
for America’s Next Top
Model, he also flew himself to New
York just to do the interview. “The guy they were
interviewing before me was the one they were going to hire,” he shares about
his supposed five-minute interview that turned into 45 minutes. “I ended up
getting the job because I showed up.”
8. On Tyra, Naomi,
Andre, Nigel, and the big ANTM rumble:
Tyra Banks: “Its unfortunate that when you are a woman in
power, things that you demand or things you expect out of people become a
bitchy thing or become negative.” He says Tyra is genuinely nice, appreciates
drive and passion, and once gave Mike a men’s jewelry case that was even
personalized with his name.
Andre Leon Talley: “Andre is funny! He’s larger than life.
He is full of stories. He loves fashion, he loves beauty, and always says ‘the
beauty of this, the beauty of that.’”
Nigel Barker: “Aside from being a good photographer, he’s a
really good family man. When he’s with his wife and kids he becomes the real
Nigel.”
On the recent ANTM shocker where Barker, along with art
director Jay Manuel and runway coach Jay Alexander were let go by the 18-season
show: “There would be a need at some point to make the show fresh for the
viewers in order for the show to keep going. One way is to bring in new people
and revamp the format of the show.”
9. He believes that
the Filipino TV viewing audience needs more programs like The Bottomline and
that the news ought to be presented in a more empowering way, rather than the
shocking, controversial manner it is presented in now.
“The media is also responsible for why the rest of the
country feels handicapped when it comes to getting out of poverty, they feel
afraid of their own, with so many crimes happening,” he shares. He says that if
there is one thing he has learned from working in media, is that whether it is
negative or positive, it is the action of the news you put out that people
remember. If he were to produce a news program, he would present it from the
point of view of justice or of the victim, so that it build empathy and makes
the viewer feel that there is something being done to stop the crimes. “Leave
people with something they can hold on to that’s going to help them deal with
that situation and be better,” he points out.
He holds programs like Boy Abunda’s The Bottomline in high
regard for putting both celebrities and non-celebrities into the spotlight and
giving inspiration or something that will start a conversation.
10. Once he feels he
has learned all he could learn in a job is when he decides to move on to the
next challenge.
He plans to stay in Manila
until around October (his longest stay ever since he migrated) because he felt
that it was time to go for his dream. While others aspire to work in production
abroad, he says, “I wanted to fulfill a dream and that is to come home.” He
feels that for 10 years, he has produced for mainstream TV to connect to being
Filipino, trying to put Filipinos in programs there. “But in my heart I just
wanted to work here and to learn here,” he reveals. He did not resign from his
producer position at ANTM, instead he said he was not available for Cycle 19.
“Every job you have to have a purpose. And I feel like for now, I’ve lived my
purpose there.”
* * *
Mike is home because he is working on the Basco Balikbayan
Project (a documentary following the accomplished Basco family’s return home),
his RSVP talk show (to be aired on GMA Pinoy TV), and the 25 Years of Bench
documentary. “I always believe the reason I am where I am now is I always come
into a job wanting to learn,” the 32-year-old producer shares. While most dream
of making the country proud in the international scene, Mike is going the other
way around, with dreams of making the country proud by working here. Winning an
Oscar is one of his biggest dreams. “If ever I will have a project to be
recognized, I want it to be about the Philippines. I don’t know what it
is yet, but I’m sure I will find that here.”
