How do you make a film intimate and authentic? This was our challenge when we were tasked to produce a documentary about a Philippine tycoon. John Gokongwei Jr has passed, so we would have to interview his family and friends closest to him and are involved in the business.

My decades of business journalism have taught me how straightforward, risk-averse, fact-based business people are when they are in front of a camera, in particular, news camera. In other words, bland.

Film director Troy Bernardo immediately picked this up when he reviewed videos of our subject, the late John Gokongwei Jr, and of those around him. He pored over all available video interviews of our interviewees and noted their tendencies and mannerisms with eagle eyes.

One time, Troy called me to show how he planned to get around that obstacle: Tight shots. Dramatic lights. Moving music.

We showed this template to the Gokongwei family before filming. “Ew, we’re not pretty!” said the reluctant Lisa Cheng. We’ll take care of it, we assured her and her siblings.

Sharing here some behind-the-scenes during that day-long filming. Notice how the lights were positioned. Notice how zoomed in on the faces the cameras were. Notice how Gokongwei siblings Lance, Robina, and Lisa were made to sit on a staircase so they would lean in, instead of defaulting into their usual business mood in an office chair.

If you have watched the biofilm — “A Boy, A Bicycle, A Legacy: Remembering John Gokongwei” on YouTube — you’ll know how these filming styles and careful positioning of the interviewees contributed to the authenticity oozing all over the film.

Enjoy watching!