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April 20, 2004: "On the set with Mark Meily and Refresh Mineral Water"

Prior to winning The Best Director award in the 2003 Metro Manila Film Festival for “Crying ladies,” Mark Meily had been doing TV Commercials for 12 years. Although this dramatic shift rewarded him a major citation and he’s about to finish writing a story for a second full length film, “Penintensiya Republic,” his passion for directing TV commercials has not waned a bit.

On the set of his latest pet project, the new TVC of Refresh Mineral Water, Meily was beaming with excitement and sparkling with wit. According to him, directing for Refresh Mineral Water -- the mineral water packaged in an innovative cup -- was a fun experience. “ We were all in this casual atmosphere and there was no tension at all. It was work, yes, but there was laughter all around and the cast was all so full of energy.”

The TVC features three teen boys in their school uniforms, trying to look cool in order to win points with the girls. One boy’s little brother tags along and in his “F4” hair and hip getup, the kid takes out a cup of Refresh Mineral Water from his lunch box, pulls out a straw and sips from the cup. Three high school ”babes” sashay by and make a beeline for the little boy, with their own cups of Refresh Mineral Water. “We want to tell everybody that Refresh is this new, invigorating, cool brand of water…” remarks Meily. “which is why we want to show that drinking mineral water from a cup can make you look so “in” and cool.” The last scene shows the three older boys emulating the younger one complete with funky wear and a cup of Refresh in their hands.

“The concept is refreshing. It was a two day shoot and I really enjoyed working with kid talents,” Meily related. “They say the most difficult to work with are children, animals and water. But the talents for Refresh were very cooperative, and the setting brought back memories of my school days in U.S.T.”

Meily continued, “as a subject to be captured on video, water is technically hard to control. But when it’s pure, and not bubbly or airy, then it becomes something really exciting to work on.”

Asked where he gets all his witty ideas when conceptualizing for a new project, the dynamic director, in between sips of Refresh Mineral Water, ends with the quip: “the greatest ideas that pop into my mind is when I’m shaving!”