Docu filmmaker Marnie Manicad spearheads show on every Filipino’s foremost dream

A MOM to two kids, the director is not daunted by challenges.

Quick on the heels of the National Geographic Channel’s (NGC) documentary “Inside Malacañang,” filmmaker Marnie Manicad embarks on a new project—a weekly program dubbed “Home Base” which debuts April 28 on GMA News TV.

Before that, she came up with a motoring show entitled “Turbo Zone,” also on GMA News TV. This time she will focus on every Filipino’s dream of home ownership.

“Our thrust is ‘building homes, changing lives,’” she pointed out. “We advocate sustainable community building. We are not just building houses, but homes.”

“Home Base,” she explained, will present a “step-by-step guide to acquiring, constructing and maintaining a home for Filipino families here and abroad.”

Hosted by interior designer/model Isabel Roces, the show promises to tackle a wide range of real-estate issues. “We will feature high-end, middle-class, even Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity homes,” Manicad said.

The show has linked up with leading publications and government agencies to provide the most relevant information to the public.

“We are working with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and Pag-ibig Fund, under Vice President Jejomar Binay’s Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).”

Directs host Isabel Roces on the set of “Home Base.”

She described the show as a “complete guide that will not only present building ideas, but will also provide practical tips on maintaining and beautifying homes.”

Further, the show will offer valuable advice to help potential buyers avoid fly-by-night developers and secure loans successfully from banks.

Directing and producing the show has been an eye-opener for Manicad, making her a better homeowner in real life. “I now know the specifics and other important details that can guide me through the entire process of home ownership.”

In spite of her full schedule, she made room for “Home Base” because she felt passionately about its purpose.

Information is power, she noted. “The more information we give to viewers, the more we help them.”

Apart from “Home Base” and “Turbo Zone,” she is also working on a short docu for NGC. “In the works are three more long docus for NGC and a new movie, too.”

DIRECTING the show is an eye-opener for Manicad, making her a better homeowner in real life.

Her co-director is Cesar Apolinario, GMA 7 fellow reporter of Marnie’s husband, Jiggy Manicad. She is currently putting the finishing touches on her first full-length feature film, “Dance of the Steel Bars.”

The movie is top-billed by local actors Dingdong Dantes and Joey Paras and Hollywood star Patrick Bergin, and tells the story of Cebu’s dancing inmates.

“The film is on its final stages, and producers are scouting for distributors abroad,” she related.

On top of all these media projects, she is also mother to two kids, Sam and Sabina. “I used to shy away from challenges,” said Manicad. But now I have them for breakfast!”

Photos by JR and Arianne Rodriguez