R.I.P.
Jose Mari Hontiveros Avellana
1941-2011
Three-day wake at
Arlington Memorial Chapel F, Araneta Avenue, Quezon City
June 27-29, 2011 (Starts at 8pm June 27, 2011)
Interment is at
Sacred Heart Parish, Makati City
June 30, 2011
Mr. Avellana passed away June 26, 2011. Cause of death is listed as splenic artery aneurysm.
I wrote a very short review of Rep's 2009 staging of "Portrait of an Artist as Filipino," which Mr. Avellana directed. I had a chance to have one real-life conversation with Mr. Avellana back in 2009 at the Philstage Gawad Buhay! awarding ceremonies after he had won the 2008 Philstage Gawad Buhay! for Outstanding Male Lead Performance in a Play for Repertory Philippines’ "Tuesdays With Morrie." He shook my hand and was very gracious, accommodating and supportive. We exchanged a few emails after that night.
Thank you and farewell, Mr. Avellana.
Profile below is lifted from http://www.repertory.ph/actor.asp?actorid=3
(His IMDB profile is here.)
Affiliations
Barangay Theatre Guild: Stage Director/Actor
Barasoain Community Theatre: Director
Credits
Repertory Philippines:
(actor) Belcher's Luck / St. Joan / Diary of Anne Frank / Rashomon / Plaza Suite / Loot / Rosencrantz and Guildernstern / Equus / Woman in Black / Tuesdays with Morrie
(director) Portrait of an Artist as Filipino
Barangay Theatre Guild:
Portrait of An Artist / Hamlet / The Boor / Marriage Proposal / Death Of A Salesman / The Vigil / Long Day's Journey Into Night / Camino Real /
Teatro Pilipino:
Haring Edipo / Cyrano ng Bergerac
A film director, actor, drama coach, production designer, screenplay writer, broadcaster, research and communications man. His father is the late National Artist for Film and Theatre, Lamberto V. Avellana. His mother, is National Artist for Theater, Daisy Hontiveros Avellana.
His first job was as an announcer with DZFM radio in the early part of 1960, while still in college. Later, in 1962, and having graduated, he became the first TV director for PBS Channel 4.
Within the next year, his uncle put up an advertising agency, Avellana and Associates, and recruited him to work for the company. Starting out as an Account Executive, he was later promoted as Director of the Radio-TV Section.
Because the call of the theatre and dramatics was too compelling to disregard, Avellana made sure he had time for stage-work. He appeared in a number of hit plays for Repertory Philippines and Teatro Pilipino and then moved on to become drama coach for San Beda College, bringing home trophies for the school's Drama Guild.
In the 70's, he got involved with ABS-CBN where he directed and wrote several soap operas, drama specials, action thrillers, and musicales. He eventually moved to KBS where he directed "Oh, Rosemarie", and shared directorial tasks with George Rowe in the production of "Sinekulay"' the first-ever series of "movies filmed for local television".
In the 80's, he joined his father in the family business. As Producer-Director for Documentary Incorporated, he was responsible for a number of award-winning documentaries and specialized films. While working for his father, Avellana produced cultural, advocacy, and tourism-oriented films, as well as technical and informational audiovisual presentations for the National Media Production Center and other government agencies.
In between films, Avellana put in time as communications consultant with the Civil Relations Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Later, he signed up as consultant for the Philippine Tourist Association, the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center, and the Department of National Defense.
During the 90's with the demise of his father, Avellana entered the local film industry where he carved a small niche for himself as a actor, writer and director. His initial directorial venture into commercial filmmaking, titled "Kung Mawawala Ka Pa", bagged the Best Film Trophy at the Metro Manila Film Festival of 1993 for Reyna Films. As an actor, Avellana won the Best Supporting Actor award during the Manila Film Festival 2003 for his role in "Operation Balikatan".
Avellana has a written and directed several award winning specialized films, documentaries and short features. He is a Famas and NCC Centennial Awardee because of his direction of "Damong Ligaw". He won Best Screenplay for the same film; the Golden Globe Award for Best Specialized film with "Geothermal Energy Now"; was given an Oscar Special Award for Foreign Soap Operas because of "Salisalising Buhay"; and brought home an Emmy Award for Best Foreign Docu-drama with "The Lenny Villa Story".
Referred to as an Actor's Director, because he can draw out the best in each performer; Avellana's passionate nationalism, his deep sense of history, extensive theatre experience, keen creativity, his background in journalism, photography, broadcasting, and his penchant for research and attention-to-detail bring out the legendary "Avellana Touch" that his father was known for.
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