JANUARY 28, 2003
Today is my dad's birthday.
His name was Salvador "Buddy" Tan.
He would have been 58 today.
My dad is the proverbial tough act to follow.
When he was only 28 years old, he became the general manager of an entire television network. He was part of that Golden Age of Philippine Television, although a lot of people only see it as the Martial Law years. At one point or another, he got to work with the great actors and actresses of his time. He even discovered a whole lot of them. He was also the one who brought in Sesame Street to Philippine television. I guess, in a way, he became influencial in teaching a whole generation their A,B,Cs.
When he left the network, he set-up his own business and become a "blocktimer". He'd buy TV shows from abroad and sell them to the local networks. So, he was the one who brought in Twilight Zone, Marcoss, Voltron, Moonlighting, Transformers, Dangard Ace, the Oscars, Takeshi Castle, and other shows too numerous to mention. He made us laugh, cry, swoon, and scream.
It was also his bright idea to translate foreign shows in Filipino. People thought it was a such crazy idea to see Ernie and Bert talking in Tagalog. He even had the police show KOJAK translated and people laughed. Years later, "Tagalized" shows like MARIMAR would be all the rave.
My dad later started the first UHF TV station SBN-21. People thought he was crazy because majority of Pinoys didn't know that the UHF band existed. So, he sold them antennas along with instructions on how to tune-in to Channel 21. Years later, Studio23 and MTV 41 would be lording it over the UHF band.
Which makes me wonder if I should allow myself moments of "going crazy" and just go for it! Of course, it might also take a couple of years before "crazy ideas" take flight and make a profit.
My dad always wanted me to help in the family business, but I wasn't too keen on running a TV station. I wanted to do comic books!
(Great... huh?)
I just thought there was nothing "creative" to do in there and it was just all administrative stuff. I guess, I wasn't "creative" enough to realize what I could do in there.
So, now I work in advertising and keep meeting people who worked with my dad. They'd tell me how they started working with him when they were just newbies and how they learned so much from him. I'm amazed that they're now all in key positions in advertising and broadcasting and how my dad ended up with this little TV station in Ortigas. But that's what he wanted. That was his dream and he just kept running after it til the very end.
God bless my dad. He's now on-air, up there. :)
May perpetual light shine upon him.
Happy birthday, dad.
It's funny how life turns out-
The odds of faith in the face of doubt.
Camera One closes in,
the soundtrack starts,
the scene begins-
You're playing you now...
Take a bow;
take a bow.
--THE JOSH JOPLIN GROUP
Today is my dad's birthday.
His name was Salvador "Buddy" Tan.
He would have been 58 today.
My dad is the proverbial tough act to follow.
When he was only 28 years old, he became the general manager of an entire television network. He was part of that Golden Age of Philippine Television, although a lot of people only see it as the Martial Law years. At one point or another, he got to work with the great actors and actresses of his time. He even discovered a whole lot of them. He was also the one who brought in Sesame Street to Philippine television. I guess, in a way, he became influencial in teaching a whole generation their A,B,Cs.
When he left the network, he set-up his own business and become a "blocktimer". He'd buy TV shows from abroad and sell them to the local networks. So, he was the one who brought in Twilight Zone, Marcoss, Voltron, Moonlighting, Transformers, Dangard Ace, the Oscars, Takeshi Castle, and other shows too numerous to mention. He made us laugh, cry, swoon, and scream.
It was also his bright idea to translate foreign shows in Filipino. People thought it was a such crazy idea to see Ernie and Bert talking in Tagalog. He even had the police show KOJAK translated and people laughed. Years later, "Tagalized" shows like MARIMAR would be all the rave.
My dad later started the first UHF TV station SBN-21. People thought he was crazy because majority of Pinoys didn't know that the UHF band existed. So, he sold them antennas along with instructions on how to tune-in to Channel 21. Years later, Studio23 and MTV 41 would be lording it over the UHF band.
Which makes me wonder if I should allow myself moments of "going crazy" and just go for it! Of course, it might also take a couple of years before "crazy ideas" take flight and make a profit.
My dad always wanted me to help in the family business, but I wasn't too keen on running a TV station. I wanted to do comic books!
(Great... huh?)
I just thought there was nothing "creative" to do in there and it was just all administrative stuff. I guess, I wasn't "creative" enough to realize what I could do in there.
So, now I work in advertising and keep meeting people who worked with my dad. They'd tell me how they started working with him when they were just newbies and how they learned so much from him. I'm amazed that they're now all in key positions in advertising and broadcasting and how my dad ended up with this little TV station in Ortigas. But that's what he wanted. That was his dream and he just kept running after it til the very end.
God bless my dad. He's now on-air, up there. :)
May perpetual light shine upon him.
Happy birthday, dad.
It's funny how life turns out-
The odds of faith in the face of doubt.
Camera One closes in,
the soundtrack starts,
the scene begins-
You're playing you now...
Take a bow;
take a bow.
--THE JOSH JOPLIN GROUP