Paul David Soriano(; born October 17, 1981) is an American-born

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

commercial and film director, producer.

Personal life

Soriano was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His father is director and pastor Jeric Soriano, the son of actor

Nestor de Villa Gines Francisco Soriano (July 6, 1928 – February 21, 2004), also known as Nestor de Villa, was a Filipino actor frequently cast in musical films. He was a gifted dancer, often paired with frequent on-screen partner Nida Blanca in both mov ...

. At the age of 8, Soriano moved to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and attended high school at

International School Manila International School Manila ( abbreviation: ISM) is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian international school located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1920 as the American School by a group of American and Br ...

, before moving back to the United States to attend

De Anza College De Anza College is a public community college in Cupertino, California. It is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which also administers Foothill College in nearby Los Altos Hills, California. The college is named after the ...

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...

and

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

, where he studied filmmaking. He then returned to Manila after college. Soriano married his long-time girlfriend

Toni Gonzaga Celestine Cruz Gonzaga-Soriano (; born January 20, 1984), better known as Toni Gonzaga, is a Filipino singer, host, actress, producer, vlogger and entrepreneur. She is the former lead host of long-running reality show, ''Pinoy Big Brother''. To ...

on June 12, 2015 in Gonzaga's hometown,

Taytay, Rizal Taytay, officially the Municipality of Taytay ( tgl, Bayan ng Taytay; ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. It is also known as the Garments Capital of the Philippines. Most occupation of the residents are relat ...

. Gonzaga gave birth to their first child, Severiano Elliott, on September 30, 2016.

Career

Soriano is known for directing ''A Journey Home'' (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

), ''

Thelma Thelma is a female given name. It was popularized by Victorian writer Marie Corelli who gave the name to the title character of her 1887 novel ''Thelma (novel), Thelma''. It may be related to a Greek word meaning "will, volition" see ''thelema''). ...

'' (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

), ''

Kid Kulafu ''Kid Kulafu'' is a 2015 Filipino biographical sports drama film produced and released by Star Cinema together with Ten17P owned by the film's director Paul Soriano. The film dramatizes the life of the boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao during his ...

'' (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

), and ''

Dukot ''Dukot'' () is a 2016 Filipino suspense thriller film directed by Paul Soriano. It stars Enrique Gil, Ricky Davao, Shaina Magdayao, Bing Pimintel and Christopher de Leon. The film is executive produced by Charo Santos-Concio and Malou Santos. ...

'' (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

). In 2012, Soriano won Best Director and Best Screenplay at the FAP Awards for ''Thelma''. That same year, ''Thelma'' won Digital Movie of the Year, as well as Digital Movie Director of the Year and Digital Movie Original Screenplay of the Year with Froilan Medina, at the 28th PMPC Star Awards for Movies. In 2022, Soriano was named Presidential Advisor on Creative Communications to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Filmography

As actor

Under TEN17P

TEN17P is Soriano's film production company that believes in creating films that are both director and story driven. Since its establishment, TEN17P has produced critically acclaimed and ground breaking films – that can be shown all over the world. Theatrical Feature Films

Notes

References

External links

* 1981 births De Anza College alumni Filipino film directors Living people Santa Clara University alumni {{Philippines-film-bio-stub