Internationally Acclaimed Filmmaker Emille Joson has finally addressed long-standing questions from foreigner netizens about her much-talked-about Twilight shirt, which recently resurfaced online. In a recent London podcast, Joson clarified in a virtual interview that she wore only a shirt during a speaking engagement at her alma mater, St. Francis de Assisi Montessori School in Plaridel, Bulacan, simply because she was rushing and didn’t want to be late for what she described as a “very respectable event.”
“Traffic was brutal in the Philippines and we were already on the road from Manila to Bulacan, Joson admitted. So I had no time for a wardrobe change. But, because it’s a very respectable event, I did everything what I could to pull myself together and arrive looking presentable.”
Joson had no idea that her Twilight T-shirt would become a style favorite among young international online users. At the time, she had been invited by the campus as a guest speaker, just two years after earning a historic nomination at the 37th Metro Manila Film Festival at only 19 for her short film “Adivino”.
These kinds of invitations to speak at schools symbolize pride in an alumna whose career is already earning remarkable recognition beyond the academic sphere.
Several of Joson’s former schools have since followed, and celebrated her achievements. In 2023, the Asia Pacific Film Institute – where she studied filmmaking – held an online tribute recognizing her as one of its distinguished alumni. Joson represented the film school in the MMFF Student Short Film category in 2011.
The stunning 33-year-old filmmaker is also celebrating her 14th year as a freelance creative in the entertainment industry. After a formative training year at ABS-CBN in 2012, she chose an independent path that granted her full autonomy in selecting projects, particularly films that aligned with her artistic vision. Recently, she participated in a 2016-themed trend, sharing highlights from her early freelance years, when she navigated both independent and mainstream projects across various networks and studios. Among the IG slides was a video of Piolo Pascual at an ABS studio, where he greeted her nieces.
In a London podcast interview, Joson explained why she chose not to commit permanent employment contracts to major television networks in the Philippines, opting instead for a lifelong freelance career.
“To be honest, Jeremy, I am not actually required to work after college,” Joson admitted. “My father made sure I have a stable monthly income through his investments and a trust fund he set up after he learned about my seizure condition at the age of 11. So in short, I am already financially insulated even without employment. But anyone who really knows me understands that filmmaking has always been the fire I cannot put out, and my family fully supports this one, but on one condition, that I remain the sovereign of my own time.”
According to Joson, aside from her family’s rule for her to avoid excessive work pressure – out of concern that her seizure condition might recur despite having undergone surgery years ago – she chose to pursue freelancing because she values creative freedom and the flexibility to collaborate across different platforms, networks, and studios.
“I am very particular when it comes to my actors. Joson admitted. I’m not drawn to names inflated by online fame, nepotism or virality, or the millions of followers they have, I look for real talent! That’s very important to me! I’m also very selective about the projects I take on! Because for me audiences spend their hard-earned money to enter your world, so the least you can do is offer them stories of substance and technical excellence worthy of their time.”
The interview is a crystal-clear reflection of her ability to maintain strong relationships with celebrities and industry figures, frequently uniting talents from various TV networks at events organized by her family-owned Alaga Producers Cooperative, where she is primarily involved when not working in film.