Humor and wit. These are two ingredients that skyrocketed Facebook user Mark “Macoy” Averilla to fame.
The social media influencer who hails from Imus, Cavite was able to get a huge following online thanks to his videos that perfectly captured Filipino humor.
Averilla started creating Tagalog-dubbed versions of Hollywood films around Christmas season last year, and only a few months after posting his first video, he got additional thousands on his Facebook fan page.
At one point in his life, Averilla shared with The Filipino Times Online that he was also one of thousands countrymen who chose to toil hard in unknown land to seek greener pastures.
Becoming an OFW at early 20s
Averilla studied Communication Arts in Letran. Upon graduating, Averilla dreamed of working as a news anchor for a TV network in the Philippines. However, the stars did not align for the aspiring broadcast journalist. It was also the reason why he decided to seek other career opportunities.
“Dream ko talagang makapagtrabaho noon sa mga TV networks. Kaso hindi nga lang ako pinalad na makapagtrabaho sa mga ganon kasi nag-start ako as an editorial assistant and writer for a publishing company,” he told TFT.
A few years after graduation, he went to the Middle East hoping to advance his career. “Doon sa Middle East, nag-work ako doon for six months. 23 years old ako nung pumunta doon. Nag-work lang ako saglit sa isang ad agency at saka sa isang IT company,” he said.
Averilla said that going abroad was not a walk in the park. He came here with almost empty pocket, and no assurance if he would even land a job.
Because of the many hardships that he encountered in the Middle East, his stay only lasted for six months. Then he decided to go back home.
“Medyo hindi naging aligned yung mga desicions ko nung pumunta ako ng Middle East. So, naisip ko na mas mabuting bumalik na lang ako ng Pilipinas kasi mas nararamdaman ko na andon ‘yung opportunities.
“And to think na bata-bata pa naman ako, parang inisip ko na wala namang mawawala kung babalik ako ng Pilipinas. Of course, iba ‘yung range ng sweldo pero kahit hindi naman ganon kalaki ‘yung sweldo sa Pilipinas, I believe eventually darating ka naman sa point na ma-e-earn mo rin ‘yung same amount tulad sa Middle East,” he shared.
Life anew in the Philippines
The social media influencer told TFT that settling back home again didn’t come easy for him. He shared: “Pagkabalik ko ng Pilipinas, nagtrabaho muna ako sa isang advertising agency as a senior accounts manager. I handled brands for a while.”
Then, he started to turn his passion in creating videos into hilarious pastime. He started posting videos last November, because he wanted to create something relevant and relatable for Filipinos for the Christmas season. But to his surprise, the number of his Facebook followers boomed into thousands after just four months.
The movies “The Devil Wears Prada”, starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Emily Blunt, and “Mean Girls”, starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried, became the two films that helped him gain many followers. His dubbed version of these movies have now collectively gained millions of views and thousands of reactions online.
One of the lines that made a mark to Averilla’s viewers, was when he changed Rachel McAdams’ famous line from “Mean Girls” which goes, “So you agree? You think you are really pretty?” with “Ganda ka?”
Aside from those two films, he has also created his own version of “White Chicks” and the locally produced film, “Four Sisters and a Wedding”.
Thanks to new-found fame on Facebook, local celebrities like Aiko Melendez and Wendell Ramos have also noticed his works.
Averilla said that he did not expect that his videos would garner millions of views, and thousand of reactions and shares on Facebook because he only initially intended to make people laugh and be happy.
Now, Averilla said that he is thankful for the positive feedback that he is getting, especially from OFWs from different parts of the world who say that his works help them cope with homesickness and the sadness that comes with living alone in a foreign land.
“Sa mga OFWs na patuloy na nanonood ng videos ko, I am happy kasi may mga nag-me-message sa akin na mga taga-UAE na pinapanood daw nila ‘yung mga videos ko tuwing Friday or tuwing day off. Sobrang thank you sa mga OFWs na nanonoos ng videos ko. I know sobrang malungkot at grabe ‘yung sakripisyo na ginagawa niyo para sa inyong mga pamilya, pero I am happy na kahit papaano, napapawi ng mga videos ko ‘yung kalungkutan ninyo,” he said.
