Si Dingdong Dantes ang unang featured artist sa "bookazine" na YES! Life Stories ng Summit Books. Ito ay mini-biography at pictorial essay na nakapaloob sa isang libro-cum-magazine. To launch the project, nagpatawag ng pocket presscon ang Summit para sa aktor noong Monday, August 24, sa Belissimo Ristorante sa Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

Bukod kay Dingdong, humarap din sa entertainment press ang editor ng YES! Life Stories na si Ms. Jo-Ann Maglipon. Ipinaliwanag ni Ms. Maglipon kung bakit si Dingdong ang napili nila bilang kauna-unahang subject sa kanilang "bookazine."

"Dingdong is our choice both for rational and instinctive reasons," simula niya. "Rationally, he is very big. He is one of the top TV and screen idols. He has a huge future ahead of him. He's completely bankable. There's excitement around him that others do not generate. That's the rational side.

"On the instinctive side, I would have to say that I honestly believe this is a good person. And when I look at some of the stars we cover, it strikes me that it is important to choose somebody who can actually be a role model. Because we must have had enough with all the pretty faces and all the unsubstantial images and creatures that we have now.

"For one, I thought, let's do something pro-active with our power to create images. Why not support the ones who actually deserve that image and that popularity and that fame, because they've made something of themselves, because they've made themselves of some value to persons other than themselves," says editor Ms. Jo-Ann Maglipon about why she  picked Dingdong Dantes (in photo) as the first featured artist of YES! Life Stories.

May iba pa bang mga artista na posibleng sumunod mai-feature sa YES! Life Stories pagkatapos ni Dingdong?          

"To be honest, this is an experiment," sagot ni Ms. Maglipon. "This bookazine is an experiment by Summit Books. We don't know if we will proceed with another person, another title. We hope we will. Let's see how this is received by the public. After all, it took a lot of energy, a lot of time, and we needed a great deal of cooperation from the star.

"This bookazine would not have been possible if Dingdong did not put in the hours, the days, and the weeks that he did for the shoot and for the interviews. There were many one-on-one interviews with the writer, Andrew Paredes, and the shoot production alone was very, very difficult. They went to the ranch, they went to Ateneo, everywhere... And many, many times when we had to produce Leonidas and Superman costumes, Dingdong was the one that provided these.

"If Dingdong had not cooperated as much as he did and if his manager, Perry [Lansigan], had not been as nice as he was, I don't think we could have produced it. It's just too much. But now we know, it's now worth the entire 'too much.'"

So, masasabing hands-on si Dingdong sa bookazine niya?

"Yes! ...Nagpundar si Dingdong dito ng oras, energy, at imagination. Napakaraming concept dito na galing sa kanya, gaya ng PSG [Presidential Security Group], kanyang concept yun."

What about the Jesus Christ concept na tila may mga nagkukuwestiyon dito?

"Si Dingdong kasi, napag-alaman namin, hindi naman sa pagbubuhat ng bangko niya, meron siyang parang almost messianic need to help and make things better and make things change. Nakita namin, even his ideal, his role models, are images of those who had the courage to change the world. That would include Jesus Christ. It also includes Superman, it also includes King Leonidas who went up against the Persian Army. So, kung titingnan mo, sa sarili niyang buhay, meron siyang imahinasyon. 

"Alam niya kung sino yung mga karapat-dapat tularan o panaginipan, at yun ang ibinigay niya sa amin. I have to admit that if he had not inputted lahat ng mga naglalaro sa isip niya, baka hindi namin naisip. Paano namin maiisip na magki-King Leonidas siya or magdyi-Jesus Christ?" paliwanag ni Ms. Maglipon.

Tinanong din namin si Ms. Maglipon kung kumusta naman ang sales ng first venture nila sa paggawa ng bookazine?