One thing you may not know about Erik Matti is that he’s a nosy gossip—“the most tsismoso director ever!” he declares. So don’t think he has been hacked if you see him reposting a blind item on Facebook and fishing for the answer.
In the early ‘90s, Matti often visited the house of his long-time creative partner, Dondon Monteverde, and headed straight to the dining room. There, Dondon’s mother, the late Regal Films matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde, held court. On any given day, the place would be a mix of managers, actors, production designers, directors, and members of the press.
Because he was a relative nobody then—a twentysomething script continuity supervisor—Matti remained inconspicuous enough to listen in.
“I would just stay up and no one knew me,” he says in a recent group interview. “I would grab some food, drink with them, and just listen to all their stories about show business.”
A tribute to showbiz
After more than 30 years, Matti, now one of the country’s most respected filmmakers, has seen it all.
And what better way to capture those memories and experiences than with a project dedicated to the industry he loves dearly? Only this time, it focuses not on what people see onscreen, but on the things that keep the machine moving—especially during the days when the industry was less fragmented.
“The showbiz we know now is totally different from how it was. Doing the show brings out a lot of memories, and pays tribute to the industry we once had,” says Matti, who directed the show and co-produced it with Monteverde.
In the HBO Original “Call My Manager,” a local adaptation of the hit French series “Call My Agent!,” Matti puts the talent manager in the spotlight. Each episode has real-life guest stars appear as satirized versions of themselves that plunge Shine Artist Management (SAM) into a dilemma—whether it’s a veteran dealing with an existential crisis or a prized actor caught in an impending PR nightmare.
“The showbiz we know now is totally different from how it was. Doing the show brings out a lot of memories, and pays tribute to the industry we once had,” says Erik Matti
So, the company’s top managers—Andrea (Judy Ann Santos), Matthew (Edu Manzano), and Gabriel (RK Bagatsing)—must pull every trick in the book to satisfy their clients’ absurd whims or save their careers.
“The audiences have always seen the glamour, and they’re like, ‘God, what an easy job you have!’” Manzano says. “They don’t see all the intricacies the managers go through to make us worthy of the producers’ time.”
Managers managing their lives
In the first of eight episodes, we see Janine Gutierrez throw a hissy fit after getting passed over for an international gig for being “on the mature side” (read: old). She could have gotten it had she lowered her asking price—but no, and so it went to her fellow SAM talent Kiray, whom Gutierrez insists looks like her older sister. Now, Kiray finds herself in a quandary of her own: The job pays $150,000, but she needs to get a boob job.
And then there’s former “Child Wonder” Niño Muhlach earnestly asking for leading man roles like Alden Richards’ in “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” when the only scripts in the offing are for a wheelchair-bound deaf-mute or a nuno sa punso.
“Celebrities and managers are human beings, too. Hopefully, after they watch this show, they would be more understanding of why sometimes celebrities can be a bit on the moody side”
The irony, though, is that as good as they are at de-escalating scandals, negotiating lucrative contracts, and reining in their clients’ larger-than-life personas—the SAM managers struggle to manage their own lives. The workaholic Andrea can’t maintain a stable romantic relationship. Matthew, on the other hand, tries to keep a lid on his secret daughter, who shows up at the agency looking for work.
“Celebrities and managers are human beings, too. Hopefully, after they watch this show, they would be more understanding of why sometimes celebrities can be a bit on the moody side, or why managers can be on the sensitive and frank side. Kasi marami ring silang pinagdadaanan,” Santos says.
Since its premiere in 2015, “Call My Agent!” has been adapted more than 10 times globally. But while the inner workings of the entertainment industry are bound to be similar across versions, it’s the local culture and details that make “Call My Manager” more colorful.
You see showbiz reporters hounding a celebrity on a film set in a gritty Manila neighborhood. You have a new agency hire who interned at Cinemalaya. And if people calling Aleta (Gina Alajar) “Mother” doesn’t make it obvious that the character is a homage to Mother Lily, maybe her penchant for the piano and holding meetings at Chinese restaurants will.
“Manay,” “Tito,” “Mother”
This brings us to the one element that makes everything feel unmistakably Philippine showbiz: While the manager-actor relationship may have clearer professional boundaries in other countries, the lines tend to blur in our industry. Family is crucial to Filipino culture, and thus, a manager isn’t just a manager, but a “Manay,” “Tito,” or “Mother.”
“Sometimes, in the rest of the world, it’s just a professional thing. And sometimes it’s the actors who act high and mighty since they hired the manager,” Alajar says. “But here, we do give respect to the manager and make the relationship grow.”
“There are scenes that are very much us. When I say ‘us,’ hindi mawawala ‘yong kultura nating mga Pilipino”
Santos adds: “There are scenes that are very much us. When I say ‘us,’ hindi mawawala ‘yong kultura nating mga Pilipino. Regardless if magkadugo or hindi, once you’re part of a team, you’re family. That’s automatic.”
That closeness can foster affection and appreciation within a chosen family to whom you would entrust your life. However, it also opens the door to complications. Still, at the end of the day, they make up the things we love so much—and not so much—about the fun and sometimes messy world of showbiz.
“I started in the industry quite young. Dondon was practically born into it,” Matti says. “You don’t know how important this show is to us.”
“Call My Manager” streams on HBO Max, with new episodes every Thursday
