Star maker

Isn’t star-making best left in the hands of professionals who are just in their 40’s or 50’s? Even to those younger, perhaps? 

After all, showbiz’s main attractions are the young and those just in their 30’s. Adulation is a preoccupation of the young, and who to adulate may be better perceived and intuited by those only a decade older than the youth 

But you must have heard by now that TV5 has signed up Johnny Manahan — who is already 78 years old — to be its official star builder. 

It may not be just in recognition of his skills and wisdom in star building that Manahan began years ago to be addressed at the entertainment and media complex ABS-CBN as “Mr. M.” It might have been also for his age at that time of his reign there as the founder and big boss of Star Magic, the then-network’s talent recruitment and development arm. 

Of course, Mr. M’s television career blossomed  at the Lopez family-owned media and entertainment in his late 20s as a director of entertainment shows. He was a freelance TV director and writer before he joined ABS-CBN. Being tall and good looking, he also had stints as ramp model and guitar-playing singer in his early 20s.

He was already in his 30’s when he signed up child talents like Claudine Barretto, Jolina Magdangal, Patrick Garcia, Paulo Contis, and other cast members of the kiddie show Ang TV for ABS-CBN. 

The topmost boss of TV5 is the business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan who is himself 78 years old. He is aware of Mr. M’s reputation as ABS-CBN’s star builder for decades, a job he wielded for a few years at GMA Network after leaving ABS-CBN when he had begun to be crowded out by younger executives who are obsessed with earning the title “star builder.” 

Mr. M  is acknowledged as the one who dubbed GMA 7 stars as “Sparkles.” The network had no enticing collective name for its stars before Mr. M turned up in the GMA turf. 

Pangilinan certainly respects Mr. M’s stature in  the industry. The tycoon turned up at the contract signing held at TV5 studios in Mandaluyong on 6 November. It seems to be Pangilinan’s first time to join a TV5 contract signing. 

In that heralded event, Mr. M demonstrated the spunk of a man at his prime. 

The septuagenarian Mr. M confidently intoned when it was his turn to speak:  “Besides giving me a very warm reception, MVP [Pangilinan] has given me a mandate to build a world-class, in-your-face artist center that will discover and train the artists of the new decade.

“Because MVP knows that it is stars that are at the center of the content-making business. Not the directors, not the writers or scripts.

“The stars. No stars, no content. You better believe it.

“And yes, ladies and gentlemen, we will be in the business of star-making. We have been at it for some time now, and more than ever, we know what works and what won’t.”

Mr. M goes on to define what a star is and he did so almost brusquely He declared: “A star is someone who can capture your imagination, drive you crazy, and who can separate your well-earned money from you. That’s a star.

“Babayad ka (You will pay). A star dictates how much you pay, and pay you will. A star needs only one name.”

He closed his speech with a thank-you message directed at MVP, the executives in attendance, and the rest of the MediaQuest family.

“MVP, you and I have been around the block several times. This is not our first rodeo. Guys like us are older, wiser, and handsomer.

“And we know that this project will demand money and enterprise. Your money and our enterprise.

“I do not know what tomorrow brings, but I can promise you, MVP, Jane, Sienna, that I will do my best because you deserve the best.

“Perhaps, in time, you will consider what we will have built here as one of the jewels in the crown of your MVP group. Thank you.”

The event gathered MediaQuest and Cignal TV executives: Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP), chairman of MediaQuest Holdings; Jane J. Basas, president and CEO of MediaQuest and Cignal TV; Sienna G. Olaso, vice president and head of Channels Content; and Jeffrey Remigio, vice president and head of Content Management, Acquisition, and Distribution.

Mr. M revealed in the media forum that followed his speech that he plans to call TV5’s artists center “Starworks”--or maybe “Starworx”, because he didn’t spell it out after he uttered the new TV5 mantra. 

TV5 is entering its 15th year as an MVP company but there’s hardly any major star now that the network can claim to have built. Let’s see how fast it can develop real big stars with Mr. M as its new but veteran starbuilder. 

Mr. M currently directs the OPM countdown TV5 show Vibe. Its cast includes Dylan Menor, Ana Ramsey, Kych Minemoto, Ryle Santiago, Paulo Angeles, Queenay Mercado, Joao Constancia, Elijah Canlas, and Maxie Andreison. The show is a musical and variety program that features these hosts, also called “Vibe Jocks,” alongside upcoming artists and creators. 

Mr. M himself conceptualized the show whose cast he also chose himself. Only one cast member may be considered already a star: Elijah Canlas. But the likes of Kyle Echarri, JK Labajo and Seth Fedelyn are considered bigger than Canlas. Can Mr. M complete Canlas’ stardom?