Regal & Reality MM Studios pivot fast, expand to have talent arm partner

The pandemic may have caused a setback for the local showbiz industry but Regal Entertainment and Reality MM Studios just proved to be resilient as they recently sealed a partnership to create their very own talent management agency.

They tapped Virtual Playground to officially handle the careers of their contract artists and discover homegrown talents to star in their future projects.

Regal Entertainment COO and executive vice president Roselle Monteverde, Reality MM Studio president and CEO Dondon Monteverde and Virtual Playground CEO Charlie Dy are set to make stars out of hopeful artists after they teamed up.

We all know Regal Entertainment continues to be a pillar in Filipino entertainment for decades, producing dozens of films per year since it was founded by cinema pioneer Mother Lily Monteverde in the early ‘60s. For celebrities, they always find it an honor and a celebration to be tapped as a Regal Baby, paving the way for some of most prominent superstars to appear in Philippine franchise films like Shake, Rattle and Roll and Mano Po and TV shows in the last few decades.

At present, Regal Entertainment continues to impact the TV scene by working with TV giant GMA Network to produce and air Regal Studio Presents, a collection of feel-good stories that features today’s most talented celebrities.

Regal Entertainment also found its footing during the pandemic as it continued to be at the forefront joining in the digital series bandwagon as it gave the BL fans the hit, Ben X Jim, on YouTube and dabbled in some groundbreaking youth-oriented storyline, Gen-Z, which was aired on Cignal and TV5.

Meanwhile, Reality MM Studios, spearheaded by Ronald “Dondon” Monteverde and award-winning director Erik Matti, has been pushing groundbreaking storylines in Filipino cinema for almost 20 years even before it became an in thing.

It gave us international hits like On The Job, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival; BuyBust, which was hailed 2019 Gawad Urian Best Picture and one of the films selected in the award-giving body’s list of best films of the decade; On The Job: The Missing 8, which premiered to a standing ovation at the 2021 Venice International Film Festival, where lead actor John Arcilla bagged the coveted Volpi Cup Best Actor Award; and a number of internationally acclaimed titles like Honor Thy Father, Kuwaresma, and Seklusyon.

Reality MM Studios is also working with a number of global producers, distributors, and platforms such as Netflix, which has acquired its titles BuyBust, Kuwaresma, and A Girl and A Guy; and HBO Go, which Reality MM Studios partnered with to produce the first season of Erik Matti’s On The Job series as well as episodes for international shows Foodlore and Folklore.

Bannering Virtual Playground’s roster of brilliant and talented celebrities are TV teen heartthrob Grae Fernandez; A Girl and A Guy stars Alexa Miro, Rob Gomez, Sarah Holmes, Rosh Barman and Carlo Tarobal; Miss Universe Philippines 2014 MJ Lastimosa; Miss Globe 2015 Ann Colis; Star Awards Best New Movie Actor nominee Kent Gonzales; award-winning theater and film actress Krystal Brimner; Asia’s Got Talent finalist Gwyneth Dorado; events and TV hosts Mela Tunay and Apple David; and young actors Keann Johnson, Dustin Yu, Darwin Yu, Kimson Tan, Migs Villasis, Blue Cailles, Shiara Lagman, Ayeesha Cervantes, Pam Gonzales, Lara Fortuna and Sarah Edwards.

Ricci Rivero, Brandon Vera and taekwondo gold medalist Pauline Lopez are also part of their talent pool.

Because the world we are in right now tells us to pivot fast, that is what Roselle, Dondon and Charlie are doing as they seal the deal for the next superstar-to-be.