As streaming services continue to cater to global audiences with specialized content, more and more are seeing Filipino originals come to the forefront on the world’s biggest platforms. Such is the case with HBO Max and their latest series, Call My Manager, an eight-episode Filipino drama-comedy series streaming exclusively on the platform. The show dives into the high-pressure world of Shine Artist Management, following elite talent managers Andrea, Matthew, and Gabriel.
Renowned for their unwavering devotion to their clients’ careers, the trio shares the same goals, but approaches work differently. However, their professional facade begins to crack when their chaotic personal lives collide with the demands of the office. With a star-studded cast that includes Judy Ann Santos in her first leading TV role in years, Edu Manzano, and RK Bagatsing, and a talented director in Erik Matti, Call My Manager has the making of a new series deserving to be on the watchlist. But what may be more impressive about the project is its comedic yet heartfelt take on the Philippine entertainment industry.
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Inside the World of Call My Manager
Call My Manager has been a long time coming. In production for years, the series first reached audiences with special screenings of the first two episodes last year before finally gaining a wider audience on HBO Max in 2026. But beyond that, the show is also the latest in a long line of adaptations of the French series titled Call My Agent. With remakes from the UK, South Korea, and more, the Philippines becomes the latest to give its spin on the life of talent managers.
But just like any good adaptation, Call My Manager knows that the secret is in making it your own, and that means adapting the series to the Filipino experience. “The difference here is the culture. You will see the Filipino culture,” veteran actress and director Gina Alajar tells MEGA Asia.
In the series, Alajar plays Aleta Alfonso, a film producer whose personality and stature call to mind legendary Filipina movie producers such as the late-great Lily Monteverde. “The series has been adapted in so many countries. We see different cultures, how they deal with everyday problems and how their system works. Now here, you will see how the Filipino system works in the movie entertainment business.”
While Call My Manager isn’t the first local title to delve into the world of Philippine showbiz, Alajar feels the show is special in its capturing of how absurd but real the industry can be. “You will see that it’s so funny. The situation is so funny, but they’re all so serious about it. And that’s how it is in the business. Sometimes we just talk, and you think we’re serious, very emotional. But when you look at it from the outside, you wonder, ‘What are they talking about?’”
Director Erik Matti seconds the sentiment, adding that a talent agency in the Philippines may not be like what one sees in other parts of the world. “The other countries would usually be very corporate. But here, the way our talent agencies work is that everything is personal. Everything is about being emotional. And that creates a lot of problems, but at the same time, a lot of fun for us to mine in the plots and the characters.”
The situations Call My Manager delves into can get quite unserious, such as in the first episode where Kiray Celis (who plays a fictionalized version of herself) books a role in a Hollywood movie, but to seal the deal, she needs to get breast augmentation surgery. At the same time, the show roots itself in what makes Philippine entertainment as colorful as it is.
“When we decided to do the adaptation of the French series, it was really a chance to pay tribute to a world we really love,” shares Matti with MEGA Asia. “For others, it might be just another show. But if we look at what we did for the episodes, for the scripts, for the nuances, and the characters that we brought in, it is very emotional for us because it’s a love letter to the industry that we grew up with.”
On that end, the series features celebrity cameos played by the stars themselves, with the pilot featuring appearances from Janine Gutierrez and Niño Muhlach, among others. It also highlights key figures in the industry who have and continue to make an impact in local entertainment.
The show dives into that world, and does so with a comedic yet genuine heart while developing the characters at the center of its story. There’s also the fact that most of the cast, such as Judy Ann Santos and Edu Manzano, have decades of experience in the industry, and they’re bringing those years in the spotlight to the series, just now on the other side as fictional talent managers.
For the Love of Philippine Entertainment
Call My Manager holds a lot of promise. The cast is great, the comedy lands, the stories set up in the pilot tease enticing reveals as the series unfolds, and the passion for local entertainment is felt. As one of the first Filipino original shows on HBO Max, it’s a solid start. But if there’s anything to take away from Call My Manager, it’s that it’s made with passsion by people who love what they do.
“I hope they’ll be able to appreciate our industry more. And they’d be more respectful of what our industry is offering or what we’ve been doing for everyone,” shares Judy Ann Santos. “We put a lot of heart and care in our craft. The same goes with our managers. We’re not just being paid to do whatever project we’re asked to do. When we do accept a project, we accept it with all our heart.”
In a time when people can openly share their thoughts on the state of local entertainment, the good and the bad, Call My Manager offers a glimpse of what it looks like on the other side, and more importantly, the people that make the magic. As Santos puts it, “We are doing this because we love what we do.”
Call My Manager is streaming exclusively on HBO Max, with a new episode dropping every Thursday.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Featured Image and Photos: Courtesy of HBO and HBO Max
