Streaming platform HBO Max is preparing its first pair of Filipino original content, both of them adaptations from Western material.
Long in development has been Erik Matti’s “Call My Manager,” a local adaptation of the French comedy show “Call My Agent!” starring Camille Cottin.
The eight-episode show premiering this August 13 stars Judy Ann Santos, Edu Manzano, and RK Bagatsing as talent managers handling the professional crises of their celebrity clients.
The first two episodes of “Call My Manager” premiered at the most recent QCinema International Film Festival, edited by Matti to appear as a two-hour feature.
“This project is as much a tribute to showbusiness as it is an irreverent and candid look at what we hate and love about our industry,” Matti said in a Facebook post last year talking about his take on the show. The director teased that the celebrity guests who appear in the series “come in as themselves,” noting how fortunate his team was that these guests were down to participate.
“Sa pagmamahal namin sa entertainment business, nilagay namin lahat ng nakakatuwa sa ating industriya. Pwedeng tawaging inside look kung audience ka,” he also said. “Pero matutuwa din ang mga insiders kasi makikita nila sarili nila sa mga characters. Para sa mga tsismoso at tsismosa at mga intrigera, watch this to see why we love this crazy world we’re in.”
Matti produces the project with Dondon Monteverde at Reality MM Studios. “Call My Agent!” has previously been adapted in Turkish, Indian, Polish, Korean, Indonesian and German, among others.
HBO Max will also launch this July 20 “Come Dine With Me: Celebrity Philippines,” a local edition of the British reality series where participants host dinners for fellow contestants who rate the entire experience.
Twenty local celebrities and public figures have been tapped for this Philippine version. Since debuting in 2005, the original show has been adapted by more than 40 countries.