GMA has been lining up projects for Bea Alonzo, Pokwang and Beauty Gonzales, transferees from ABS-CBN who have signed up with the Timog studio.
Bea is reportedly doing either a series or a movie with Alden Richards.
Pokwang’s first assignment with GMA is Pepito Manaloto: Ang Unang Kuwento, prequel to the popular Michael V. comedy series that ended just recently. The sprightly comedian has been doing the rounds of GMA programs, including a recent dramatic episode on Magpakailanman.
By the way, GMA is now home to three of the best female comedians in the industry. Aside from Pokwang, there are also Ai-Ai de las Alas and Eugene Domingo.
Who wouldn’t want to see the three of them in one helluva of a well- written, laugh–out-loud movie?
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As news of ABS-CBN disposing some of its assets to satisfy creditors unfolds, we also witness an exodus of some of the network’s major talents to greener pastures.
Part of ABS-CBN’s real estate holdings are the 4.4 hectare broadcast center in Quezon City (reportedly worth 1.6 billion pesos) and the 120-hectare property in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
The latter had been planned and partly finished as a complex of Hollywood-style sound studios to suit the network’s TV and movie production requirements.
Anyway, the migration of former network stars can’t be helped, given the state of the entertainment industry at the moment.
Actors need to work. Like the beleaguered ABS-CBN, they have loans to pay and expensive homes, not to mention lifestyle, to maintain.
The franchise-less broadcast giant can’t possibly accommodate all of its contract artists, considering the limited platforms on which it operates.
In fairness, ABS allows its artists, even the best of them to go out and work elsewhere. I hear that tears are shed with every goodbye on both sides.
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Amidst soaring ratings in the time of pandemic, GMA Network is on a roll.
In a dizzying frenzy of activities, network has been launching new shows, signing up new artists, renewing old contracts.
In recent weeks, we have witnessed a series of contract signings, events that surprised many in the industry. Several of the new GMA recruits came from its rival, ABS-CBN, which lost its broadcasting franchise in 2020.
Some of those who have jumped ship from the Mother Ignacia network, aside from Pokwang, are Bea Alonzo, Xian Lim, Jessy Mendiola, Luke Conde, and several others.
John Lloyd Cruz has surfaced on a GMA show, Wowowin, and is expected to sign a TV-movie contract, too.
On the creative side, GMA has also acquired the services of Johnny Manahan and his partner, Mariole Alberto, who are experts in the field of talent management.
Not to be abandoned are GMA stars like Max Collins, Sanya Lopez, and Andrea Torres, who recently renewed their contracts.
Looks like all’s well at GMA, which has been sending its production teams to simultaneous lock-in shoots in nearby provinces. Three of these new shows are I left my Heart in Sorsogon, Legal Wives in Laguna, and Lolong in Quezon.