Marvin’s rooms
Like most multi-hyphenates, actor-TV producer-restaurateur-concert promoter Marvin Agustin follows a stressful daily schedule.
He’s often rushing from one meeting to another—juggling office duties in his two companies, Futuretainment (for concerts) and MediaNation (for TV production and artist management); shooting a movie (“Moron 5 and the Crying Lady” with Viva) or a TV commercial (Knorr Cubes); and running 17 (and counting) restaurants all over the country.
Whew.
But at home, Marvin gets to slow down and relish life’s little pleasures.
“I love to work, but it’s important to have balance in your life,” Marvin says. “I read books. I cook. I eat. I swim with the kids.”
And he abides by a strict never-on-Sunday rule. He usually spends weekends with his twin sons Sebastian and Santiago, now 6-and-a-half years old.
Since the boys shuttle between their mother Tetet Dy’s and Marvin’s homes, he makes sure to spend quality time with them when they’re with him.
He considers himself a “fun” dad, approachable and yet strict. “I hope to instill in them the right values,” he says.
This early, he has started teaching the boys the value of hard-earned money and the virtues of industry, discipline and enterprise.
When Sebastian wanted to buy a second-hand toy from a garage sale, Marvin casually instructed the boy, “Haggle. Try to get a better price.”
Mom Teresa states the obvious: Marvin is “masinop (organized) at masipag (hardworking).”
Marvin confesses: “I can be matipid (thrifty). I always want to know where my money goes. I come from very humble beginnings. I know that it’s hard to be hard-up. Now that my family is living comfortably, I appreciate my earnings more.”
But a penny-pincher he’s not. “Money shouldn’t be one’s driving force; it won’t make you happy in the end,” he says. “It’s all about balance.”
Health buff’s haven
Marvin’s home, which stands on a 700-square-meter property, allows him to find peace in the heart of a bustling city.
“It’s my sanctuary,” he says. “The location is perfect. Since it’s in the periphery of the subdivision, we don’t hear the honking cars on the highway. It’s like being in a resort.”
The whole village is a haven for this health buff. “My trainer drops by three to four times a week. I run around the village and then go on suspension training. I have a gym ball at home,” he says.
After competing in Thailand and Korea, Marvin took a break from archery. “The sport taught me that you have to work hard if you want to achieve anything of real value. There are no shortcuts. You need a good foundation, if you want to succeed in any endeavor.”
Archery also improved his form and posture, he points out—certainly valuable tools for an actor. He plans to switch to tennis.
Open spaces
From a condo unit, he moved here five years ago. A new dad at the time, he decided that a cramped bachelor’s pad in a high-rise wasn’t kid-friendly.
He went looking for a house with a pool and garden, and plenty of open spaces for the twins to run around in, and found the bungalow. “I had the garden spruced up and the swimming pool renovated,” he recounts.
He describes the home’s design aesthetic as “old meets new.” He explains: “I maintained the 1970s look of the ceiling and the marble floors, then added a few modern pieces and lots of artwork.”
Furniture by Budji Layug, Kish and Kenneth Cobonpue highlight the minimalist attitude; paintings by Onib Olmedo, Olan Ventura, Martin Catolos, Emmanuel Garibay, among others, adorn the walls.
Yes, the gray walls … Marvin is proud of this design idea. “While vacationing in Paris, I stumbled upon a quaint shop with gray walls,” he recalls. “I so loved the color that I took a picture and copied it for the house. This particular shade of gray makes the paintings pop out.”
His friends goaded him into starting this now impressive collection of paintings; his numerous travels continue to fuel his passion for art.
“I’ve been to the Louvre in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, but my favorite is the Tate Modern in London. I’m partial to contemporary art. I plan to go back to England just for that,” he says.
Foodie family
Traveling with the boys is a favorite bonding activity. He makes it a point to expose his sons to art, as well as to exotic cuisine. “They’ve learned to eat sushi and sashimi. They can’t have fried chicken all the time. When we dine out, they must try a new dish,” Marvin says.
Most weekends, he whips up special dishes for the family: “I empty the contents of the refrigerator and cook cocido.”
Like most Pinoys, he’s into “broth” dishes. “I got that from my dad Danilo who loves tinola, sinigang, nilaga, misua …”
Marvin, a product of the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management, is indeed a whiz in the kitchen—making him a perfect fit for Knorr Cubes’ latest campaign.
Only a little over 200 food experts in the world are permitted to wear the Knorr chef’s uniform. Marvin, who first worked as a waiter at Tia Maria’s, now heads a thriving restaurant business: Sumo Sam, John and Yoko, Mr. Kurosawa, Marciano’s, Johnny Chow, Komrad, Robotosan and Oyster Boy.
“We’re franchising now. We just opened Sumo Sam branches in Cebu and Davao,” he says.
Dream kitchen
His present kitchen is not his ideal work station, though.
(Sometimes he sets up the stove in the garden—for instance, at his birthday bash on January 29.)
The dream kitchen is under construction in another part of Quezon City, except that he’s planning to sell that property. “I don’t want to live there. It’s too far and the rush-hour traffic is awful,” he says.
And that’s another possible career for Marvin—builder and seller of homes. His mom says he is a natural at interior design. “He likes fixing the house; he gets ideas from books and magazines.”
Displayed in the living room are two coffee-table books: “25 Tropical Houses in the Philippines” and “New Bars and Restaurants.”
His well-appointed residence is a testament to his hard work. Before show biz beckoned, while he working as waiter at Tia Maria’s, Marvin was also a staffer at the ACA Video and a mascot at Shakey’s Pizza.
“My sister somehow convinced me to sign up as a mascot,” he remembers. “I was paid P150 for playing Captain Shakey’s.”
It wasn’t a walk in the park. “It was hot inside that costume. The hardest part was when sweat dripped into your eyes. It was so painful, it would make a grown man cry,” he recounts.
Emotional launch
Marvin remembers living in a 20-sqm apartment when he was much younger. “That was in Muntinlupa, so I often applied for jobs in establishments at the Alabang Town Center,” he says. Thus, when his John and Yoko restaurant broke ground at the Alabang mall, he got emotional.
He has expanded his entertainment companies, too.
After wrapping up work on the GMA 7 series “Iglot,” Marvin opted to go freelance.
His own company, MediaNation, now manages his career, with the help of former Star Records boss Annabelle Regalado. Aiza Seguerra is now a MediaNation talent, Marvin reports.
After only a year, Futuretainment has mounted a string of high-profile concerts, headlined by international stars Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, 30 Seconds to Mars, Black Eyed Peas and Miley Cyrus.
“It’s fun and fulfilling,” Marvin says of his role as concert impresario. “There are a lot of struggles, but seeing the fans and hearing their cheers on opening night make it all worthwhile.”
Precisely because of his success in the biz, he wants to act as godfather to promising performers, through the new TV5 talent show he is producing, “Kanta Pilipinas.”
“The theme song was sung by Lea Salonga. I’m a fan of reality shows like ‘American Idol’ and ‘The Voice,’” he says. “It’s not just another show-biz project for me. I want to encourage aspiring artists to fulfill their dreams because a lot of mentors helped me when I started.”
To celebrate his birthday last month, he threw a party at the amusement park Enchanted Kingdom for young beneficiaries of his partnership with Operation Smile.
“We had a day of fun and games,” he says. “I prepared chicken noodle soup for them.” His sons assisted him.
“Before their cleft-palate surgeries, my wards had really low self-esteem,” says Marvin. “But that day, they were grinning and giggling all the time.”
That made Marvin smile all day, too.
