Virtual Playground to help athletes cross over to show biz

From left: Charlie Dy, Roselle and Dondon Monteverde

From handling some of the country’s top athletes, the sports firm Virtual Playground has now ventured to show biz as the new official artists agency of the production outfits Reality Entertainment and Regal Entertainment.

“We started in 2015 as a management company for PBA players and other athletes considering entering show biz. Growing up, I used to watch movies by Regal and love the Regal babies. Partnering with Reality and Regal got me excited because we’re going to help them launch new talents who will grace the scene,” Virtual Playground chief executive officer Charlie Dy told the Inquirer in a virtual conference.

Dedicated arm

In addition to its sports superstars like mixed martial arts champion Brandon Vera (“Buy Bust”), college basketball player Ricci Rivero (“Otlum”), and volleyball player John Vic Guzman (“Seklusyon”), Virtual Playground recently expanded its pool of talents to include actors (Grae Fernandez, Rob Gomez, Alexa Miro, Krystal Brimner); music artists (“Asia’s Got Talent” finalist Gwyneth Dorado); and beauty queens (MJ Lastimosa and Ann Colis).

“We have athletes who were interested in crossing over like John Vic, Ricci and Brandon. And we saw that there really was an interest in them based on their followings. Since they already have followings, we saw an opportunity to open doors for them in show biz, and Reality and Regal found a way to launch them,” Charlie said.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated new production restrictions and set-ups like bubble tapings, which made celebs unable to do more than one acting project at a given period of time, Reality and Regal found it necessary to have a dedicated arm that will take charge of artist discovery and management for them.”

“Because the new normal requires a lot of protocols, producers are having a hard time casting because most of the actors have to stay in lock-in tapings,” Charlie pointed out, adding that the rise of digital media like streaming platforms has increased the demand for artists.

Virtual Playground hopes to fill that gap. “We have been discussing how to build more talents … we feel that this is a right time to launch new artists and showcase Philippine entertainment because we’re no longer limited to television and movies. A lot of new platforms have sprung up,” he said.

Meanwhile, Reality cofounder Dondon Monteverde said that a lot of show biz’s biggest stars and draws are bound by network exclusivity, which makes it difficult if he already has particular artists in mind for his planned projects.

Talent search

“The partnership will make things easier to do what we want and what we want to for the talent. Most of them are attached to a network, whose plans for their artists may not be in line with what we hope for them to explore in other platforms,” Dondon said. “Sometimes, you just can’t make both ends meet, so it’s good to bring in new faces and new leading men and ladies.”

Though it’s “good to have someone” focus on handling their artists’ careers, Dondon and Regal chief operating officer Roselle Monteverde said they will have a hand in scouting fresh faces.

“Doing a talent search may be part of our plans. The challenge is to get more talents, regardless of age or genre. We should have a bigger range of talents who can do dramas, comedy, or projects with older characters,” Roselle said.