Christian Bautista on creating content to teach, inspire

Christian Bautista

I want to go into that space and do more,” said singer Christian Bautista, who after signing up with the talent management company Nyma, announced that he intended to be more visible online as a content creator.

Christian had been managed solely by Stages prior to signing up with Kroma Entertainment’s Nyma last week. “Negotiations between the two companies ran smoothly,” he declared. Incidentally, Nyma’s head of talent, Kat Ramnani-Bautista, is the singer’s wife.

“If you look at Nyma’s list of talents, they are all content creators. People are saying that the digital space is just for the Gen Zs and millennials, but I don’t think so.”

Christian, 41, continued: “If you have experience, you can be a mentor. If you have the skill to act, sing or dance, you can teach. If you feel like sharing your kind of music or opinion on issues that you feel strongly about, you can livestream any time.”

“When you do this, you’ll hear life-changing words like ‘I remember this song of yours. It helped me a lot while I was healing from a heartbreak.’ I’d like to do more of that from now on.”

He said, however, that there are no immediate and definite plans just yet. “We will still have a general strategic meeting. It was actually my idea to be comanaged. I thought of it when Nyma turned a year old. I saw what the group was doing and realized that I needed help in this area. Right now, I’m still experimenting—trying a little bit of this and that. I still need to discover for myself that side of me that I want to share on YouTube, for example. I can’t just keep making ‘This is My Day’ type of content.”

Positive influence

Nyma, short for “Now You Must Aspire,” manages the careers of singer Kristel Fulgar, visual artist Raco Ruiz, food content creator Abby Marquez, cycling advocate Lester “Buji” Babiera, and the founder of Home Buddies “Mayora” Frances Lim Cabatuando.

While Christian said he is determined to become a positive influence on people, he’s also aware of the negative side of being popular in the digital realm. “Let’s create content, but not attack other people in order to create content,” he pointed out.

He then mentioned the recent comments posted by comedian-director Michael V on the importance of content creators putting value in their content. “Michael V was talking in general terms and not just to negative content creators. Everyone wants to be heard, but it’s also important how you use your voice and this privilege. In the past years, a lot of artists have already tried to use this style, but this was highlighted only recently because technology has already greatly improved. You can be heard and seen in all parts of the world,” he observed.

“I wish we’d all just choose peace. If everyone experiences it even for just a moment in time, then they will realize that peace is so much better than negative or toxic excitement,” Christian said.

Speaking of peace, Christian said he was extremely pleased with the recent “reshuffling” of programs on local television. “I read a headline quoting Sir (Felipe) Gozon of GMA 7 as saying, ‘War is over.’ This gave me a really pleasant feeling because I know more doors of opportunities will open up for artists because there’ll be more collaborations just like what happened in ‘Unbreak My Heart.’ When I sang the show’s theme song during the premiere, I saw the bosses of both sides. It was an amazing feeling,” he began.

Anything is possible

“I also enjoyed being a guest in ‘It’s Showtime’ as a judge because I got to see my old friends. (TV host and dancer) Vhong Navarro and I got to talk about basketball, golf and his kids,” he recalled. “With the right channels and management contracts, anything is possible now. But as with most companies, competition is important. What is good about it is that you try to outdo each other to come up with the best products.”

Christian and Kat have been married since November 2018. “I think if we could run a household smoothly together, then we can work well together, too. Prior to the comanagement deal, her input about my career was mostly about what I should wear during important functions. Stages took care of everything else, and she totally respected that,” he said.

‘Assigned responsibilities’

Financially, Christian said they have “assigned responsibilities.” He added that a lot has changed in relation to his lifestyle since he got married. “I’ve lived independently for a long time so I’ve always been hands on when it comes to finances. I think the major adjustment was on buying food,” he said. “Before, when I didn’t have time to cook food, I’d open canned goods or eat take-out food. These days, I can’t do that anymore because there’s the wife to consider.”

Christian said a married couple is supposed to take care of each other’s health, too. “Make sure to take your APE (annual physical exam). I know people who discovered they were diabetic or have cancer after taking it. We have to convince loved ones who are afraid to see doctors to just do it. If they get sick and have nothing saved for it, then you’d have to shoulder that financial burden. We should tell them to also care for those who take care of them,” Christian pointed out.

When asked what the best thing about being married was, Christian said: “This may be too cheesy, but if you have someone who loves you deeply, if you find the right one—the good one—then it’s really nice. I highly recommend marriage to single people out there.”