Mr. M Is Officially a Consultant For the GMA Artist Center

On July 13, the GMA Artist Center formally introduced Manahan as a consultant. So, we're about to find out what Johnny Manahan's plans are for the talent management arm of GMA Network Inc.

Manahan, or Mr. M, is the co-founder, along with Freddie M. Garcia, of Star Magic where Mr. M was the chairman emeritus when he left ABS-CBN in September 2020. Star Magic is the highly successful talent management arm of ABS-CBN that made celebrities of the Kapamilya Network famous. Including Claudine Barretto, Piolo Pascual, Jericho Rosales, John Lloyd Cruz, Bea Alonzo, Maja Salvador, Kristine Hermosa, Kathryn Bernardo, and Daniel Padilla, to name a few.

Before the GMA Network even released the teaser about a certain "pillar in Philippine entertainment" that's "making a move," several rumors of Mr. M being a Kapuso were already floating around. These rumors were ultimately confirmed after Korina Sanchez's Instagram post on July 10. In the Instagram post, Sanchez wrote:

What a fun evening to cap a long and tiring day. A feast of food and laughter and no holds barred and, therefore, censored conversation with some of the movers and most interesting pillars of the industries: ABSCBN now GMA 7’s Johnny Manahan and Mariole Alberto, Viva’s Law Tan, Robinson’s Robina Gokongwei-Pe, veteran PR Guru Keren Pascual, Dreamscape’s Joel Mercado, ABSCBN’s Enrico Santos and Leo Katigbak, PEP’s dragon lady (haha) Joann Maglipon and Brightlight’s PatP Daza. Ohhhh what we talked about. Happiest 60th to some of those who deserve another 60 years ahead: Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Mariole Alberto and PatP Daza (no she’s not 60 yet. She made me say this).

Since Sanchez's credibility can't be questioned, several believed that Mr. M and Mariole Alberto were both joining the GMA Artist Center. Another insider told PEP.ph, however, that only Mr. M is joining the network. Alberto became Mr. M's successor as head of Star Magic when he retired in December of last year.

According to a source, Alberto currently has a non-compete agreement with ABS-CBN. As described by Investopedia, a non-compete agreement is a "legal agreement or clause in a contract specifying that an employee must not enter into competition with an employer after the employment period is over. These agreements also prohibit the employee from revealing proprietary information or secrets to any other parties during or after employment."

In 2020, Mr. M transferred to Brightlight Productions to become the director of Sunday Noontime Live and a producer of the noontime show Lunch Out Loud. But, his business relationship with Albee Benitez didn't last long as Piolo Pascual, Maja Salvador, and Catriona Gray's Sunday noontime musical-variety show for TV5 was canceled.

From: PEP.ph