KUNG ang Backroom, Inc. halimbawa ay kilala sa pagma-manage ng mga singer, whether individual or group, ang management office naman ni Ogie Diaz is of many characters.
Ang latest addition sa kuwadra ni Ogie who also dabbles in acting (he appears in ABS-CBN’s Sandugo) ay si Raffy Tulfo.
Ito ang first time ni Ogie na mag-manage ng hindi isang entertainment celebrity, but rather an accomplished and respected broadcast journalist na mas nalilinya sa sebisyo publiko.
Raffy, as well know, has become a byword sa mga taong may mga problemang nais idulog, personal man o may kinalaman sa kanilang trabaho (amo).
We’d say though that Raffy would be the least likely person na ima-manage ni Ogie base na rin sa kanyang work history with his artists.
Early 90s pa noong magkakilala kami ni Ogie (Roger Pandaan in real life) na noo’y bagitong movie reporter pa at pinagkatiwalaang editor ng isang teen magazine.
Throughout his budding career, naging malapit siya sa manager na si Douglas Quijano (SLN) na siyang humahawak sa mga karera nina Richard Gomez, Joey Marquez, John Estrada, Aiko Melendez, among others.
Eventually, Ogie got the inspiration from who he lovingly referred to as Tito Dougs. Late 90s noong sinubukan naman ni Ogie ang parehong larangan.
Kasa-kasama na namin si Ogie noong matuklasan niya si Liza Ranillo. And as Fate would have it, hawak naman niya ngayon ang sikat na sikat na si Liza Soberano since 2012.
Before Liza S. came along, alaga rin ni Ogie ang komedyanteng si Tado until he perished in an accident. And of course, sino’ng hindi makaka-alala na minsan isang panahon, dumaan din sa buhay ni Ogie si Vice Ganda na natisod niya sa isang comedy bar.
Fast forward here comes Raffy Tulfo as Ogie’s latest find bunga ng isang meeting nito lang February 17 upon the recommendation of Cristy Fermin (whose radio program comes after Raffy’s on Radyo Singko).
Bago pa man ay excited na si Ogie to meet up with Raffy to discuss the scope of his managerial task. Nakapokus si Ogie sa mga commercial endorsements at promo campaigns nito.
In fact, may isinarang deal si Ogie with an undisclosed production house for a possible collaboration with Raffy.
Like any of his talents, simple lang daw ang hinahanap ni Ogie in a potential artist: spark. Agad daw niya itong nararamdaman kung meron o wala.
With Raffy, simple rin ang panuntunan ni Ogie tulad sa kanyang mga alaga, “Sabihin mo lang, Sir Raffy, kung ayaw mo na sa akin.” This is to save the friendship sa kabila ng pagsasanga ng kanilang landas.
One very important advice kay Raffy mula sa kanya: Know your market value. And Ogie knows just as much kung ano’ng katumbas ng isa sa mga kontrobersiyal na Tulfo brothers.
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