Arnold Vegafria blacklisted by GMA 7

You might be wondering, just who is this Arnold Vegafria?

Briefly now: He’s a talent scout/manager who once tried in vain to create a stir when he fought with Regal Matriarch Mother Lily over what he called was his alaga Dina Bonnevie’s "right" to the role of "the other woman" in one of the Mano Po movies. That guy must have reeled from that head-on collision with one of the haligi of the industry.

And now, guess who the guy is "colliding" with – yes, GMA 7, another haligi of the entertainment industry.

Last Sunday, one Bianca King, who claimed to be a talent of the guy, was on The Buzz taking issue against GMA for taking her out of Sugo, a new GMA TV series, for, according to her, "no reason at all," that’s why she’s feeling bad (masama ang loob).

The truth, according to somebody in defense of GMA, is that – okay, okay – GMA didn’t give Bianca the role prepared for her and that because the outcome of her acting workshop was not good.

"Why would we risk putting her in the TV series, only to waste money and footage later on because of her bad acting?" said the GMA defender.

This brings to mind the million-peso worth of wasted footage of the long-delayed ABS-CBN fantaserye Panday when, during a preview of the rushes, it was discovered that Melissa Ricks, cast as the wife of Panday (played by Jericho Rosales), didn’t "fit" the role so well (that’s a euphemism for, well, not-so-satisfactory performance).

"If you were in our place," added the GMA defender, "would you want to gamble with millions especially at a time like this when money is hard?"

Yes, Bianca King’s case is an isolated one, meaning it doesn’t have anything to do at all with the protracted network war (even if some people are desperately trying to draw a connection to it).

"The truth," according to the GMA defender, "is that GMA indeed has an issue of unprofessionalism against Arnold Vegafria, particularly regarding Jay-R who happens to have a contract with GMA even before he got Arnold Vegafria as manager. Arnold Vegafria has bungled up his talent-handling job with GMA several times. We have news for him: GMA is soon filing a case against him with the PAMI (Professional Artists Managers, Inc.)."

Jay-R reportedly complained that he isn’t getting "fair" treatment from GMA.

"Unfortunately," added the GMA defender, "Jay-R has an existing contract with GMA and he better follow it until its expiration, or else... Marami nang sabit si Jay-R dahil sa kanyang manager."

Because of its unpleasant encounter with the guy, GMA has decided to blacklist Arnold Vegafria.

"GMA is not inclined to do business with him," concluded the GMA defender, "and that’s bad for the talents he’s handling. Sorry na lang sila."


Source:
FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo
The Philippine Star 05/31/2005