How Stages has remained at the forefront of the entertainment industry for nearly 30 years

In 1997, when the First Gentleman of Philippine Theater, Audie Gemora, and producer Butch Jimenez, currently the PLDT Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, decided to start Stages Production Specialists, Inc., the goal was to find a way to help their fellow artists find gainful employment while doing what they’re passionate about. By then, Trumpets, the theater company that the two friends founded along with other Christian artist friends, had been around for 10 years and was already a respected presence in the industry. Still, its success didn’t necessarily translate to financial security for its members. Thus, the two envisioned Stages as a business that would function in support of its employees’ artistry. 

Because of the founders’ background in theater and live entertainment, Stages was able to bring a fresh approach to event management and production that hadn’t been seen before. “[We came in with] an awareness of what’s being communicated,” the late George de Jesus III, a Palanca Award-winning writer, actor, and director who also worked as Stages’ main director, told CREATEPhilippines in an interview in April. “There are many similarities between live events and theater, and so we find ways of reinterpreting what we know of both.” The innovation they introduced to how events can and should be staged propelled Stages to fast become one of the top events management businesses in the country.

Some of its earliest customers were malls, many of which became long-term clients. A particular project that stands out was SM’s 50th anniversary. “We produced an original musical about the life of Henry Sy, which was performed during a company event,” de Jesus recalled. “Being able to weave theater with live events helps us and the creatives in our team to earn while keeping our creative juices running.” 

“We were also fortunate to have set up a nice ecosystem [within the business],” acknowledged Gemora, who serves as the company president. Crucial to that ecosystem is having trusted resources that it can tap whenever the need arises, i.e, versatile talents. Alvin Trono, who came from Tanghalang Pilipino and is currently Stages’s Vice-President for Corporate Events, initially worked with the company to cast talents for commercials. Soon enough, Stages was growing and managing a stable of artists who could work in music, theater, and advertising, and also get cast as either hosts or performers for live events. 

Today, it has four distinct divisions that, together, offer clients a full suite of entertainment services: a production house; a talent management group; a digital marketing boutique agency for artists and corporate brands; and a content creation arm that produces live performances and an online music hub for both mainstream and indie.

The last two divisions are more recent developments, borne from the company’s agile pivoting early on in the pandemic. Unlike most production companies that scaled back severely due to lockdown, “we were the first to switch to virtual production,” Trono said. One of its initiatives is Stages Digital, which uses social listening to develop online campaigns and content plans and deliver what the target audience likes. It has since become a platform that enables client brands to build and maintain relationships with their base. Stages has also built a community of artists and fans with Stages Sessions. Designed to facilitate creative collaborations, the unit aims to be a platform for new original works and for live performances that people can also watch through YouTube, Spotify, and other digital channels if they can’t attend in person. 

Stages has gotten into podcasting, too, and currently has three shows on its roster, all produced under Sonder Media: K’s Drama with Karylle, Chicks2Go with Ashley Rivera and Hershey Neri, and Too Hot For with Rico Robles, Sheree, and Phoebe Walker. According to Trono, “Because of the creative nature of the content we produce, the unit is open to working with anyone, which keeps things fresh and exciting for us.”

With short videos a wildly popular way of presenting and consuming content, the company has dived into short-form content as well, bringing its brand of authentic storytelling to TikTok. “The mundane is in on TikTok,” Gemora observed, admitting that it’s really hard to tell what will become viral on the platform next. Stages remains mindful, though, of monitoring their talents’ fan engagement on the app while remaining cognizant of the trust that’s fostered by organic online interactions between artists and their admirers. It’s also aware that short-form content is meant only to balance its longer-form offerings, rather than replace them. “Short form is popular, but long form will come back eventually,” Gemora remarked. “People will look for sustansya (substance) once again.”

When asked how a respected and well-established business has been able to keep up with changing trends and consumer preferences, Gemora said, “All of us at Stages are storytellers, and we apply that to the work we do for corporate clients. Companies know to come to us when they’re looking for something out of the box.” He noted that with clients consuming more content and attending more live events, they’re now savvier when it comes to entertainment trends and want similar innovations in live events. On its part, Stages welcomes these demands as creative challenges. 

“Currently, what’s in are experiential and immersive events. They must feel authentic to attendees because, nowadays, people go to live events to feel changed.” As Gemora sees it, from simply being a scene for gig culture, event management and production has now become something more culturally resonant. “It really calls for everyone’s passion.” 

So what’s next for the company? After making a return to its theater roots in June by co-producing with GMG Productions the Manila staging of the Tony- and Olivier-winning musical Come From Away, Stages continues to discover and teach the next generation of creators for the entertainment industry; Gemora described the task as “legacy making.” It’s not just a one-way street, though: Even as the company nurtures younger talents, interacting closely with the youth also keeps it updated on what is now culturally relevant. “Our awareness of what’s next keeps us on our toes,” he concluded. “Ultimately, we want the Stages brand to outlive us all.” 

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Learn more about Stages Production Specialists, Inc. by visiting their Directory Profile.