James Reid admits that working with Liza Soberano on a manager-and-talent capacity is the "most surprising thing that happened to me in, I dunno, years."'
While Careless Music is known as an independent record label, it has also expanded to managing stars who share the company's vision to "break barriers" in the entertainment scene.
James is the president and founder, while his business partner Jeffrey Oh is the CEO.
In an exclusive interview released on 6'oclock Scoop, the newest showbiz-oriented video segment of PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), James recalls how he and Liza would come across each other every so often in ABS-CBN, but never had the chance to actually work closely together.
"[I] didn't see that coming. I don't think anyone saw that coming," says James when asked about Liza entrusting her showbiz career to him in mid-2022.
"We've seen each other before at the station, in ABS-CBN, in passing working together, in certain shows like ASAP, stuff like that.
"You know, just in passing we talk to each other... Never have I thought that she would come on board with Careless."
They were both established as the network's prized stars, with a string of movies and teleseryes credited to their name and their respective onscreen partners—James with Nadine Lustre (JaDine) and Liza with Enrique Gil (LizQuen).
That James and Liza were tied with rock-solid loveteams made it impossible for them to collab for any kind of project in the past.
JAMES REID AND LIZA SOBERANO WORKING TOGETHER IN CARELESS MUSIC
Fast-forward to May 2022, James and Liza started making their presence felt in the Hollywood scene as they were spotted at two consecutive gala nights in Los Angeles.
Shortly a month after, in June 2022, Liza officially signed with Careless Music.
Talking about Liza's transfer to a new talent management after more or less seven years as a homegrown star of Star Magic, the talent management arm of ABS-CBN, James says it happened because Liza's goals alligned with his label.
He elaborates: "Yes, that was a huge turning point for us as well. Liza being at the peak of her career already and choosing to come with us.
"And it was really because of the vision that she had.
"I talked to her, along with my CEO Jeff, and I asked her, 'What do you want?' And then she said, 'Oh... No one's ever asked me that before.'
"So we said, 'OK, what is it that you wanna do?' 'I wanna go Hollywood.' And we said, 'Let's make it happen.'"
James points out that Liza gets to be more hands-on with the decisions when it comes to her career.
He adds, "And I think that's the main reason why she came on board with us because every person she met was, like, 'Oh we're gonna make you do this, do that.'
"And I think we're the first people to ask her, 'What do you want as an artist? What is your goal? What do you want to achieve?'"
By August of 2022, Liza makes progress with her goal to go Hollywood as she landed a role in Lisa Frankenstein, an American horror-comedy film that's coming out in 2023.
Beaming, James says, "She already finished her first film in Hollywood... We're all very excited and there are many more projects coming up which I can't talk about just yet.
"I'm sure Liza will let everybody know in good time."
Read: Liza Soberano tells how she landed role in Hollywood movie "Lisa Frankenstein"
When told that he and his team made the project possible for Liza, James replies, "Honestly, a lot of credit goes to her. We just found the door and she's the one who walked right through it.
"She's very talented and I can't wait for everyone to see what she's been working on."
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