iWorld
ABS-CBN unleashes global sales extravaganza for ‘The Bagman’ at ATF
Mumbai: With casting complete and production set to begin in January on its newest major tentpole co-production series The Bagman, after its successful Cattleya Killer, ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ leading media and entertainment company involved in the creation, production, and distribution of television programming both domestically and internationally, announced today it will be attending this year’s ATF in Singapore looking to secure worldwide sales for it’s eight x one-hour action-packed drama series The Bagman. Additionally, the leading multi-awarded Filipino actor and star of Cattleya Killer and The Bagman series, Arjo Atayde, will be at the ABS-CBN international productions booth (K18) on 7 December promoting the series. The announcement was made today by ABS-CBN head of international productions Ruel S. Bayani, who will be attending ATF along with Gary Marenzi of Marenzi & Associates.
With casting just finalised, The Bagman stars Atayde, reprising his character Benjo Malaya from the original Bagman series, a role that won him the 2020 Asian Academy Creative Awards Best Actor. The series also stars John Arcilla (On The Job 2: The Missing 8, The Bourne Legacy), Volpi Cup Best Actor in the 78th Venice International Film Festival, and Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo (Mindanao, FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano) 2019 Cairo International Film Festival Best Actress.
“Having initially announced The Bagman in March of this year, the timing could not be better to now be offering worldwide sales at ATF for our suspenseful, gripping, and fast-moving drama series,” commented Bayani. “As we continue to advocate for Filipino representation, we are thrilled to also be announcing the award-winning talent of Arjo, John, and Judy Ann who are now part of The Bagman. Filipino programming is continuing to grow and expand, and we are honored to be at the forefront in offering diverse new projects to meet the growing demands of the industry.”
The Bagman, a spin-off of the original locally produced digital series Bagman for the Filipino audience is produced by Philippine-based companies – ABS-CBN International Productions, Nathan Studios Inc., Rein Entertainment and Dreamscape Entertainment.
The original digital series, Bagman 1 and 2, which sold to Netflix Philippines, follows the story of Benjo Malaya, a neighborhood barber who landed a job as the governor’s henchman and gets caught up in a dangerous web of crime, corruption, and political turmoil.
Now with The Bagman, when convicted prisoner and former governor, Benjo Malaya, learns the tragic news about his missing family, he is left with no choice but to return to the vicious underworld that he turned his back on, and take on a new mission, this time, as a Bagman for the sitting president of the Republic of the Philippines to stop an impending and civil war.
ABS-CBN’s track record as a storyteller and content creator has been the main draw of the media company as a partner in international co-productions, as seen in its growing slate of global titles. The company has been a pioneer and leader in globalizing Filipino content.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
