The adventure never stops

Highly-regarded as one of local entertainment industry’s most creative minds, ABS-CBN Vice President for Entertainment and Business Unit Head Enrico Santos admits that, after 20 years in the biz and being a part of almost 100 shows, he still sees a kid whenever he looks straight into the mirror.

"That kid reminds me that, at this point in my life, I still know I am doing something in and for the industry," he shares. „"Once that kid says `the adventure stops,’ I would be willing to leave everything behind."

Enrico, however, quickly clarifies that passing through that crossroad would not happen in the immediate future for he is still in thick of his biggest kid adventure, Super Inggo, an original superserye based on a kid who looks into the mirror and tries to become a superhero in spite of poverty and pain.

Asked what TV project made him proudest, Enrico, almost instantly quips that it is the Kapamilya network’s newest superserye featuring Makisig Morales in the title role, because it offers many firsts to the public. „

"We plucked a totally untried kid from Little Big Star and lined him up alongside Judy Ann Santos and Sarah Geronimo in the Primetime Bida timeslot. We gathered all the superheroes of the ’80s for a fun, campy Pinoy Justice League and, of course, the hottie cast composed of Zanjoe Marudo, Derek Ramsay, Meryll Soriano, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Sam Concepcion, among others."

This TV executive says producing Super Inggo was a very big risk, bold step for the network because of its groundbreaking concept.

"Doing it is doubly hard compared with other teleseryes," he enthuses. "The story is original: it is not a franchise or an adaptation of a classic. Also, working with kids is a very big challenge because a lot of things should be taken into consideration."

All these make Enrico proud of Super Inggo because he feels ABS-CBN has succeeded in reminding everyone that, once upon a time, "we, as kids, all dreamed of flying, saving the world."

For him, effectively translating a kid’s innocence in an entertaining, not-so-preachy way, is indeed Super Inggo’s feat.

Aside from Super Inggo, Enrico embarks only on programs that intrigue him personally, with goals beyond communal entertainment: Nagmamahal Kapamilya for highlighting the triumph of the OFW spirit; Let’s Go for serving as an off-the-wall window to the teen psyche; Wazzup Wazzup for successfully breaking boundaries by showing a newscast for and by the youth, and Mobisoaps, ABS-CBN’s first original-content series made for mobile phones, for bringing quality literally at the mobile phone user’s fingertips.

Enrico, with Cathy Perez as co-business unit head, also looks after Calla Lily, Star Magic Presents, and Sharon Cuneta’s Sunday talk show Sharon.

More than these current shows, Enrico also takes pride in ushering in Sa Linggo NApo Sila and ASAP, among others, which catapulted ABS-CBN as the country’s leading network in the early ’90s. As creative head, he also helped create seminal soaps like Esperanza, breakthrough game shows such as Game K N B and indie vehicles like Nginiiig. He is also the brains behind the Meteor Garden fever that introduced Asianovela to Filipinos.

Aside from producing shows, Enrico pioneered "synergy" into the ABS-CBN way of life.

"Before, shows were promoted traditionally. But, with the support of ABS-CBN Executive Vice President Charo Santos-Concio, through Synergy group, we have integrated various platforms to promote our shows: merchandise, billboards, music, events, concert, publishing, radio, mobile entertainment, web, even regional networks."

Asked what his ultimate dream is, as far as his TV job is concerned, he replies, "To let the world be entertained nightly by the Filipinos’ universal experience, highlighting our kapamilya’s love for family, fellow Filipinos and God."

For him, this is still a dream far from reality, but not impossible to achieve.

Until then, maybe, Enrico would continue seeing that kid in the mirror.