Boss Vic: 25 years of mall entertainment with SM

MANILA, Philippines –  As head of the Viva Entertainment Group, Vic del Rosario, Jr. is known in the local industry, as Boss Vic. But he says that his “idol” is SM founder and chairman Henry Sy, Sr., whom he considers to be like a father and a mentor.

Together, they have collaborated to bring music, movies, and more to millions of Filipinos. And as SM City North EDSA celebrates its 25th Anniversary this November, he looks back on how his partnership with SM changed the ways Filipinos watched movies, listened to music, and enjoyed concerts forever.

Boss Vic was one those approached by Mr. Sy when he was building SM City North EDSA. He was asked to think to a store that could be in the mall, and since the only business he had apart from making movies was retailing videos, he thought of putting up a store, Video City, in November 1985.

“I opened Video City in North EDSA upon the encouragement of Mr. Sy,” he recalls. “I did not know anything about the retail business at that time, but Mr. Sy knew what he was doing, and the rest, as they say is history.”

The next generation: Vic del Rosario with son Vincent and daughter Veronique del Rosario Corpus at the Viva offices.

Although it was a time of political and economic turmoil, he decided to go against the odds because “Mr. Sy is a very knowledgeable and assured businessman. We could not have gone wrong with Mr. Sy and SM.”

Many more exciting concepts followed. There was Circus Circus, the first restaurant and music lounge in a mall. He recalls, “At that time, we would have Sharon Cuneta and also Regine Velasquez performing at the lounge. Vina Morales also started singing at SM City North EDSA.”

The mall’s Entertainment Plaza also became the venue for live concerts, and as Boss Vic recalls, “We have a lot of huge stars today who were first given the opportunity to showcase their talents at SM.” Huge crowds went to the mall to watch their favorite talents perform live, and soon every mall would have an entertainment or events center.

And then there were the movies. “SM changed the whole cinema concept locally and globally,” he says. “Before we would watch movies in stand-alone theaters, but with its cineplex, SM encouraged more people to watch movies.”

With better cinemas, filmmakers were encouraged to craft world-class films. The latest advances in picture and sound technology, and the SM’s mall wide campaign against piracy, also led to better quality films.

Likewise, since SM has the most number of screens in the country, “The exposure given to our local stars made them even bigger stars.” Boss Vic himself was actively engaged in developing the Philippine entertainment industry through Viva, which he set up in 1981. It has so far produced 700 films, many of which defined generations of moviegoers, and is doing 10 more each year. Its portfolio of stars includes Sharon Cuneta, Robin Padilla, Anne Curtis and Sarah Geronimo among others.

“SM has really created a one-stop shop where you can choose what movie to see in one area, a place where you can have a snack or dinner and shop at the same time,” says Boss Vic.

Working with SM has taught him “how to maximize opportunities and importance of customer service. We also learned to be flexible, to be attuned to the times. We’ve also learned to value customers because they are the life blood of any business.”

As SM City North EDSA celebrates its 25th Anniversary, Boss Vic looks forward to more creative collaborations with SM to make mall entertainment more exciting more the next generation.