Having officially premiered the first ever Filipino series at MIPCOM last year, 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 its tentpole international co-production for 2023 entitled The Bagman, a spin-off of the original locally produced digital series Bagman for the Filipino audience. This 8 x one-hour action-packed drama series will be produced by Philippine-based companies – ABS-CBN International Production Division and Dreamscape Entertainment, Rein Entertainment, and Nathan Studios Inc. The announcement was made today by Ruel S. Bayani, Head, International Production Division, ABS-CB

Being offered at next week’s FILMART in Hong Kong for the first time, The Bagman will star Arjo Atayde, reprising his character Benjo Malaya from the original Bagman series, a role that won for him the 2020 Asian Academy Creative Awards Best Actor.

“Having had the privilege of being the first Filipino company to screen a series at MIPCOM, we are honored to be following up on the success of Cattleya Killer with our new premium drama series The Bagman. We continue to advocate Filipino representation in a manner that is engaging and entertaining in today’s global marketplace. Thanks to our talented co-production partners, Dreamscape, Rein Entertainment and Nathan Studios, I have no doubt The Bagman, packed with action, suspense, and dark humor, will have audiences around the world on the edge of their seats,” commented Bayani.

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.