Callback: Rewriting the Script for Casting in the Philippines

The story begins not with software, but with stage lights.

As a child, Seaver (an actor since the age of five) fell in love with the energy of performance. Theater was his playground, commercials his early ambition. But as he pursued acting more seriously, he began to realize the grind of the industry: endless auditions, hours of travel from his home in Quezon City to Makati, and a silence that followed every casting call. After five minutes in front of a camera, he would leave with nothing but questions. “Did I get the role? Did I not? Why wasn’t there any feedback?”

After twenty auditions, twenty hours lost in traffic, and twenty unanswered applications, Seaver’s frustration grew into clarity. Acting, he realized, wasn’t just about talent: it was about time, opportunity, and systems that weren’t built to support the very people who gave life to the screen. Disheartened, he stepped back, choosing a career in software engineering. But even in tech, the idea lingered: “What if there was a better way? What if technology could bring fairness, efficiency, and transparency into casting?”

Pamela L. Reyes had been on the opposite side of the equation. A veteran producer and director with over fifteen years in film and advertising, she had spent years assembling casts for commercials, feature films, and international festival darlings like Birdshot, the Philippines’ official entry to the 2017 Academy Awards. She knew casting was broken. Unregulated, opaque, and expensive, the process often left both producers and actors stranded. Filmmakers scoured Facebook groups, sifting through vague casting calls. Actors, even veterans, scrambled for roles without assurance of pay or protection.

Pamela remembers the pandemic vividly. On her feed, she saw two worlds collide: friends who were actors desperate for work, and fellow producers desperate to find talent. The gap was glaring. The industry needed a bridge.

That bridge came when Pamela and Seaver crossed paths, joined later by Wesley Dela Cruz, a product builder who had cut his teeth in startups and venture capital. Wesley wasn’t from the entertainment world, but his background in tech and investing allowed him to see what others missed: that casting was not only a creative endeavor but also a matching problem. And unlike crypto or fintech, this was a space ignored, messy, and waiting for innovation.

Together, the trio built Callback.

Launched in 2024, Callback has grown into a community of over 1,000 actors, with at least 100 applications coursing through its platform daily. For talents, it means access to opportunities without wasted commutes or radio silence. For producers, it means safer, faster, and smarter casting, backed by credibility from institutions like the Film Academy of the Philippines and the Quezon City Film Commission.

But Callback isn’t just about listing roles. The team has hosted workshops, teaching actors how to professionalize their craft (how to build strong set cards, present themselves effectively, and navigate the business side of creativity). They’ve rolled out features like notifications, application tracking, and soon, transparent payment systems designed to prevent funds from disappearing into middlemen’s pockets.

The vision is bold: an end-to-end platform where actors can manage their careers independently and where producers can find, hire, and pay talent with full transparency. Callback wants to become more than a casting tool: it wants to be the operating system of Philippine media and entertainment.

At its core, though, the company is built on something deeply human: the frustration of an actor who just wanted clarity, the experience of a producer who knew how hard it was to cast fairly, and the drive of a technologist who saw a problem worth solving.

Casting has always been a gamble. Callback is rewriting that script. Turning uncertainty into opportunity, and giving Philippine creatives something they’ve long deserved: a system that works for them.

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Matthew Seaver Choy brings a vision of using technology to empower communities while balancing creativity and performance as both a builder and storyteller. Pamela L. Reyes champions bold, boundary-pushing narratives that elevate Philippine cinema to global audiences, driven by a mission to mentor, collaborate, and innovate in storytelling. Wesley Dela Cruz is dedicated to reshaping how creators and brands connect with audiences, building movements that thrive on authenticity and cultural impact. Together, they embody a fusion of technology, creativity, and entrepreneurship that is shaping industries across entertainment, media, and digital innovation.

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with Callback.