Memoirs of a child of the past century - 19. Chapter 19 : How to get up after having fallen down II

To be back in Lausanne meant, for Yvette and for me, the regaining of familiar surroundings, to again become our own master, to again have our children close to us, in one word to rebuild our world.

We were lucky to find an apartment big enough in a small two-storey building, surrounded by tall trees, in an area close to the center but with many green spaces. The owner of the apartment was a member of the JCE with whom I maintained a good relationship. To house the offices of Ideal Film, I had even more luck. There was, in the center of the city, a commercial district with a pedestrian street lined with small office buildings. I found in one of the buildings, on the 1st floor an office - big enough for 3 persons, with a basement room to store movies and advertising material.

Meanwhile, Ideal Film had extended and we were optimistic about the future. My wife took charge of the daily management. I hired as a warehouseman Catherine’s husband of, a young Peruvian who she’d met in Lausanne. I was taking care myself of the purchase of new movies, reactivating my old contacts in France, Germany and England and going in search of "blockbusters".

It is a trade jargon that is means ‘little-known films, cheap to buy but capable of being the source of significant revenues’. I traveled a lot, attending the Cannes, Berlin and Milan films fairs. I also went often to Paris to meet with film producers. - But that wasn’t all - My visits to Paris were also the opportunity to find 'friendliness’ in the saunas of the ’hot quarter’ of the Marais.

For my purchases of movies, I was once again supported by my friend George P., the investor from Zurich who had formerly supported me, among others projects for the purchase of the clinic in Chamblandes. Being himself the owner of a distribution company, he could appreciate the quality of my contacts and he lent me several times the amount needed to purchase movies. Buying movies is an operation with big risks. I remember that my father was gifted with a sixth sense. He could recognize the commercial quality of a movie even before its startup. I did not have this talent and I confined myself, at first, to the purchase of low-budget films without taking too many risks.

We, Yvette and I shared our time between our business activities that we conducted together, and our family life, with our children and friends. We were more often together at the office than at home. Nicolas went to college at a school 5 minutes from the office and came there to do his homework. Catherine worked as a temporary secretary in an office located 300 meters away. Gilles's cinema was only 15 minutes away by foot . We used to take our meals together in one of the many bistros and little restaurants located in our mall.

Philip lived with his family in a village at the foot of Jura 30 km. from Lausanne. He’d become the assistant of Jean-Marc H. He was a likeable man who became one of our closest friends. The career of Jean-Marc was really not common. Initially a cowboy, he created a horse farm and also attended a group of amateur actors. Interested in the film business, he wanted to produce art house movies and approached us to help him develop his new business. His enthusiasm was contagious and we decided to participate in the adventure by offering him hospitality in our offices and helping him with our advice. Gilles had even the opportunity to participate in the filming of one of his films as an assistant director.

Jean-Marc became accustomed to using our office to meet with actors or directors and settled there to develop his own distribution business with his daughter. She was a novice in this field and my wife took her under her wing. She quickly learned the trade, helped us in our work every day and soon became indispensable. The atmosphere in the office was very familial. Every day we met new friends and we were able to expand our business through the sale of videotapes, with the support of a gay couple in Paris who made us laugh a lot with their effeminate attitudes.

In 1982, I met at the Milan Fair representatives of a large British production company : ITC Entertainment Ltd., who sought to place a series of very important movies in Switzerland, with international actors (Roger Moore, David Niven, Claudia Cardinale, among others). The price for this package of films (approx. 800,000.- in today's dollars) was far too high for the limited resources of Ideal Film, even with the support of my friend George P. I should not have accepted their offer. But I was longing for my former glory and I let myself be tempted.

So I had to find funding and to find it soon, because other Swiss distributors, much more important than Ideal Film, were also interested in these movies. The city of Zurich is a very important commercial center and boasted at the time many competing theaters. To obtain the right to films that could bring a lot of money, their owners were willing to pay large sums to the distributor, since they could be reimbursed later by the incomes that should have gone to the distributor.

So I made contact with one of them, the richest, Mr. S. He was the owner of several movie theaters and was always looking for movies. I knew him well. - He was very arrogant and it was easy to flatter him, so I invited him to participate personally in the negotiations with the British producer and he agreed very quickly, even offering to bring us to London in his private plane. We spent a few days in London to see the 7 films and I let him negotiate with the representatives of the producer. He even obtained the films with a significant discount on the asking price and was very proud about it. Unfortunately, the movies did not have the expected success. The result of the release allowed me to just pay back Mr. S.

I did not have much luck with other important films purchased with the support of Mr. S. Some readers may remember the movie 'The Muppets'. All children at that time were fans of the Muppets, a group of puppet characters known for their absurdist, slapstick and self-referential humor. For the release of the movie in Zurich, I organized a contest with the support of local newspapers. It was a great marketing success, but the film was less successful than foreseen in other cities and again I managed just to cover my expenses.

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On the private side, 1984 was a bad year. AIDS appeared in our family.

Since the early 80s, our daughter Catherine had frequented the Hispanic community in Lausanne and had made many friends among young Spaniards. In 1982, she married one of them and was 'sailing' with him between Switzerland and Spain. During one of his trips to Madrid, she became ill and required an operation. During the operation she received a blood transfusion, which probably the source of her infection. In 1984, during a routine medical examination, her doctor found the presence of the HIV virus.

During the 10 years that followed, Catherine led a normal life, her illness being "asymptomatic". She had to be treated but was still allowed to work or even to travel to Argentina. During the next few years, she spoke about her illness only to her brother Nicolas and to a few friends. We, her parents, were only informed much later.

At that time, the therapies were not yet well developed and the future of an AIDS patient was more than somber. Her doctor did not give her much hope. In his opinion, she could not have more than five years to live. She decided to make the most of her remaining time. She began by divorcing her husband, made numerous new friends, and undertook many journeys, while continuing to work from time to time. Whenever she needed money, she called her father for help, and I had often to send her checks. At least, we were well aware of her adventures and we could always keep in touch with her.

On a professional level, 1984 was also not a good year. We still did not have enough capital to buy major films. I had to continue to travel throughout Europe to find movies cheap enough to suit our limited resources, but likely to become "blockbusters".

I noticed an American cartoon produced in 1982 and which was never released in Europe: 'The Last Unicorn'. The film was purchased by a German distributor and dubbed in German for a release in Germany,. I easily obtained the rights for Switzerland and the film made ​​an excellent career in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Meanwhile, given the success of the film in Germany, the German distributor decided to dub the film in French and invited me to release it in the French speaking part of Switzerland at the same time as in France. It was a masterful flop. The French speaking audience , in both France and Switzerland, did not like the whole spirit of the film. All the benefit earned on the release of the German version was absorbed by the costs occasioned by the prints and the promotional materials of the French version.

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At the end of 1984, our relationship with Jean-Marc H were disturbed by the behavior of Philippe. Jean-Marc had a turbulent love life, with many mistresses. He went from one to another but kept friendly relations with all even after the break. One of them often came to the office with her daughter Joëlle, aged about twenty. Philippe was there. He saw Joëlle and it was 'love at first sight'. The sequence was predictable. Philippe could not have more than one love at a time. he abandoned his wife and began living with Joëlle, with the result that he completely neglected his work as an assistant. Jean-Marc could not bear it and he dismissed Philippe. Mixing love and work is never good. Imagine the state of mind of Jean Marc: he was upset and felt that Philippe had betrayed him. According to Jean-Marc, we should have intervened, to persuade Philippe to drop Joëlle and to return to his wife. As we didn’t, Jean-Marc considered us as also responsible and this was the end of our relationship with Jean-Marc and his friends.

I must say that Philippe had a mentality of 'womanizer'. I remember an episode characteristic of this attitude, about which I still smile today. It was a few years ago. One evening in Geneva, we were seated at table, Philippe, my wife and me, in a reputable restaurant. I noticed that Philippe was amused to look around us and that he was particularly interested in the beauty of pretty women, especially those who were alone at a table. At the end of the meal, while we were leaving together, he said quietly: "Do not wait for me, I stay here a moment." But he stood up with us, moved towards a smiling 'beauty' and sat at her table. Then I remembered that they had during the meal exchanged many glances and the girl certainly had invited him by her behavior.

But back to Ideal Film.

In December 1984, we had, my wife and myself, a long conversation with our accountant. We’d struggled all these years to develop our business, but despite these efforts, we were forced to admit that the results were not brilliant. The euphoria of 1981 was long forgotten. In addition, we were tired of fighting and still fighting to get at the end such poor results. It was also necessary to face facts: I had no talent in the choice of films. My father could recognize the hidden ‘gems’ which could bring a lot of money; he could 'sniff' the success from the meager information available before the production of the film: the script, the director's reputation, the list of actors… This was not given to me. I had not inherited it from my father and I had to accept it.

One example among many: one morning I met, during the Festival, the representative of a producer who told me about the new project of a young director. The film was to be called: '3 Men and a Cradle'. He offered me the film rights for Switzerland. The price was ridiculously low, and in addition the payment whould be deferred until the delivery of the prints Despite these advantages, I had no confidence in the film. I refused the offer. Later, in 1985, the release of the film made ​​the fortune of all those who had believed in it. Among others, the Swiss film revenues exceeded one million Francs. For those who are interested, a remake of this film was released in the United States under the title of 'Three Men and a Baby'. Its revenues exceeded USD 167'000'000 !

So we spent a few days, my wife and me, to take stock of the past 4 years: a lot of effort for little results! We didn’t see any future for us in Ideal Film. In addition, in my personal point of view, working for ideal Film didn’t bring for me the expected satisfaction. I yearned to return to an activity in connection with my background and my experiences as a consulting engineer.

We summarized the result of our discussion in the form of a list of possible activities:

- Continue to exploit the films of Ideal Film by limiting costs to a minimum,

- Develop cooperation with Edi Stöckli, the owner of many porn movies (see Chapter 17),

- Develop a new activity with Planorga SA, a company that I founded in 1971.

The main 'wealth' of Ideal Film was the fact that it had 20 'quotas'. A few words of explanation : as I mentioned in a previous chapter, the import of films was controlled by the State and each distributor has the right to import only a limited number of films. The word 'quotas’ was referring to the number of allowed films. We could therefore use 'our' quotas' to make them available to other distributors, allowing them to use our own 'quotas' for their films and paying us a fee for it. The legality of this operation was questionable but it was a common practice.

Edi Stöckli admired the effectiveness of my wife. She supervised the management of Edi's cinemas in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Her salary was an important part of our income. She did not need me for that and I could devote myself to the search of a new more profitable business.

Planorga SA had been incorporated for an Israeli customer eager to extend his activities in the fields of pharmaceuticals. His intention was to pass through Switzerland for the sale of Israeli products (renamed 'Swiss') to Iranian customers and bypass the boycott between the two countries. But he had later given up his projects and I had taken over the company on my own account . This company 'was sleeping' till today. So I decided to reactivate it and transform it into a consulting company, using my experience in management training.

But I got to the end of the year an unexpected proposal that made me completely change my plans. And that was the beginning of new adventures and the subject of the next chapter.