By Maxmilian Wechsler
Swedish filmmaker Ola Lennart Holmgren took to the road right out of high school in the early 70s and began working his way around Europe in the travel industry. On the way he met Grete, the Norwegian girl he married and took back to Sweden in 1976. Ola had no training or experience in film production, but after deciding that’s what he wanted to do, he was unshakeable in his goal.
With a period of apprenticeship, a little luck and a lot of hard work he made his dream come true: he launched a couple of big-time production companies that attracted top talent in the industry. And he won around 100 awards while compiling a remarkable portfolio of celluloid and digital creations that includes feature films, television series and hundreds of TV commercials.
Along with the success and acclaim, Ola’s decision to follow his calling in film also set him on a course for adventure and lots of travel, and through it all Grete has been by his side. In 2008 the couple came to Thailand to retire, but not surprisingly they continue to keep very active. They frequently go on trips around Thailand and Asia with the Siam Society and pursue a variety of interests in the local community.
With a period of apprenticeship, a little luck and a lot of hard work he made his dream come true: he launched a couple of big-time production companies that attracted top talent in the industry. And he won around 100 awards while compiling a remarkable portfolio of celluloid and digital creations that includes feature films, television series and hundreds of TV commercials.
Along with the success and acclaim, Ola’s decision to follow his calling in film also set him on a course for adventure and lots of travel, and through it all Grete has been by his side. In 2008 the couple came to Thailand to retire, but not surprisingly they continue to keep very active. They frequently go on trips around Thailand and Asia with the Siam Society and pursue a variety of interests in the local community.
Background
“After I finished high school in Sweden in 1971, I left the country. I was just 18 years old, but my parents allowed me to go abroad. I wanted to see other countries so I took a job with the Swedish travel agency Club 33, and got a job as a DJ in Romania. Nobody else wanted to go there, and to be honest I didn’t like it too much either, but it was my introduction to travel.
“After a while I left the DJ job and worked as a tour guide in Rhodes, Greece, and later Gran Canaria and Ibiza in Spain. That’s where I met Grete. She was working in Ibiza as a tour guide as well. She was looking after older people and I was looking after young people. We tried to mix our activities so we could be together, but this didn’t work out so well.
“In the travel business especially at that time – you have to fix any problems that come up. For instance, if there are clients coming and you don’t have enough hotel rooms for them, you have to find the rooms one way or another.
“Four and a half years after we met, in 1976, Grete and I were married. She wanted to go to Sweden because she found a job with ScandinavianAirlines, and of course I followed her. I did my very delayed, one-year mandatory military service, and after that I started trying everything to get in the film business. When you are very young and naïve you think that you can do whatever you want, and in a way this is good because then you learn that there are more opportunities than there are problems. This has been my motivation.
“To be honest, when I decided to be a filmmaker I didn’t even know what that meant or what I needed to know. I had a high school education and my grades were very mediocre. I started taking day and evening courses in marketing, economy, design and advertising.
“One day in 1977 one of my teachers who knew my ambition to be a film producer said to me: ‘I know you are looking for job and I know that Sandell Film (a large corporate film production company) are looking for a young, hard-working junior assistant who won’t ask for too much money.’ This was me. The teacher arranged a meeting with the company owner, who was a famous, old school producer who mainly did films for big companies.
“The owner told me I would be on a three-month trial period without pay, and if I was good enough I could stay on. Then he said I would start the next day, which was fine with me. Finally, he told me: ‘You will meet a very important client, but you are not allowed to talk, just sit there and if someone ask you something, don’t answer. Just say hmmm...’ I thought this was all a bit strange, but I realized he had low expectations for me and probably thought the less I did the better. The last thing the owner told me was not to dress up in a jacket and tie because ‘the people you will meet won’t like it’.
“I stayed with the company for about a year and a half and tried to learn as much as possible. In 1979 some colleagues and I opened a small production company called Film & Video AB. We wanted to produce our own commercials for TV. At that time Sweden was probably one of a few countries in the world that didn’t have commercial television. There were absolutely zero commercials on TV, but everybody was saying and thinking they were going to come soon.
“The company was doing well, working on various productions, but we only lasted about two years. Everyone had different personalities and ideas, and we split in 1980. I started a new company, Mekano Film & Television AB. This time I tried to find people who had similar ideas as mine. I also learned a big lesson: If you don’t have enough money to finance your business, you need to have a friendly relationship with the banking industry. I tried to borrow money from several banks with no luck before one lent me the money with the condition that if I couldn’t pay the interest the bank was entitled to claim everything I had. I agreed.
“It was perfect timing. The same month I got the loan Sweden finally decided to allow TV advertising. Two new commercial TV stations opened. In a small country like Sweden with just 10 million people, this was very big. We were the first ones set up to take advantage of this big change. We had no competitors, but it wasn’t long before everyone wanted to do commercials for television.
“We grew fast, from 14 to 45 and then 50 employees. It was a fun time and it was hard work. I was using knowledge gained at other companies, like you have to take good care of your staff because this is really your only capital. You have to motivate and treat people well so they feel happy and see a good future in the company. We spent a lot of money training the staff and even sent them abroad.
“Later on we started to produce TV programs, including feature films. It was a good time, but extremely hard work. When you are young it doesn’t matter, but today I wouldn’t do it. At that time I looked at it all as a challenge. We managed to make a lot of money and even bought a little island for all the staff. Grete was still working for Scandinavian Airlines, but at the same time she was doing a great deal to support our company.
“I sold the company in 1988 to a big publishing firm. When I discussed their offer with my wife she said I should sell because I was always working and she never saw me. She urged me to take all the money they were offering and do something else. Many of the people who used to work for me are now famous directors, producers and actors. Some are working in Hollywood, New York or London.
“After a while I left the DJ job and worked as a tour guide in Rhodes, Greece, and later Gran Canaria and Ibiza in Spain. That’s where I met Grete. She was working in Ibiza as a tour guide as well. She was looking after older people and I was looking after young people. We tried to mix our activities so we could be together, but this didn’t work out so well.
“In the travel business especially at that time – you have to fix any problems that come up. For instance, if there are clients coming and you don’t have enough hotel rooms for them, you have to find the rooms one way or another.
“Four and a half years after we met, in 1976, Grete and I were married. She wanted to go to Sweden because she found a job with ScandinavianAirlines, and of course I followed her. I did my very delayed, one-year mandatory military service, and after that I started trying everything to get in the film business. When you are very young and naïve you think that you can do whatever you want, and in a way this is good because then you learn that there are more opportunities than there are problems. This has been my motivation.
“To be honest, when I decided to be a filmmaker I didn’t even know what that meant or what I needed to know. I had a high school education and my grades were very mediocre. I started taking day and evening courses in marketing, economy, design and advertising.
“One day in 1977 one of my teachers who knew my ambition to be a film producer said to me: ‘I know you are looking for job and I know that Sandell Film (a large corporate film production company) are looking for a young, hard-working junior assistant who won’t ask for too much money.’ This was me. The teacher arranged a meeting with the company owner, who was a famous, old school producer who mainly did films for big companies.
“The owner told me I would be on a three-month trial period without pay, and if I was good enough I could stay on. Then he said I would start the next day, which was fine with me. Finally, he told me: ‘You will meet a very important client, but you are not allowed to talk, just sit there and if someone ask you something, don’t answer. Just say hmmm...’ I thought this was all a bit strange, but I realized he had low expectations for me and probably thought the less I did the better. The last thing the owner told me was not to dress up in a jacket and tie because ‘the people you will meet won’t like it’.
“I stayed with the company for about a year and a half and tried to learn as much as possible. In 1979 some colleagues and I opened a small production company called Film & Video AB. We wanted to produce our own commercials for TV. At that time Sweden was probably one of a few countries in the world that didn’t have commercial television. There were absolutely zero commercials on TV, but everybody was saying and thinking they were going to come soon.
“The company was doing well, working on various productions, but we only lasted about two years. Everyone had different personalities and ideas, and we split in 1980. I started a new company, Mekano Film & Television AB. This time I tried to find people who had similar ideas as mine. I also learned a big lesson: If you don’t have enough money to finance your business, you need to have a friendly relationship with the banking industry. I tried to borrow money from several banks with no luck before one lent me the money with the condition that if I couldn’t pay the interest the bank was entitled to claim everything I had. I agreed.
“It was perfect timing. The same month I got the loan Sweden finally decided to allow TV advertising. Two new commercial TV stations opened. In a small country like Sweden with just 10 million people, this was very big. We were the first ones set up to take advantage of this big change. We had no competitors, but it wasn’t long before everyone wanted to do commercials for television.
“We grew fast, from 14 to 45 and then 50 employees. It was a fun time and it was hard work. I was using knowledge gained at other companies, like you have to take good care of your staff because this is really your only capital. You have to motivate and treat people well so they feel happy and see a good future in the company. We spent a lot of money training the staff and even sent them abroad.
“Later on we started to produce TV programs, including feature films. It was a good time, but extremely hard work. When you are young it doesn’t matter, but today I wouldn’t do it. At that time I looked at it all as a challenge. We managed to make a lot of money and even bought a little island for all the staff. Grete was still working for Scandinavian Airlines, but at the same time she was doing a great deal to support our company.
“I sold the company in 1988 to a big publishing firm. When I discussed their offer with my wife she said I should sell because I was always working and she never saw me. She urged me to take all the money they were offering and do something else. Many of the people who used to work for me are now famous directors, producers and actors. Some are working in Hollywood, New York or London.
 |  |
Mallorca
After selling the company Ola and Grete went back to Spain. “We had earlier bought a summer house on the small island of Mallorca. It was a nice place and we really like it. We didn’t have plans to work because we knew we had enough money to last a long while. But later on I thought that Mallorca would be a good place to shoot films because there were so many nice locations.
“We also wanted to promote Mallorca as a film destination. We opened a production service that helped companies shoot commercials and feature films in Mallorca. The name of our small adventure was Palma Pictures S.L.
“Grete was a location manager and in charge of government liaison and public relations. I called all my friends in the fairly small international film community to come and shoot with us. They came and they were happy. In the beginning it was slow going, Grete went back to Spain. “We had earlier bought a summer house on the small island of Mallorca. It was a nice place and we really like it. We didn’t have plans to work because we knew we had enough money to last a long while. But later on I thought that Mallorca would be a good place to shoot films because there were so many nice locations.
“We also wanted to promote Mallorca as a film destination. We opened a production service that helped companies shoot commercials and feature films in Mallorca. The name of our small adventure was Palma Pictures S.L.
“Grete was a location manager and in charge of government liaison and public relations. I called all my friends in the fairly small international film community to come and shoot with us. They came and they were happy. In the beginning it was slow going, but business picked up after we were able to establish a good relationship with the local government. You need the support of the police and Guardia Civil and so on. They gave us the go-ahead and sometimes we used them as extras. We had hundreds of them working for us some days. We also got support from local politicians who were very interested in our idea to promote Mallorca as a film destination.
“In 1994, just as we had fixed our new office in Palma de Mallorca, a Swedish producer friend contacted me and asked if we could take care of big production project being done jointly by Italian, German and Swedish television stations. The project was called Vendetta, and it consisted of a full length movie and six 40-minute episodes on the Italian mafia. They had some problems with the real mafia over filming in Sicily.
“I managed to make a deal with the Swedish Film Institute for them to ship over 30% of their film equipment to us, so we could sub-rent it to our clients at a better rate than they could get in Sweden. It was win/win for both sides. Later we bought the equipment from them.
“We started thinking that we needed a film studio because we lost some jobs with film companies that wanted both location and studio. One famous American actor who had a house in Mallorca also advised us to build our own studio. He said that if we did he would tell his friends and colleagues in Hollywood to come to Mallorca and film with us.
“I ran to the bank again. This time it was a Spanish bank. I told them we wanted to build a film studio. It took a year before they agreed to a loan, and I had to put up our house and other assets as deposit. Then we started to build. It was a very ambitious project, about 4,500 square meters. As the company got bigger and bigger we started to realize that in order to do big films you need to have a fixed, full time crew. So we took on 50 staff full time and we had about 200 freelancers also, so we could line produce both big and small projects at the same time.
“People came from all over the world to work for us. We took the full-time staff on study trips to London, Paris, New York, Madrid, Barcelona and, of course, to Stockholm. We had a restaurant in the studio complex with free lunches and a gym to work out the stress. The Spanish government gave us awards and they were friendly and supportive of our work.
“In the year 2000 the studio was ready. The day after the inauguration party the same famous Hollywood actor called Grete to congratulate her on the completion of the studio, but he also had some bad news. He told her he had changed his mind and didn’t want to bring his friends to Mallorca. He and his wife wanted to keep Mallorca as their private, secret place to relax. So we learned a lesson about Hollywood celebrities. They are all nice and entertaining but you cannot trust them! However, we managed anyway.
“A week after we opened the studio we were ready to shoot our first big production. It was TV movie produced by BBC called Sword of Honor with Daniel Craig in a major role. It was before he starred in the James Bond films and he wasn’t that well known, but he had a deserved reputation as a very good actor. The filming went well and everyone was happy.”
“We also wanted to promote Mallorca as a film destination. We opened a production service that helped companies shoot commercials and feature films in Mallorca. The name of our small adventure was Palma Pictures S.L.
“Grete was a location manager and in charge of government liaison and public relations. I called all my friends in the fairly small international film community to come and shoot with us. They came and they were happy. In the beginning it was slow going, Grete went back to Spain. “We had earlier bought a summer house on the small island of Mallorca. It was a nice place and we really like it. We didn’t have plans to work because we knew we had enough money to last a long while. But later on I thought that Mallorca would be a good place to shoot films because there were so many nice locations.
“We also wanted to promote Mallorca as a film destination. We opened a production service that helped companies shoot commercials and feature films in Mallorca. The name of our small adventure was Palma Pictures S.L.
“Grete was a location manager and in charge of government liaison and public relations. I called all my friends in the fairly small international film community to come and shoot with us. They came and they were happy. In the beginning it was slow going, but business picked up after we were able to establish a good relationship with the local government. You need the support of the police and Guardia Civil and so on. They gave us the go-ahead and sometimes we used them as extras. We had hundreds of them working for us some days. We also got support from local politicians who were very interested in our idea to promote Mallorca as a film destination.
“In 1994, just as we had fixed our new office in Palma de Mallorca, a Swedish producer friend contacted me and asked if we could take care of big production project being done jointly by Italian, German and Swedish television stations. The project was called Vendetta, and it consisted of a full length movie and six 40-minute episodes on the Italian mafia. They had some problems with the real mafia over filming in Sicily.
“I managed to make a deal with the Swedish Film Institute for them to ship over 30% of their film equipment to us, so we could sub-rent it to our clients at a better rate than they could get in Sweden. It was win/win for both sides. Later we bought the equipment from them.
“We started thinking that we needed a film studio because we lost some jobs with film companies that wanted both location and studio. One famous American actor who had a house in Mallorca also advised us to build our own studio. He said that if we did he would tell his friends and colleagues in Hollywood to come to Mallorca and film with us.
“I ran to the bank again. This time it was a Spanish bank. I told them we wanted to build a film studio. It took a year before they agreed to a loan, and I had to put up our house and other assets as deposit. Then we started to build. It was a very ambitious project, about 4,500 square meters. As the company got bigger and bigger we started to realize that in order to do big films you need to have a fixed, full time crew. So we took on 50 staff full time and we had about 200 freelancers also, so we could line produce both big and small projects at the same time.
“People came from all over the world to work for us. We took the full-time staff on study trips to London, Paris, New York, Madrid, Barcelona and, of course, to Stockholm. We had a restaurant in the studio complex with free lunches and a gym to work out the stress. The Spanish government gave us awards and they were friendly and supportive of our work.
“In the year 2000 the studio was ready. The day after the inauguration party the same famous Hollywood actor called Grete to congratulate her on the completion of the studio, but he also had some bad news. He told her he had changed his mind and didn’t want to bring his friends to Mallorca. He and his wife wanted to keep Mallorca as their private, secret place to relax. So we learned a lesson about Hollywood celebrities. They are all nice and entertaining but you cannot trust them! However, we managed anyway.
“A week after we opened the studio we were ready to shoot our first big production. It was TV movie produced by BBC called Sword of Honor with Daniel Craig in a major role. It was before he starred in the James Bond films and he wasn’t that well known, but he had a deserved reputation as a very good actor. The filming went well and everyone was happy.”
New adventures
“Grete and I began thinking more and more about what we wanted our future to be like. The first part of our married life was spent mostly in Sweden, the second in Spain, and now we were ready for the ‘third age,’ or ‘la trecera edad’ as they say in Spanish. We were getting older of course, and it seemed like it might be a good idea to take things a bit easier.
“We decided to sell the company and retire in Thailand. We came to Thailand for the first time in the early 1990s on vacation and loved it here.
We dreamed of coming back to stay, and in 2004 we bought into a condo project on Sukhumvit Road.”
In 2005 negotiations began for the sale of Palma Pictures, and in 2006 the deal was done. But Ola wasn’t quite ready for a life of leisure. “I had an exciting project for 2005, a Mekong expedition starting from Saigon and travelling more than 4,500 km on the river up to Jinghong in China, passing through six countries. We had two boats, each with seven people. The journey took five weeks.
“It was a fantastic trip, organized by a Swiss gentleman named Armin Schoch, a really competent man who has lived in Asia more than 30 years. It took him two years to obtain all the permits. Getting permits from the Chinese was the most difficult. They didn’t like us moving freely through their country.”
They also didn’t like the aim of the expedition. Some German journalists wanted to do a documentary about the dams on the Mekong in China and what effect they have on water levels. They also wanted to film a documentary on poppy cultivation in Myanmar, but that was ultimately cancelled.
“The Swiss guy Armin got permission from the official Myanmar military and also the ‘unofficial army’ (the armed wing of the ethnic group that controls the region). He said the unofficial army was bigger than the official army, and they sometimes work together. When we finally went ashore ready to film the poppy fields, some armed men came and told us: ‘You can film whatever you like, but you cannot take the film with you.’ ”
Ola has good memories of the river trip, but says he wouldn’t do it again. “When we came to China we were delayed three days at the border. It was very dangerous during the night. The place was full of bandits who controlled the smuggling. We arrived at the border around 2am and saw about 14 Chinese soldiers with big hats. They were more afraid of us than we were of them. We were all big guys with beards.
“You could see the different cultures between countries from the river. The Cambodians are still afraid, particularly in the rural areas. They were born afraid. The Lao people were quite happy everywhere we went. The Vietnamese are harder to categorize. They show many different ways of thinking. There is a big difference between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. These are completely different worlds, but everyone wants to be capitalist in one way or other.
“In 2005 I was also dreaming of another project. We had some money, so I went to Turkey and ordered the construction of a 136-foot classic sailing yacht made of teak wood at a shipyard in Bodrum. It took about three years to build it. We named the beautiful boat the ‘Queen Andaman.’ It was ready in 2007 and we sailed with a crew of seven from Turkey to Phuket, arriving there in 2008. At the time my wife was in Bangkok fixing up the condo. When we docked in Phuket there were many big boats around us, and they were all owned by Russians. One guy had three boats.
“Over the next four years we had a fantastic time aboard the yacht, sailing with a seven-man crew on the waters of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Borneo, Andaman Islands and Timor-Leste. We spent a lot of time in the Andaman. In 2012 we sailed back to the Mediterranean for two years of cruising around Spain, France, Croatia and Montenegro. It was an exciting time.
“It was more difficult sailing back from Thailand to Europe than the voyage from Turkey to Phuket. We needed a military protection aboard while sailing past Somalia. We sold the boat to a happy new owner in 2015, and we were finally ready to make Thailand our home.”
“We decided to sell the company and retire in Thailand. We came to Thailand for the first time in the early 1990s on vacation and loved it here.
We dreamed of coming back to stay, and in 2004 we bought into a condo project on Sukhumvit Road.”
In 2005 negotiations began for the sale of Palma Pictures, and in 2006 the deal was done. But Ola wasn’t quite ready for a life of leisure. “I had an exciting project for 2005, a Mekong expedition starting from Saigon and travelling more than 4,500 km on the river up to Jinghong in China, passing through six countries. We had two boats, each with seven people. The journey took five weeks.
“It was a fantastic trip, organized by a Swiss gentleman named Armin Schoch, a really competent man who has lived in Asia more than 30 years. It took him two years to obtain all the permits. Getting permits from the Chinese was the most difficult. They didn’t like us moving freely through their country.”
They also didn’t like the aim of the expedition. Some German journalists wanted to do a documentary about the dams on the Mekong in China and what effect they have on water levels. They also wanted to film a documentary on poppy cultivation in Myanmar, but that was ultimately cancelled.
“The Swiss guy Armin got permission from the official Myanmar military and also the ‘unofficial army’ (the armed wing of the ethnic group that controls the region). He said the unofficial army was bigger than the official army, and they sometimes work together. When we finally went ashore ready to film the poppy fields, some armed men came and told us: ‘You can film whatever you like, but you cannot take the film with you.’ ”
Ola has good memories of the river trip, but says he wouldn’t do it again. “When we came to China we were delayed three days at the border. It was very dangerous during the night. The place was full of bandits who controlled the smuggling. We arrived at the border around 2am and saw about 14 Chinese soldiers with big hats. They were more afraid of us than we were of them. We were all big guys with beards.
“You could see the different cultures between countries from the river. The Cambodians are still afraid, particularly in the rural areas. They were born afraid. The Lao people were quite happy everywhere we went. The Vietnamese are harder to categorize. They show many different ways of thinking. There is a big difference between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. These are completely different worlds, but everyone wants to be capitalist in one way or other.
“In 2005 I was also dreaming of another project. We had some money, so I went to Turkey and ordered the construction of a 136-foot classic sailing yacht made of teak wood at a shipyard in Bodrum. It took about three years to build it. We named the beautiful boat the ‘Queen Andaman.’ It was ready in 2007 and we sailed with a crew of seven from Turkey to Phuket, arriving there in 2008. At the time my wife was in Bangkok fixing up the condo. When we docked in Phuket there were many big boats around us, and they were all owned by Russians. One guy had three boats.
“Over the next four years we had a fantastic time aboard the yacht, sailing with a seven-man crew on the waters of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Borneo, Andaman Islands and Timor-Leste. We spent a lot of time in the Andaman. In 2012 we sailed back to the Mediterranean for two years of cruising around Spain, France, Croatia and Montenegro. It was an exciting time.
“It was more difficult sailing back from Thailand to Europe than the voyage from Turkey to Phuket. We needed a military protection aboard while sailing past Somalia. We sold the boat to a happy new owner in 2015, and we were finally ready to make Thailand our home.”
Life in Thailand
| “We moved to Thailand because we thought it would be a great place to retire. Grete asked me to promise not to start another film company. I agreed and I have kept my promise. I have had offers to buy companies but I am not interested. “My wife was ambitious and right away she started to try to learn the Thai language. I am not so good, so I am still thinking about it. We bought a house in Chonburi province in a quiet inland village about 25 kilometers from Pattaya. We also have a condo in Bangkok and are currently building a new condominium in Bang Saen which will be ready soon. “We don’t have any children so we have a lot of time to do the things we want. We are active with the Siam Society and have joined them for many interesting study trips in Asia. We have been with them to China, Bhutan, Nepal and India. We are frequent guests at the Foreign Correspondent Club seminars and lectures. I am a member of Rotary Bangkok South Club. We try to help with meaningful community services like providing clean drinking water. Grete is an enthusiastic member of National Museum Volunteers. |  |
“We are happy to be in Thailand. You can have a very good life here. But I must say that something has to be done very quickly about the haze and pollution. It is getting worse and worse and the same is true of the traffic. If they continue to build more and more condos, there’s not going to be any open spaces left.”
Ola was chairman of the Swedish Commercial Film Association and chairman of the TV Producers Association, and a member of the Swedish Film Institute Advisory Board. Ernst & Young nominated him as entrepreneur of the year 2005. He came in second. Over the years he received around 100 Scandinavian and international awards, many of them from Spanish organizations. The Spanish government was particularly supportive of his work because he helped to bring the film industry to Mallorca. Many people are still coming to Mallorca to make movies, and this brings a big income for the government and local businesses.
“I made more than 500 TV commercials and was involved in the production of a couple hundred TV programs and series, as well as 25 feature movies. We helped other people. We had the crew, the technique and the expertise. The crew was the soldiers and I was the boss.
“My advice for anyone going into the film business today is to focus on the opportunities rather than the problems. The opportunities are often connected to the problems, but if you look at things in a positive way you can find solutions. I tried to do things other people said were impossible. This means you don’t have competition, and it is not so difficult. You can do much more than you think if you are not afraid of your own failure.”
Ola was chairman of the Swedish Commercial Film Association and chairman of the TV Producers Association, and a member of the Swedish Film Institute Advisory Board. Ernst & Young nominated him as entrepreneur of the year 2005. He came in second. Over the years he received around 100 Scandinavian and international awards, many of them from Spanish organizations. The Spanish government was particularly supportive of his work because he helped to bring the film industry to Mallorca. Many people are still coming to Mallorca to make movies, and this brings a big income for the government and local businesses.
“I made more than 500 TV commercials and was involved in the production of a couple hundred TV programs and series, as well as 25 feature movies. We helped other people. We had the crew, the technique and the expertise. The crew was the soldiers and I was the boss.
“My advice for anyone going into the film business today is to focus on the opportunities rather than the problems. The opportunities are often connected to the problems, but if you look at things in a positive way you can find solutions. I tried to do things other people said were impossible. This means you don’t have competition, and it is not so difficult. You can do much more than you think if you are not afraid of your own failure.”
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