In the 80s, Dutchman Frans Afman became the most important banker in Hollywood and one of the most powerful men in the business. Through Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis he was introduced to the world of filmmaking and together they created a system of financing that revolutionized the independent film industry in Hollywood, called pre sales. Over more than a decade, Frans was instrumental in financing films like Platoon, Terminator and Dances with Wolves, as well as the leading independent production companies such as Cannon, Hemdale and Carolco. As the success grew, ambition of others turned into greed. People of dubious character and credentials started to involve themselves in the independent film industry. People like Giancarlo Parretti, an Italian waiter turned investor with more brawn than brains. Immediately, Frans suspected that Parretti wasn't trustworthy, but his boss at Credit Lyonnais bank decided differently. Parretti became a major player and took over MGM with money from Credit Lyonnais. In protest Frans left the bank. It wasn't long before MGM started losing billions and Parretti brought the venerable old studio and bank to bankruptcy. And so it came that the Dutch banker left the stage as swiftly as he had entered, but not without leaving behind a great legacy of independent films and forever changing the way that films are financed. Director Rozemyn Afman tells the story of her father's life and times, and how he not only influenced the world of filmmaking in Hollywood, but also her own life.
Hollywood Banker
How Frans Afman, a banker from the Netherlands, developed a new system for film financing, revolutionized independent filmmaking in Hollywood, but could not prevent it all from crashing down, when ambition of others turned into greed.
