Hollywood Banker

Hollywood Banker is a fascinating documentary celebrating the life of film financier Frans Afman, the Dutch banker who revolutionised independent film financing in a career spanning 40 years.

Afman was responsible for securing finance for over 900 films including Terminator 2; Total Recall, Superman, Dances with Wolves; Basic Instinct; When Harry Met Sally; Platoon; King Kong and Three Days of the Condor.

The documentary is directed by Afman’s daughter, Rozemyn Afman, who talked to MOVIESCOPE about her experience of making the film under the most testing and sensitive time for the family.

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"I was living in New York, when I got the phone call you never hope to receive. My father was diagnosed with cancer and the prospects were far from good. Headlong I moved back to my hometown Amsterdam to aid him.

During this vulnerable time my father told me that he had always wanted to write his memoir. Since there wasn’t much time left, and knowing that I could never help write his biography, I decided to fulfill his wish and conduct interviews with him for a possible documentary. The passion reappeared in his eyes. And since he first spoke to me so frankly about himself and his career, I hung on his every word.

It was just the most intense and magical time we spend together. I was just so lucky to be able to take care of him. I adored my father with whom I had a 50 years age difference. We were best friends and I looked up to him. He was a gentleman, kind and so loving by heart.

I conducted 20 hours of material with my father, but I had no storyline. Three producers came out to Amsterdam to show their respect when they found out he was terminally ill. 5 months upon receiving the news, my father passed away.

Throughout the years of his career my father collected a lot of archive material: magazines, newspapers, VHS tapes, cassette recordings, you name it. Everything was stacked in boxes throughout his apartment in Amsterdam with the idea of writing his book one day. For months I researched and read. There was just so much interesting information to be shared. It really was a huge task to sort everything out.

The archive material and the conversations with my father led me to travel to LA to meet his old colleagues and to search for more in-depth material. It appeared that his life was much more interesting and exciting than I could have ever imagine. The respect and the appreciation his old colleagues have for him is striking.

Despite the fact that the work of my father had a major influence on the independent film industry in Hollywood financing over 900 films - he also made an impact on my life. I was very little when this exciting time was happening. We travelled all over the world, from Cannes to Los Angeles to film sets in Tunisia and Australia. That time has made a big impression on me, but I never realized his importance until I got older.

Through making Hollywood Banker I wanted to keep my father’s spirit alive. But more so it became a journey of who my father was and it helped me in my grief process. A few days before his death he asked me curiously If I was going to finish the documentary. I promised him to do so and I kept my word!"

Hollywood Banker is released on November 16th.