SANTIAGO SEGURA.
My most popular director, Santiago
Segura, is however the least known one. Although he worked only as
filmmaker in "Torrente, the Dumb Arm of the Law" and "Torrente 2:
Mission in Marbella", thanks to him, I was able to produce one of
the most successful box office successes in the history of Spanish
cinema. I discovered Santiago as a potential actor for "The Day of
the Beast", one night well past midnight while wondering from bar
to bar along Argensola Street, together with Jorge Sanz, David
Trueba and Ariadna Gil. Since then, he has worked for me as actor
in several movies and we have developed a solid and supportive
personal relationship. We were both brought up in Madrid's
Carabanchel neighborhood. That and a shared taste for grilled pork
ears and Mirinda orange soda in the local bars tend to form strong
link between people. I sincerely think that Santiago is the par
excellence 21st century Spanish film director and the only one
capable of renovating and innovating the Spanish film industry. He
will make a better movie director than a marketing director - a
position which some idiot thought would better suit him. Santiago
knows everything and is a source of wisdom. With the exception of a
few close friends who know him well, I am sure that he will
surprise the rest of the world with his work and talent.
PEDRO OLEA.
I have worked with many other
directors with whom, for various reasons, there has been no
continuity. Of all of them, I must highlight Pedro Olea and Manuel
Gómez Pereira, both of whom I have known for many years. I always
wanted to work with them although I actually didn't until I
produced "Más allá del jardín" (Beyond the Garden) and "Desafinado"
(Off Key) the former directed by Pedro, the latter by Manuel. I
hope to work with them again in the future.
But there are others I'd like to
mention too. Also with me, my partner and friend, Manuel Lombardero
made his debut as director with the film, "En brazos de la mujer
madura" (In Praise of Older Women), and I will work with him again
very soon. For his part, after debuting with the film "Antártida",
Manuel Huerga couldn't turn down the tempting offer of managing a
newly created television network: BTV (the public television of the
city of Barcelona) in what I like to call "The Barcelona Television
Experiment." As for singer and favorite actress Ana Belén, I must
say that after directing "Cómo ser mujer y no morir en el intento
(How to be a Woman and not Die Trying) she gave up being a
director. And then, there is Mario Camus who apart from shooting
"La mujer y el pelele" (Woman & Puppet) for television, he
wrote the scripts for "Más allá del Jardín" (Beyond the Garden) and
"Una pareja perfecta" (A Perfect Couple).
PILAR MIRÓ.
As regards Pilar Miró, she evokes
good memories as a movie director and not such good ones as General
Manager of Cinematography & Spanish Television - a position she
held for several years. As to Enrique Urbizu, Felipe Vega, Manuel
Gutiérrez Aragón, Daniel Monzón, Emilio Martínez-Lázaro and Sigfrid
Monleón, they have continued working for other producers who
offered them more attractive possibilities than I could offer them.
However, in the case of all of them, including those who are not
involved with directing, like the members of the Tricicle mime
company, I would like to work with them again as well.
And that also applies, of course,
to other directors of proven talent who work for other production
companies like Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Alejandro Amenábar and
Fernando León amongst others.
FERNANDO FERNÁN GÓMEZ.
As to Fernando Fernán Gómez, he has
worked with me in the past both as director and actor. As a
director, the results weren't very satisfactory although I never
gave up hope of doing better films with him. After all, for me,
Fernando has been together with Azcona, the strongest personality
of Spanish cinema.