When I heard Andy Vajna (pronounced Vanya) had passed away on January 20, I began to remember fondly the seven years I was his assistant.
On my first day at Carolco I was waiting outside the front door of the second-floor office on Melrose. Andy arrived with his wife Ceci, who had interviewed and hired me. She introduced us. He teased me, giving me the nickname name “JJ”. Just like that, I felt welcomed. After a while, he affectionately shortened my name to “J” when calling for me.
Later, I learned that Andy had fled from Hungary as a child with the help of the Red Cross, arriving in Canada with no English and no friends. Reuniting with his parents in Los Angeles (who had fled Hungary separately), he subsequently studied cinematography at UCLA. After recovering from a broken leg in a ski accident, his ventures in Hong Kong included: teaming with wig stylist Gabor Koltai to set up a wig company; purchasing movie theatres; and founding Panasia to acquire, distribute, and represent films.
Andy met film executive-producer Mario Kassar at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. They formed Carolco Services in Los Angeles, specializing in worldwide sales, financing and distribution of films. Symbolic of their partnership and friendship, Andy and Mario’s desks faced each other in their office.
I had started as a clerk in the sales department, keeping track of sales and contracts. After a series of assistants were let go, Andy bemoaned, “I need someone like JJ.” Ceci said, “Why not JJ?” I half-jokingly asked, “Do you want me to be fired like the other assistants?” Ceci assured me if it didn’t work out, I'd stay in another position. It was decided that Andy and Mario would have each his own assistant. I was Andy’s assistant, and Linda Lawrence became Mario’s assistant.
In 1982 Andy founded and became president of the American Film Marketing Association. That same year, Carolco became Carolco Pictures. Andy and Mario made their production debut with Rambo: First Blood. They were executive producers on the Rambo sequels, as well as Music Box, Mountains of the Moon, Total Recall, Air America, Narrow Margin, and Jacob’s Ladder to name a few.
I knew his fondness for cigars, learned to multi-task (including rolling phone calls), work at film markets, bid successfully for an art piece at Christies, earned his trust both in confidentiality and in my ability to handle a wide variety of tasks. He flew me to Israel where Carolco was filming Rambo III, which gave me numerous awesome experiences in the Holy Land. Thank you, Andy, for your generosity and confidence in me.
Mario came to Israel and Andy returned to the U.S. to oversee the filming of Music Box. I stayed to work on Iron Eagle II. In December 1989 Andy sold all his interest in Carolco and formed Cinergi Productions, Inc. to engage in the financing, development, production and distribution of major event movies. Upon my return to Los Angeles, I told Andy of my decision to continue to work on productions.
After Universal Soldier and Three of Hearts, I was between assignments when I got a call from Robbie Little. If you’ve been following my newsletters, you know the story.
Some day, I’ll string my stories into another book. But today is a tribute to Andy Vajna.
Thank you, Readers, for your interest.
Jeanne Joe
On my first day at Carolco I was waiting outside the front door of the second-floor office on Melrose. Andy arrived with his wife Ceci, who had interviewed and hired me. She introduced us. He teased me, giving me the nickname name “JJ”. Just like that, I felt welcomed. After a while, he affectionately shortened my name to “J” when calling for me.
Later, I learned that Andy had fled from Hungary as a child with the help of the Red Cross, arriving in Canada with no English and no friends. Reuniting with his parents in Los Angeles (who had fled Hungary separately), he subsequently studied cinematography at UCLA. After recovering from a broken leg in a ski accident, his ventures in Hong Kong included: teaming with wig stylist Gabor Koltai to set up a wig company; purchasing movie theatres; and founding Panasia to acquire, distribute, and represent films.
Andy met film executive-producer Mario Kassar at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. They formed Carolco Services in Los Angeles, specializing in worldwide sales, financing and distribution of films. Symbolic of their partnership and friendship, Andy and Mario’s desks faced each other in their office.
I had started as a clerk in the sales department, keeping track of sales and contracts. After a series of assistants were let go, Andy bemoaned, “I need someone like JJ.” Ceci said, “Why not JJ?” I half-jokingly asked, “Do you want me to be fired like the other assistants?” Ceci assured me if it didn’t work out, I'd stay in another position. It was decided that Andy and Mario would have each his own assistant. I was Andy’s assistant, and Linda Lawrence became Mario’s assistant.
In 1982 Andy founded and became president of the American Film Marketing Association. That same year, Carolco became Carolco Pictures. Andy and Mario made their production debut with Rambo: First Blood. They were executive producers on the Rambo sequels, as well as Music Box, Mountains of the Moon, Total Recall, Air America, Narrow Margin, and Jacob’s Ladder to name a few.
I knew his fondness for cigars, learned to multi-task (including rolling phone calls), work at film markets, bid successfully for an art piece at Christies, earned his trust both in confidentiality and in my ability to handle a wide variety of tasks. He flew me to Israel where Carolco was filming Rambo III, which gave me numerous awesome experiences in the Holy Land. Thank you, Andy, for your generosity and confidence in me.
Mario came to Israel and Andy returned to the U.S. to oversee the filming of Music Box. I stayed to work on Iron Eagle II. In December 1989 Andy sold all his interest in Carolco and formed Cinergi Productions, Inc. to engage in the financing, development, production and distribution of major event movies. Upon my return to Los Angeles, I told Andy of my decision to continue to work on productions.
After Universal Soldier and Three of Hearts, I was between assignments when I got a call from Robbie Little. If you’ve been following my newsletters, you know the story.
Some day, I’ll string my stories into another book. But today is a tribute to Andy Vajna.
Thank you, Readers, for your interest.
Jeanne Joe