Company Town : Ex-Insider Is Happy on the Outside

In show business, long before Hans and Franz arrived by way of “Saturday Night Live,” there was simply Frans--a bald Dutch banker who helped launch the independent film industry in the high-rolling 1980s.

Frans J. Afman oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to companies--many of which later went under--as the entertainment czar for French bank Credit Lyonnais. Known as “the banker who reads Variety,” Afman also became a colorful fixture at the annual film festival here.

Afman is back again this year, still hanging with the wine and brie set at wind-swept oceanfront galas and still punctuating his remarks with a Dutch-accented “yah,” but much has changed. After years of high-powered dealing on behalf of Credit Lyonnais and later the Hollywood talent agency, International Creative Management, Afman is a free agent.

He was unceremoniously dumped by ICM last month after Credit Lyonnais turned to rival Creative Artists Agency for help in restructuring its troubled $3-billion entertainment portfolio. Afman, who continued to advise the bank until 1991, said he learned of his fate in a Los Angeles Times story.

“I moved with them (ICM) to their new building in February, then all of the sudden in April I read that there’s no relationship anymore,” he said in his first extended interview since then.

It was easy to see how Afman could become the fall guy in the CAA-Credit Lyonnais alliance. His past ties to the bank were widely regarded as a liability to ICM. Chairman Jeff Berg, who was livid over the deal, said Afman was no longer with the agency the day he went public with his criticism of the CAA-Credit Lyonnais pact. But Afman says his relations with the Beverly Hills-based talent agency were rocky even before then.

The 59-year-old banker spent only part of his time there under a non-exclusive contract that technically expired in December. Unable to resolve his concerns about Los Angeles real estate prices, Afman took up residence at the trendy Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood. Meanwhile, his name rarely surfaced in connection with financing deals, even though he was hired to help secure international backing for agency projects.

If he had little to show for his two years at ICM, Afman says it is because agents there were uncooperative. “The big problem was that very few agents approached me,” he said.

Afman is equally defensive about his banking record, which has come under increasing criticism. He says that Credit Lyonnais-backed companies such as Weintraub Entertainment and Vestron, which filed for bankruptcy protection, were basically sound businesses until they strayed into high-risk areas, such as distribution.

And he denies any connection with the bank’s most notorious move--its backing of Giancarlo Parretti’s $1.4-billion purchase of MGM in 1990. Afman says he actually opposed the loans to Parretti, who subsequently defaulted, leaving the bank in control of the troubled studio.

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Despite his protestations, many in Hollywood regard Afman as damaged goods. Others who are more sympathetic worry that his campaign to recast his image and start anew may be quixotic.

“He hasn’t been able to find his place, post-Credit Lyonnais,” one friend says.

But the irrepressible Afman brushes aside those suggestions. He says his Amsterdam-based company, Metronome Productions, is doing a strong business--lining up off-balance-sheet financing for last year’s “Universal Soldier” and finding foreign backing for the syndicated television show “Baywatch,” which has become a surprise hit.

On the consulting end, Afman says he represents many corporations looking to shelter non-U.S. income. The jolly banker, who now spends most of his time abroad, insists that he’s happier operating outside the spotlight. He expects next month to sever his last high-profile tie to Hollywood, his spot on the Carolco Pictures board of directors.

“If you stay too long in Hollywood, you lose your perspective,” he says over a Mediterranean seaside lunch of grilled liver and fine French wine. “If people need to talk to me, they can find me in Holland. Yah?”

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Bobbing Along: Former Carolco Pictures President Peter Hoffman, who does business off a yacht here, often barefoot and in shorts, has been busy.

He quietly served as Miramax’s financial adviser in its sale to Disney earlier this month, along with attorney Skip Brittenham. Hoffman is also helping to line up backing for at least two other well-known producers.

Moreover, Hoffman’s CineVisions is involved in eight independent film projects. Five of the modestly budgeted movies are being made in partnership with producers Staffan Ahrenberg and Eyal Rimmon. They include “Johnny Mnemonic,” a futuristic thriller to be directed by artist Robert Longo; “The Tax Man,” based on a true story of a crusading tax collector, and “Another 9 1/2 Weeks,” the sequel to the erotic hit.